Foreigners who purchase property in Vietnam can transfer money for the purchase in one of the following ways:

I. TRANSFER MONEY FROM A PERSONAL ACCOUNT FROM ANY BANK IN VIETNAM, TO THE SELLER'S ACCOUNT

II. TRANSFER MONEY DIRECTLY FROM YOUR PERSONAL BANK ACCOUNT IN YOUR COUNTRY TO THE SELLER'S ACCOUNT

III. PAY BY CASH IN THE SELLER'S BANK ACCOUNT

Let's explore how you can implement these options, taking into account the possibilities of transferring money to Vietnam:

I. TRANSFER MONEY FROM A PERSONAL ACCOUNT FROM ANY BANK IN VIETNAM, TO THE SELLER'S ACCOUNT

Vietnam banks require you to set up open a personal account and wire transfers by going into the bank. If you buy a property remotely, this option is not for you.
If you are in Vietnam, you need to open a personal account in any bank. This is a very simple and free procedure. You need only a passport with a valid visa and an hour of time. The only problem is that you can't put cash into your bank account (due to Vietnamese law). There are several alternative ways to do it:

1. Transfer money from a third-party bank account in your home country into your Vietnamese bank account.

2. Transfer money from your personal bank account from your home country into your Vietnamese bank account.

3. If you’ve already started a business in Vietnam, provide tax reports that prove you have income. This way you can deposit money with the bank. The amount of transfer is limited only by the amount of your official income.

4. If you are employed in Vietnam and have an employment contract, then you need only provide your personal bank account and your monthly salary - the amount of wages prescribed in the employment contract. The question arises whether there will be any consequences if you overstate the amount of wages in the contract, or not paying personal income tax. At the moment, the bank does not notify tax authorities and labor inspectorates about open accounts and contributions. Information is considered confidential. However, this can change at any time.

5. You have been sent a transfer by Western Union, MoneyGram, PayPal, or Web Money. A receipt for receiving such a transfer is the basis for depositing cash into your current account. Listed are the most user-friendly systems that are present in Vietnam. The maximum amount of transfer for one time by one person is 5 000 USD.

6. You have a VISA, MasterCard, or Union pay bank card opened in any foreign bank. ATMs in Vietnam issue a maximum amount of 3 000 000 VND to 5 000 000, about 140 USD – 220 USD. You can perform an operation to withdraw any amount of cash (within the bank limit) from your bank card by contacting the bank operator and filling out the application. A bank statement of cash withdrawal is a sufficient reason to deposit cash into your personal Vietnamese bank account. Do not forget to warn the bank that issued you a card that there will be a withdrawal of cash in Vietnam that will be more than the amount normally withdrawn to the ATM.

7. Declaration. You crossed the border into Vietnam and declared the import of money. The amount specified in the declaration can be deposited into your bank. In this case, remember that you have to declare less than 10 000 USD as your declaration is not transferred to the tax department of your home country.

8. Through a familiar Vietnamese citizen. If you have cash in Vietnam and none of the above options are right for you, you can ask a Vietnamese citizen to put your cash into their account and then transfer it to your account. The process seems strange, but it works in most banks (but not all banks - For example, Vietcombank does not provide such an opportunity). I always wonder whether a Vietnamese citizen will be asked why and for what purposes he transfers money to a foreigner's personal bank account, but so far this option is used quite often. We usually use Techcombank, and ACB Bank, as these are the most loyal to this procedure.

These are all possible options for making cash in your personal bank account in a Vietnamese bank. Signing a Contract with our company “Leadership TSC”  to represent your interests, you get rid of the headache of cash depositing to your personal account, since I am the director of a Vietnamese company, and this company has a bank account, I can contribute any amounts to my company account and make payment on the basis of our signed contract.

II. TRANSFER MONEY DIRECTLY FROM YOUR PERSONAL BANK ACCOUNT FROM YOUR COUNTRY TO THE SELLER'S ACCOUNT

Transferring money directly from abroad to the Seller's account. The seller will contact the bank to convert foreign currencies to Vietnamese currency. In this case, there should be codes of the bank (SWIFT) in which the seller has invoices when making the payment. You can choose this solution if:

• The money in your personal bank account is clear. All taxes and fees were paid;
• You deposit money with your bank (in your home country) because you sold some properties and can provide all confirmation information of the sale transaction to your bank.

III. PAY BY CASH IN THE SELLER'S BANK ACCOUNT

Foreigners do not have the right to make payments in cash through the bank without opening a personal bank account in Vietnam. In this case, you have only one option:

• Sign the Contract to represent your interests with our Company. Based on our Contract we can make any payment in Vietnam.

Leadership TSC provides services of property search and support of real estate transactions in Vietnam, contact us now.