Why would a company or representative office be dissolved in Vietnam and how long would the dissolution take?

There are various reasons to the dissolution of company or representative office – here is the list of most happened circumstances for companies:

• If the operation period stated in the company charter expires and not extended;
• If the legal owner of the company, which may vary according to the form of the company, so decides;
• If the company does not have the minimum number of members as stipulated by relevant laws for a period of six consecutive months; or
• If the business license is revoked.

For representative offices, the most likely reasons may be:

• If the foreign business requests to close the representative by obtaining necessary approval;
• If the foreign business ends its business in compliance with the laws of the foreign country;
• If the business license of the representative office expires and is not extended, either by the foreign business or the relevant local authorities; or
• If the business license of the representative office is revoked.

The Vietnamese authorities would normally revoke representative office business licenses, if:

• It does not commence business within six months of being granted the license;
• It has not operated for six consecutive months and does not report to the relevant licensing agency;
• It has not properly reported its operations for two consecutive years;
• It has not regularly reported any issued requirements to the relevant authorities within six months of receipt; or
• It operates outside of the specified scope and outside of the law.

For a company in Vietnam, dissolution normally would take around four to six months. For representative office, the dissolving process generally takes around 30 days.