VietnamForeign founder: first 30 days in Vietnam
In plain termsYour first month is three clocks, not a networking calendar: company (ERC/IRC/DICA), stay (visa and TRC — Temporary Residence Card), and labour if you will work in the company. Miss the sequence and the rest of the year is recovery.
Start here — three checks
- Write the ERC (Enterprise Registration Certificate) issue date, the 90-day charter-capital due date, and the IRC (Investment Registration Certificate) status on one card
- Name your stay symbol this month. Investment intent is not a work permit.
- If you will act as director or expert on the ground, classify the labour path in week one
Decision map
| Signal | Lock now | If skipped |
|---|---|---|
| ERC issued this month | Start DICA (direct investment capital account) and contribution planning immediately. | Day 90 arrives while the bank file is still a conversation. |
| You are in Vietnam directing the company | Separate investor stay from work-permit / exemption logic. Title does not finish that analysis. | You run the company on a stay stamp that never authorised the work. |
| Lease signed for office or home | Keep the contract dates. They feed TRC, tax-residency, and sometimes licensing addresses. | Later filings invent an address that the landlord file does not support. |
| First hire, foreign or Vietnamese | Register labour and tax obligations of the company before the handshake becomes a payroll. | The founder’s immigration mess and the company’s labour mess start together. |
| IRC still pending on an ERC-first route | Freeze project activity that needs IRC. Keep only company-admin steps. | Month-one sales become month-twelve licensing debt. |
Common wrong movesWhere people lose time on this exact question.
- Spending the first 30 days on branding while DICA and charter capital have no owner.
- Working full-time as “the founder” on a tourist or unmatched visa.
- Signing a two-year lease that the company address and licensing path cannot use.
If this fails, do this nextRecovery order — not a generic legal memo.
- Rebuild the 30-day board: capital, stay, labour. Drop tasks that do not serve those clocks.
- If capital is already slipping, open the late-contribution recovery page this week.
- If you already worked without a labour path, stop and classify under NĐ 219 before the next entry stamp.
Evidence to prepareChecklist before you file or walk in.
- Passport bio page and entry stamps / e-visa print for this trip.
- ERC PDF and issue date; charter showing capital amount and members.
- IRC file status (issued / pending) and the activity list actually approved.
- Bank DICA application, written conditions, and currency on the form.
- Contribution calendar: amount, payer, due date versus the 90-day clock.
- Office/home lease in the company’s or your name, with term dates.
- Stay document: visa symbol, expiry, and whether a TRC file has started.
- If you will work: role description vs NĐ 219 (Decree 219/2025) category, not business-card title.
- Tax code / first invoice plan so books start on day one, not at year-end.
90-day charter-capital deadlineThe first company clock most founders underestimate.Investor setup evidence packThe document pile this checklist consumes.Director under 3bn capitalIf you will run the company yourself on modest capital.
Common questions
What should a foreign founder do in the first 30 days in Vietnam?
Lock three files: company capital (ERC clock, DICA, IRC), your stay document, and whether your on-the-ground role needs a work permit or a real exemption. Networking does not move those clocks.
Does opening the company let me work immediately?
No. ERC creates the entity. Your labour category is a separate NĐ 219 question. Director on the charter is not an automatic work-permit exemption.
What date starts the 90-day capital countdown?
The ERC issue date for charter capital, not the day you landed and not the IRC project schedule. Put that date on the 30-day card.