Buying and borrowing as a foreigner in Vietnam: 50 years, 30% and your visa

Foreign individuals have been able to own homes in Vietnam since 2015, and the Housing Law 2023, in force since 1 August 2024, kept that right with only small changes. What the law gives with one hand, the lending rules make hard to finance with the other. This guide covers both, briefly, and flags a change that is under discussion.

Who may buy, and what

A foreign individual who has been permitted to enter Vietnam, which in practice means a valid passport with an entry stamp and no diplomatic immunity, may buy or lease-purchase commercial housing in a housing project: apartments and houses, outside areas reserved for defence and security. Buying a home outside a project, from an individual on an ordinary street, is not available.

The two caps

• 30% of the apartments in a building. In a complex with several towers, the cap applies to each building.
• 250 houses in an area with the population of roughly one ward, about 10,000 people, across all projects in that area.

These are set by Article 19 of the Housing Law and Decree 95/2024/NĐ-CP. When the foreign quota in a building is full, a developer cannot sell another unit there to a foreign buyer, however willing both sides are. Ask how much of the quota remains before paying a deposit.

Fifty years, renewable once

Under Article 20, a foreigner’s ownership lasts as agreed in the contract but no more than 50 years from the date the ownership certificate is issued, and the term is printed on the certificate. It may be extended once, for up to another 50 years, on application to the provincial People’s Committee at least three months before it expires. At the end of the term the owner must sell or give the home away.

One exception matters to many readers: a foreigner married to a Vietnamese citizen and living in Vietnam has the same ownership rights as a Vietnamese citizen, without the time limit.

Why the mortgage is the hard part

The State Bank’s lending circular, Circular 39/2016/TT-NHNN, expressly includes individuals of foreign nationality among the people a Vietnamese bank may lend to. It then adds the condition that decides almost everything: for a foreign individual residing in Vietnam, the loan term may not exceed the remaining period they are permitted to reside.

A temporary residence card is issued for a limited period, for employees usually tied to the term of their work permit. A home loan limited to the remaining life of a residence card is a very short home loan, and the instalment on a short loan is very large. Take 2.4 billion dong at 11.5% on equal principal:

Some banks renew or roll the loan as the residence card is renewed; that is a matter of bank policy and of the contract, not a right, and it should be in writing if you are relying on it. Product pages of the banks that lend to foreigners also show further conditions: some accept only foreigners married to a Vietnamese citizen, most require a work permit and local income, and loan-to-value limits are typically lower than for Vietnamese borrowers.

Foreign-currency home loans are generally not available, so a borrower paid in dollars or euros carries the exchange rate risk on every instalment.

A change under discussion

In September 2026 the Ministry of Construction published a draft revision of the Housing Law that would limit foreign ownership to apartments, ending the right to buy houses, while keeping the 30% building cap and the 50-year term. It is a draft, not law. If you are buying a house rather than a flat, check its status before signing.

Before you commit

1. Confirm the project is a commercial housing project outside restricted areas.
2. Ask how much of the building’s 30% foreign quota is left.
3. If borrowing, ask the bank for the maximum term given your residence card, and run that term in the loan inspector.
4. Budget for the purchase costs set out in what buying a home costs on top of the price; they apply to foreign buyers in the same way.