HOW TO OPEN A BANK ACCOUNT IN VIETNAM FOR FOREIGNERS

In the context of strong international investment flows into Southeast Asia, Vietnam is solidifying its position as a primary hub for FDI enterprises, foreign experts, and tech startups. For international organizations and personnel establishing business operations, financial optimization is a top priority. To ensure smooth cash flow operations, understanding the process and how to open a bank account in Vietnam for foreigners is a strategic first step that simplifies financial transactions.

Legal Framework for Account Ownership by International Clients

Vietnam's financial system is becoming increasingly open and deeply integrated under the supervision and regulation of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV). Foreign individuals and entities fully retain the legal right to establish and operate payment accounts at domestic financial institutions or foreign bank branches operating legally in Vietnam.

The current legal framework maintains strict capital controls while creating optimal conditions for legitimate investment activities. Establishing a bank account in Vietnam not only satisfies personal spending needs but is also a mandatory legal requirement for foreign investors when contributing capital to enterprises via Direct Investment Capital Accounts (DICA) or Indirect Investment Capital Accounts (IICA).

Account Categorization for Foreign Clients

Based on the intended purpose and capital flow mechanisms, bank accounts in Vietnam for foreign clients are categorized into two main types:

• Foreign Currency Account: A payment account allowing account holders to hold, receive, and execute transactions in major foreign currencies such as USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, etc. This account type primarily serves to receive international investment capital, disburse cross-border trade, and mitigate exchange rate volatility risks.
• Vietnam Dong (VND) Account: A payment account utilizing the official currency of Vietnam (VND). It serves domestic transactions such as payroll processing, commercial invoice settlements, and integration with e-wallets and local payment gateways.

Detailed Comparison between Foreign Currency Account and VND Account:

Eligibility Criteria and Required Legal Documentation

To ensure a seamless account setup process, foreign applicants must satisfy strict customer due diligence standards.

Standard Eligibility Criteria

Under Article 11 of Circular 17/2024/TT-NHNN as amended and supplemented by Circular No. 25/2025/TT-NHNN , individuals eligible to open payment accounts at banks and foreign bank branches in Vietnam include:

• Individuals aged 15 or older who are not subject to lost or restricted legal capacity under Vietnamese law.
• Individuals under 15 years old and persons with lost or restricted legal capacity, who open accounts through their legal representatives.
• Persons with difficulties in cognition and behavioral control, who open accounts through their guardians.

These provisions apply equally to Vietnamese and foreign nationals. The distinction for foreign clients lies in the identification documents required as part of the application file.

Under Point c, Clause 2, Article 12 of Circular 17/2024/TT-NHNN (as amended and supplemented by Circular 25/2025/TT-NHNN), foreign individuals must present a passport or other identity documents issued by a competent foreign authority. Foreign nationals residing in Vietnam must additionally provide an entry visa, a visa-equivalent document, or proof of visa exemption. Alternatively, applicants may use their electronic identity through a Level 2 electronic identification account.

Standardized Document Package

All banks in Vietnam will require foreign applicants to present a standardized legal document package comprising:

• Account Opening Application Form: Completed using the bank's standard template, providing full personal details: Full name, date of birth, nationality, occupation, position, phone number, residential address (domestic and overseas), residency status, and tax identification number (if applicable).
• Entry Passport: Original valid passport containing a valid immigration stamp.
• Proof of Residency: Temporary Residence Card (TRC), Permanent Residence Card (PRC), proof of visa exemption or a valid visa (under Decree 69/2024/NĐ-CP and immigration laws).
• Digital Identity: Level 2 Electronic Identification for foreigners on the VNeID application (if registered).
• Representative/Corporate Documents (if applicable): If opening an account for an organization or through a representative, additional documents such as Business Registration / Investment Registration Certificates, legal authorization documents, and representative identification documents are required.

Step-by-Step Bank Account Opening Process in Vietnam

To ensure smooth verification, the standard operational workflow at commercial banks consists of 4 specific steps:

Step 1: Document Preparation and Submission

Applicants assemble all required original documents (passport, proof of visa exemption or valid visa, and temporary residence card). Documents issued by foreign authorities must be consularly legalized and notarized with a certified Vietnamese translation.

Step 2: On-site Presentation and In-Person Identification

Clients present themselves directly at the bank branch or transaction office. The bank verifies physical original documents, validates immigration stamps, and collects biometric data in compliance with financial safety regulations.

Step 3: Application Review & Compliance Verification (AML/KYC)

This is the decisive stage of the application. Under Article 15 of Circular 17/2024/TT-NHNN, the bank must verify the legality, validity and consistency of all documents, information and data submitted by the client, and must carry out customer identification in accordance with anti-money laundering legislation.

Know Your Customer (KYC/CDD)

Banks collect and verify customer identification information under the Law on Anti-Money Laundering No. 14/2022/QH15, Decree 19/2023/NĐ-CP, and Circular 09/2023/TT-NHNN. This includes verification of original identity documents, biometric data, occupation, residential addresses in Vietnam and abroad, residency status (resident or non-resident), and the intended purpose and nature of the business relationship.

Risk classification and enhanced due diligence (EDD)

Each client is scored and classified by money laundering risk level. For high-risk clients, including foreign politically exposed persons (PEPs) and certain complex ownership structures, banks must apply enhanced measures: approval at a management level at least one tier above standard, additional collection of information on income, source of funds, and beneficial ownership; and more frequent transaction monitoring.

Sanctions screening and international standards

Applications are screened against the blacklist maintained under anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism, and counter-proliferation financing legislation, as well as warning lists issued by the State Bank of Vietnam and other competent authorities. In parallel, banks operate compliance frameworks aligned with international standards that Vietnam participates in or references: the 40 Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF); Vietnam is a member of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG); United Nations Security Council resolutions on targeted financial sanctions; and international conventions on transnational organized crime and the suppression of terrorist financing. Banks maintaining international correspondent relationships typically extend internal policies to screen against sanctions lists of the relevant jurisdictions.

Outcomes

Under Clause 3, Article 15 of Circular 17/2024/TT-NHNN, the bank will: (i) approve the application and proceed to the account agreement stage where documentation is complete, accurate, and lawful; (ii) notify the client to complete the file where information is incomplete or inconsistent; or (iii) decline to open the account, stating the reasons. Where forged documents are identified, or the client appears on the Blacklist, the bank reports to the competent authorities and handles the case in accordance with the law.

Step 4: Contract Signing & Service Activation

Upon approval, both parties sign the Payment Account Opening and Use Agreement. The bank retains specimen signatures/digital signatures, issues the account number, and provides e-banking access credentials.

Optimizing International Cash Flow Management via FinFan & IRID

Once foreign individuals or FDI enterprises successfully open a bank account in Vietnam, they will need an optimal method to transfer capital from international markets back to Vietnam for investment, operational, or personal spending purposes.

Clients can, of course, receive funds from overseas directly through commercial banking systems using SWIFT codes. However, traditional transactions commonly encounter operational bottlenecks: intermediary correspondent fees accumulating across multiple layers, uncompetitive conversion rates, processing times of 2–5 business days, and limited visibility into transaction status throughout the transfer journey.

It should be noted that the obligation to evidence the purpose of a transaction and the source of funds is a mandatory requirement under Vietnamese foreign exchange management and anti-money laundering legislation, applying uniformly across all lawful remittance channels. The value of a technology solution lies in helping clients prepare, digitize, and manage this documentation systematically, not in reducing compliance requirements.

Why is FinFan's IRID Solution the Superior Choice?

Clients choose FinFan's IRID solution not because they cannot receive money through traditional banking methods, but because they require a faster, cheaper, and more transparent technology solution with standardized and digitized documentation workflows.

• **Superior Processing Speed: **Digitized infrastructure enables near-instant or same-day cross-border transaction processing, eliminating long waiting times typical of traditional payment networks.
• Transparent Costs & Competitive Rates: Cuts out multiple layers of intermediary bank fees, providing clear cost structures and exchange rates far more favorable than standard commercial board rates.
• Automated Reconciliation & Standardized Documentation: Transaction data is processed and reconciled automatically, while supporting documentation is digitized and stored centrally. This enables clients to meet compliance requirements more quickly and accurately, rather than assembling documents manually for each individual transfer.
• Centralized Management on IRID Portal: An intelligent management dashboard allows financial officers to track real-time fund status, generate automated reports, and proactively allocate capital directly on the IRID Portal.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How long does it take to approve a bank account opening application for a foreigner?

Typically, counter processing takes about 30 to 60 minutes if all required valid documents are provided. In cases requiring deep-dive verification of business registration or risk assessments, approval may take 1 to 3 business days.

2. Do banks in Vietnam support English-language services?

Yes. Most major commercial banks in Vietnam (such as Vietcombank, Techcombank, BIDV, ACB, etc.) and foreign bank branches (such as HSBC, Standard Chartered, Woori Bank, etc.) have fluent English-speaking staff and multilingual digital banking platforms (mobile/internet banking).

3. Can foreigners use eKYC to open an account completely online?

No, the process cannot be completed 100% online. Under the provisions on opening payment accounts by electronic means in Circular 17/2024/TT-NHNN, individual foreign clients are not eligible to open accounts entirely through electronic channels. In addition, for foreign nationals who do not use electronic identity, biometric data must be collected through in-person contact. Applicants must therefore attend a branch so the bank can verify the originals of the following documents:

• An account opening application form using the bank's standard template, completed with all information required under Article 14 of Circular 17/2024/TT-NHNN: full name, date of birth, nationality, occupation, position, phone number, passport number (date of issue, place of issue, and expiry date), visa number or number of visa-equivalent document, registered residential address abroad and in Vietnam, resident or non-resident status, and tax identification number (if applicable).
• Original valid passport or other identity documents issued by a competent foreign authority.
• Residency documents for foreign nationals residing in Vietnam: entry visa, a visa-equivalent document, proof of visa exemption, a Temporary Residence Card (TRC), or a Permanent Residence Card (PRC).
• Electronic identity via a Level 2 electronic identification account on VNeID (if registered), which may substitute for the documents above under Article 12 of Circular 17/2024/TT-NHNN.
• Representative or corporate documents (if applicable): identity documents of the representative and evidence of lawful representative status; for corporate clients, supporting legal documentation of the organization as required under anti-money laundering legislation.

Note: Documents issued by competent foreign authorities must be consularly legalized. For documents in a foreign language, the bank may agree with the client on whether or not to translate them into Vietnamese but remains responsible for confirming their content and for producing a certified, notarized, or authenticated translation upon request by a competent authority.

4. Can foreigners transfer foreign currency back to their home country from a VND account?

Yes. Foreigners can purchase foreign currency from a VND account and remit it abroad, provided they supply documentation proving legitimate income sources in Vietnam (such as employment contracts, payrolls, personal income tax receipts, or legitimate investment transfer documents).

Conclusion

Opening a bank account in Vietnam as a foreigner is straightforward if legal conditions are met and required documents are properly prepared. Understanding the process, selecting the right account type, and complying with banking requirements will help foreign individuals, investors, and businesses manage cash flow effectively while living and working in Vietnam.

Contact FinFan today so our team will guide you to fast, secure financial solutions.

• Website: https://finfan.io
• Email: support@finfan.vn
• Phone: +84 2866.853.317

Disclaimer

The information provided in this article is for reference and general knowledge purposes only and does not constitute formal legal, financial, or investment advice. Regulatory documents, State Bank of Vietnam regulations, and internal commercial bank policies are subject to change. Clients and readers should consult directly with transaction banks or legal advisors before making financial decisions.

FinFan operates as a technology provider and platform connection infrastructure. Processing, holding, and managing fund services are conducted by fully licensed financial institution partners in compliance with applicable law.