Circular No. 219/2016/TT-BTC dated November 10, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance on prescribing the rates of charges and fees related to exit from, entry into, transit through and residence in Vietnam and charge and fee collection, remittance, management and use

CIRCULAR

Prescribing the rates of charges and fees related to exit from, entry into, transit through and residence in Vietnam and charge and fee collection, remittance, management and use[1]

Pursuant to the November 25, 2015 Law on Charges and Fees;

Pursuant to the June 25, 2015 Law on the State Budget;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP of August 23, 2016, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Charges and Fees;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 215/2013/ND-CP of December 23, 2013, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

At the proposal of the Director of the Department of Tax Policy,

The Minister of Finance promulgates the Circular prescribing the rates of charges and fees related to exit from, entry into, transit through and residence in Vietnam and charge and fee collection, remittance, management and use.

Article 1.Scope of regulation and subjects of application

1. This Circular prescribes the rates of charges and fees related to exit from, entry into, transit through and residence in Vietnam and charge and fee collection, remittance, management and use.

2. This Circular applies to payers of, organizations collecting, and other organizations and individuals involved in the collection, remittance, management and use of, charges and fees related to exit from, entry into, transit through and residence in Vietnam.

Article 2.Charge and fee payers

1. When carrying out procedures to request Vietnam-based competent agencies to grant papers related to passports, laissez-passers and exit, Vietnamese citizens shall pay fees under this Circular.

2. When carrying out procedures to request Vietnam-based competent agencies to grant visas or papers on residence, exit and entry, foreigners shall pay charges under this Circular.

Article 3.Charge- and fee-collecting organizations

The Immigration Department and Border Gate Security Department (the Ministry of Public Security); provincial-level Public Security Departments and Border Guard Commands; the Consular Department and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of External Affairs (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) are charge- and fee-collecting organizations under this Circular.

Article 4.Charge and fee rates

1. The rates of charges and fees related to exit from, entry into, transit through and residence in Vietnam are provided in the Tariff of charges and fees promulgated together with this Circular.

2. Charges for grant of visas and papers related to exit from and entry into Vietnam for foreigners shall be collected in Vietnam dong (VND) or US dollar (USD). Charges collected in USD may be collected in USD or in VND on the basis of converting USD into VND at the transfer buying rate applied at the head office of the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam at the time of charge payment or at the end of the working day preceding a holiday or weekend.

Article 5.Cases entitled to charge exemption

1. Guests (including their spouses and children) of the Party, State, Government and National Assembly or those personally invited by leaders of the Party, State, Government and National Assembly.

2. Officers and staff members of foreign diplomatic missions and consulates and Vietnam-based representative offices of international organizations and their family members (spouses and under-18 children) who are not Vietnamese nationals and are not permanently residing in Vietnam, regardless of the types of their passports, are entitled to exemption from charges on the basis of reciprocity.

3. Cases entitled to charge exemption under treaties which Vietnam has concluded or acceded to or on the principle of reciprocity.

4. Foreigners who enter Vietnam to provide relief or humanitarian aid to Vietnamese organizations and individuals.

Charge-collecting organizations shall affix the “GRATIS” stamp on granted papers in the above cases of charge exemption.

Article 6.Charge and fee declaration and remittance; charge and fee refund

1. On Thursday every week at the latest, a charge-collecting organization shall deposit the charge amounts collected in the previous week into its State Treasury account of charge revenues awaiting remittance into the state budget.

2. The charge- and fee-collecting organizations shall declare and remit collected charge and fee amounts on a monthly basis and make finalization on an annual basis under Clause 3, Article 19 and Clause 2, Article 26 of the Minister of Finance’s Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC of November 6, 2013, guiding a number of articles of the Law on Tax Administration, the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Tax Administration, and the Government’s Decree No. 83/2013/ND-CP of July 22, 2013.

3. In case a fee payer has already paid a fee but is ineligible for grant of a passport and related papers, the fee-collecting organization shall refund the collected fee amount when notifying the dossier-processing result to the fee payer. In case a charge or fee payer has already paid a charge or fee but is ineligible for grant of related papers or refuses to receive the dossier-processing result, the charge- or fee-collecting organization is not required to refund the collected charge or fee amount.

Article 7.Charge and fee management

1. The Immigration Department and the Border Gate Security Department (the Ministry of Public Security); and provincial-level Public Security Departments and Border Guard Commands may deduct 30% of the collected charge amount to cover the expenses prescribed in Article 5 of Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP, and shall remit the remaining 70% to the state budget under the chapters and sub-items of the current State Budget Index.

2. The Consular Department and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of External Affairs shall:

a/ Remit the whole collected charge amount to the state budget, except when they fall into the case prescribed at Point b, Clause 2 of this Article. Funds for job performance and charge collection shall be allocated from the state budget within their funding estimates according to state budget spending regimes and norms;

b/ In case a charge-collecting organization is a state agency which has their operating expenses covered by collected charge amounts prescribed in Clause 1, Article 4 of the Government’s Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP of August 23, 2016, it may deduct 30% of the collected charge amount to cover the expenses prescribed in Article 5 of the Government’s Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP of August 23, 2016, and shall remit remaining 70% to the state budget under the chapters and sub-items of the current State Budget Index.

3. Fee-collecting organizations shall remit the whole collected fee amount the state budget under the chapters and sub-items of the current State Budget Index. Expenses for job performance and fee collection shall be allocated from the state budget within their funding estimates according to state budget spending regime and norms.

Article 8.Organization of implementation

1. This Circular takes effect on January 1, 2017; and replaces the Minister of Finance’s Circular No. 157/2015/TT-BTC of October 8, 2015, prescribing the rates of fees for grant of passports, visas and papers on entry into, exit from, transit through and residence in Vietnam and fee collection, remittance, management and use.

2. Other contents related to the collection, remittance, management and use of charges and fees, documents for charge and fee collection, and publicity of charge and fee collection regimes which are not guided in this Circular must comply with the Law on Charges and Fees; the Government’s Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP of August 23, 2016; the Minister of Finance’s Circular No. 156/2013/TT-BTC of November 6, 2013; and the Minister of Finance’s circular prescribing the printing, distribution, management and use of documents for the collection of charges and fees being state budget revenues; and amending, supplementing or replacing documents (if any).

3. Any problems arising in the course of implementation should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for study and additional guidance.-

For the Minister of Finance
Deputy Minister
VU THI MAI

TARIFF OF CHARGES AND FEES

(Promulgated together with the Minister of Finance’s Circular No. 219/2016/TT-BTC of November 10, 2016)

I. Fees for grant of passports, laissez-passers, exit permits and AB stamps

Notes:

- APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) is the card for travel of businesspeople within APEC.

- AB stamp is a type of visa exemption paper for ordinary passport holders to travel aboard for business purposes.

II. Charges for grant of visas and papers related to exit from and entry into Vietnam to foreigners

Note:The charge rates for re-grant of lost or damaged papers are the same as those for first-time grant.-