According to Article 126 of the Housing Law and Article 121 of the amended Land Law, overseas Vietnamese who have Vietnamese nationality; overseas Vietnamese who invest in Vietnam; scientists, culturists and experts in the fields that Vietnam needs, who are working in Vietnam and allowed to reside in the country from three months upwards have the right to own a house or an apartment in Vietnam.

This regulation is applied for overseas Vietnamese who deserve well of the country, the people whose husband or wife is Vietnamese citizens who are living in Vietnam.

Overseas Vietnamese who don’t belong to the above subjects but enjoy visa exemption and are permitted to live in Vietnam from three months upwards also have the right to own a house or an apartment in Vietnam.

Compared to the previous regulations, the residence in Vietnam has been shortened from six to three months.

Another new point is the amended Article 121 allows overseas Vietnamese to sell, give and mortgage their houses or apartment at credit institutions operating in Vietnam. They are also compensated once their houses or apartments are taken back by the government. If they don’t use their house or apartment, they can lease or authorize others to manage the house.

The two amended articles will take effect as of September 1, 2009.

The NA’s Committee for Economics Chairman Ha Van Hien said many NA deputies worried that the amended articles will make strong impacts in the real estate market, particularly to land speculation.

However, not all over 3 million overseas Vietnamese will return home to buy house, but those who meet the criteria, who really need the house and who are capable to buy houses will buy houses in Vietnam. Moreover, Vietnam has had many regulations to manage land and houses and prevent real estate speculation, Hien said.

Hien said last year, Vietnam built around 50 million square meters of houses, including 5-6 million square meters in HCM City and around 2 million square meters in Hanoi.

Also in the morning of June 17, the NA approved the amended Law on Cinema, the amended Law on Cultural Heritage, the Law on Overseas Representative Bodies of Vietnam and the Law on State Compensation.

PV