In 2022, when the land certificate expired, Ms. Nam went to the town where she resides to apply for an extension and submitted the documents to the District Land Registration Office. However, her application was not processed with the reason being that she is a teacher and does not fall under the category of direct agricultural production as defined in Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 74 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP.

In reality, Ms. Nam is actively involved in planting crops on the mentioned land, using it for the intended purpose, and achieving annual harvests.

According to Clause 1 of Article 74 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP, she was required to submit her application at least 6 months prior to the expiration date. Unfortunately, Ms. Nam overlooked the timing as she was preoccupied with a bank loan secured against the land certificate. When she retrieved the certificate, there were only 2 months left, rendering her ineligible to complete the procedure.

According to Ms. Nam, such regulations would create obstacles for households and individuals in situations like hers. She appeals to the competent authorities to reconsider and resolve this issue.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment responded as follows:

In Clause 2 of Article 74 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP, the Government states: "Households and individuals directly engaged in agricultural production using agricultural land allocated or recognized and granted land use rights by the State shall continue to use the land beyond the land use term as prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 126 and Clause 3 of Article 210 of the Land Law without having to go through the procedure to adjust the land use term."

The land used for annual crop cultivation includes both rice paddies and other annual crop cultivation, falling under the category of agricultural land (as stipulated in Point a, Clause 1, Article 10 of the Land Law).

Clause 3 of Article 191 of the Land Law states: "Households and individuals not directly engaged in agricultural production shall not be eligible to transfer or receive the right to use rice paddies."

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment suggests that Ms. Nam familiarize herself with the above regulations and follow the provisions of the law accordingly.