The current premises are full, a new industrial park is offering better rents, or logistics strategy pulls the project closer to a port — there are many sound reasons for an FDI project to move. But location is one of the core contents recorded on the Investment Registration Certificate: the project may only be implemented at the registered site. Changing location, whether to another province or to the industrial park next door, is a change that requires amending the IRC before operating at the new place. This article explains the procedure under Investment Law 143/2025/QH15 and Decree 96/2026/ND-CP, focusing on what is re-appraised at the new site and what must be closed out at the old one.
Moving within a province versus moving to another province
A move within the same province keeps the same investment registration authority that issued the IRC; the amendment file concentrates on the suitability of the new site. If both sites sit in industrial parks under the same management board, the handling channel is even more compact. A move to another province is one level more complex: the new province’s registration authority becomes the issuing point for the amendment, the project dossier must be coordinated between the two localities, and the project must satisfy the new province’s conditions afresh — planning, land and sector requirements tied to the territory. The project code and the project’s compliance history travel with it, so unfinished business in the old province, such as outstanding reports or a lagging schedule, can surface in the new province’s appraisal.
What is re-appraised at the new site
The most common misconception is that a location change is merely “notifying a new address”. In substance, appraisers treat the new site as a fresh ground test: whether the site fits land-use and sector planning; whether the investor has lawful rights to use it — a land sublease inside an industrial park, a factory lease, or allocation and lease documentation for land outside parks; environmental conditions for production at the new position; and compatibility on infrastructure and fire safety. Where the new site involves State allocation or lease of land, the project performance security obligation under the 2025 Investment Law is considered correspondingly. The amendment dossier therefore usually comprises: the investor’s decision on the location change, the written IRC amendment request, legal documents for the new site, an explanation of the reasons for moving and the plan for the old site, and a report on project implementation to date.
Closing out the old site — and the one thing to avoid
Winding down the old location
The old site does not vanish when the IRC is amended. The investor must settle or transfer the lease, complete obligations toward the infrastructure developer, deal with assets attached to the land under the lease terms, and finish any environmental duties when vacating the premises. If the old site was State-leased land, ending the land use must follow current land law (Land Law 31/2024/QH15). Reporting duties toward the old province’s registration authority should also be closed in writing to avoid residue.
The thing to avoid: operating at the new site before the amendment completes
While the amendment is pending, the investor may prepare at the new site at a level that does not amount to implementing the project — surveying, negotiating, signing conditional agreements. But installing machinery into operation, running production as an activity, or registering a business location at the new address before the IRC is amended amounts to implementing the project at an unregistered location, which can draw penalties and remedial orders, and creates risk for customer contracts signed on the basis of a not-yet-lawful site. The safe sequence is always: lock the new site’s legal status in writing, file the amendment, receive the amended IRC, then move operations — and if the transition needs a period of parallel running at both sites, state that plan openly in the explanation dossier so appraisers see the whole picture instead of discovering it on inspection.
Managing the transition around the amendment
The legal amendment is the center of a relocation, but the transition around it decides whether the move costs a quarter or a year. Start with the dependency map: which contracts name the old address — customer agreements, supply contracts, loan documents, insurance — and which registrations are address-bound, such as the enterprise registration, tax registration, fire safety documentation and environmental records. Each of these follows the amended IRC in its own procedure and its own time. Employees need attention early: a relocation can change the workplace stated in labor contracts, and the consultation and consent steps that labor law requires cannot be compressed into the moving week. Machinery movement has its own track — inventory, valuation and, for equipment under special customs regimes, the corresponding customs handling — and should be planned with the same care as the original import. Communicate the sequence to customers and the bank before rumors fill the gap: a short notice stating the legal effective date of the new location and confirming continuity of contracts prevents most of the commercial friction that relocations are blamed for. Handled this way, the amendment is one milestone in a managed transition, rather than the day everything stops.
Budget the move as a project in its own right: the amendment fee is the smallest line in it. Downtime between sites, duplicated rent during transition, equipment transport and recalibration, and staff relocation usually outweigh the paperwork cost many times over — another reason the legal step should be finished early, so the expensive physical steps are never performed twice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is the IRC amended when the project moves to another province?
File the amendment with the investment registration authority of the province hosting the new site, including the relocation decision, legal documents for the new site, and an explanation of how the old site will be handled. The project dossier is coordinated between the two localities, and the new site must satisfy planning and land conditions like a fresh implementation site. The project’s compliance history follows it.
Is moving within the same province simpler?
Yes, because the registration authority does not change and no inter-provincial dossier coordination arises. If both sites are in parks under the same management board, the procedure is more compact still. The new site is nonetheless appraised for planning conformity, use rights and environmental conditions — simpler in channel, not exempt from appraisal.
Can we operate at the new site while the amendment is pending?
No — implementing project activities at the new site before the IRC is amended means implementing at an unregistered location. What is permitted in this period is preparation: surveys, negotiations and conditional agreements. If a parallel-running transition is needed, present it clearly in the explanation dossier filed with the appraisal authority.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council
