A 100% foreign-owned hospital may be established in Vietnam, but the medical examination and treatment operation licence — not the IRC — is the real door: conditions on licensed practitioners, bed — clinic scale and equipment by registered speciality scope decide whether the facility may receive its first patient. Looking at actual files on foreign-owned hospital IRC conditions shows that most problems at this stage do not come from prohibitions, but from steps taken in the wrong order or documents that are inconsistent between authorities.
Short answer
In short: a foreign-invested medical facility operates under Medical Examination and Treatment Law 15/2023/QH15 and Decree 96/2023/ND-CP: it must hold an operation licence with a specific speciality scope, practitioners — including foreign doctors — must hold a Vietnam practice licence and meet language conditions (Vietnamese proficiency assessment or a registered interpreter), medical equipment must satisfy the technical lists of each registered speciality, and hospital project scale — capital bears health sector investment conditions during project appraisal.
In foreign-owned hospital IRC conditions, the principle that always holds is that the authorities recognise only written evidence, and oral agreements or email exchanges cannot substitute for formal documents.
Detailed analysis
The operation licence condition structure has three tightly linked groups. Personnel: the facility must have enough practitioners for its registered scale and speciality scope — the technical professional in charge must meet experience and practice licence conditions, and every doctor directly examining and treating must hold a practice licence issued by a Vietnamese authority; a foreign doctor wishing to practise in Vietnam must go through Vietnam practice licensing (foreign certificate recognition by process), plus Vietnamese language conditions to communicate with patients — passing a Vietnamese proficiency assessment or working through an interpreter registered with the facility. Scale — facilities: a hospital must reach minimum bed scale by type, and general — specialist clinics carry area standards and speciality counts matching the registered scope. Equipment: medical equipment must be complete per the technical lists of the registered specialities and inspected — calibrated as prescribed.
The point investors most underestimate is that the operation licence attaches to exactly the appraised speciality scope: a facility registered for a speciality may perform only techniques of that speciality; adding a speciality means supplementing the scope with personnel — equipment re-appraisal. The full approval chain of an FDI health project therefore comprises: investment appraisal (with health investment conditions including hospital minimum scale — capital under the current commitment — regulatory framework, to be reconciled at project preparation time), enterprise registration, and the health authority medical operation licence — the layer deciding the real opening day.
Framework: Medical Examination and Treatment Law 15/2023/QH15 (effective 1 January 2024) and detailing Decree 96/2023/ND-CP (operation licence conditions for medical facilities: practising personnel, facilities, equipment by speciality scope; practice licences for practitioners including foreigners and language conditions); foreign investment conditions in health under the Investment Law 143/2025/QH15 framework and corresponding health service commitments. Specific scale — capital thresholds must be reconciled with current texts at project preparation time.
Risks and practical notes
For foreign-owned hospital IRC conditions, beyond administrative fines, the company may also face the bank refusing transactions, being classified as high-risk by the tax authority, and partners demanding an explanation of its legal status.
The specific risk: in healthcare, the dearest asset is licensed people, not the building — a hospital fully built but unable to assemble enough Vietnam-licensed doctors for its registered specialities stands still with all capital locked in equipment, so the practitioner staffing plan must run ahead of the construction plan, not behind it.
Action checklist
- Design the registered speciality scope by the doctor team actually licensable in Vietnam, not by ambition
- Start practice licensing for foreign doctors and Vietnamese language — interpreter conditions from the project preparation phase
- Build the equipment list per registered speciality with an inspection — calibration plan
- Reconcile hospital bed scale — clinic area conditions and project minimum capital under current texts before locking capital
- Receive patients only after the operation licence effective date and within the exact licensed speciality scope
Frequently asked questions
What conditions on doctors and equipment must a 100% foreign-owned hospital or clinic in Vietnam meet?
Under Medical Examination and Treatment Law 15/2023 and Decree 96/2023/ND-CP: the facility must hold a medical operation licence with a defined speciality scope; doctors — practitioners must hold Vietnam practice licences sufficient for the registered scale and specialities, with the technical person in charge meeting experience conditions; medical equipment must be complete per the technical list of each speciality and inspected as prescribed; and facilities must meet the area — scale standards of the corresponding hospital or clinic type.
What documents does a foreign doctor need to practise?
A foreign doctor needs: a Vietnam medical practice licence (through issuance — recognition procedures prescribed for foreign certificate holders), appraised professional degrees — certificates and experience, and language conditions — meeting the Vietnamese proficiency assessment used in medical practice or practising through an interpreter registered with the facility as prescribed. Without a Vietnam practice licence, a foreign doctor may not directly examine or treat patients despite holding a home-country certificate.
Minimum capital and scale?
A foreign-invested hospital belongs to the health project group carrying minimum scale and capital conditions under the current commitment — investment regulatory framework in health (exact levels to be reconciled with texts at project preparation time), while operating scale is locked by operation licensing standards: minimum bed counts by hospital type, speciality counts and areas matching the registered scope. Clinics carry markedly lower scale — capital thresholds than hospitals, but personnel — equipment standards for each registered speciality still apply in full.
FLAT Law Firm accompanies investors
When handling foreign-owned hospital IRC conditions, the FLAT Law Firm usually accompanies investors from the incorporation dossier review stage: checking the investment certificate against the enterprise registration and designing internal processes so that tax, foreign exchange and labour obligations in the first months of operation are not overlooked. For advice tailored to your company’s specific situation, please contact the FLAT Law Firm for a case assessment; we will propose a workable filing path based on your project structure and timeline.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council