Mr. Joseph Nguyen Ly is an overseas Vietnamese, currently is an American citizen. In 2016, he bought an apartment in Ho Chi Minh City, but because he did not have papers to prove that he is Vietnamese origin, he had to buy it as a foreigner.

In early 2018, Mr. Joseph Nguyen Ly was granted an apartment ownership certificate, valid for 50 years. Currently, he has found his personal papers and is granted a Certificate of Vietnamese origin (issued by the Overseas Vietnamese Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam).

Mr. Joseph Nguyen Ly would like to ask, could he change his status as an overseas Vietnamese owning a house in Vietnam and convert his house ownership period from 50 years to indefinite ownership? what procedures does he need to do and which agency does handles records?

The Ministry of Construction answers this issue as follows:

Under Clause 3, Article 5 of the Government's Decree No. 99/2015 / ND-CP dated October 20, 2015 detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Housing: “For groups Foreign organizations and individuals must have papers proving their subjects according to the provisions of Article 74 of this Decree; In case a foreign individual has papers certifying that he / she is of Vietnamese origin, only one applicant is entitled to choose an applicable subject being an overseas Vietnamese or a foreign individual to determine house ownership in Vietnam".

According to the question, Mr. Joseph Nguyen Ly has been issued a Certificate of land use rights, ownership of houses and other land-attached assets with ownership period of 50 years. Regarding the change of the contents of the Certificate, including the change of ownership term, he can send a document to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for guidance and settlement according to his competence.