If your company is preparing an application for an international multimodal transport business license, the most important fact is this: the license is STILL issued – by the Ministry of Construction, within three working days, with five-year validity. What changed on 15 January 2026 is that Decree 14/2026/ND-CP replaced Articles 6 and 7 of Decree 87/2009/ND-CP to simplify the procedure (one-stop or online filing, electronic dossiers, re-issuance within two working days) – it did not abolish licensing, as some summaries once suggested. This article sets out the dossier, timelines and issuing authority under the current framework, with the old rules kept for comparison.
Legal basis
- Decree 87/2009/ND-CP on multimodal transport: Article 5 (business conditions – unchanged and in force), Article 6 (issuance procedure) and Article 7 (re-issuance); Articles 6 and 7 have been replaced by Decree 14/2026/ND-CP.
- Decree 14/2026/ND-CP of 13 January 2026 (effective 15 January 2026): Article 1 replaces Article 6, Article 2 replaces Article 7, Article 3 replaces Appendices I, II and III, Article 4 provides the transition and Article 5 adds Article 4a (principles for performing administrative procedures) to Decree 87/2009/ND-CP.
The issuance dossier under the current Article 6
The enterprise files one dossier set directly at the Ministry of Construction one-stop section, by postal service, or on the National Public Service Portal. The contents differ by the two subject groups in Article 5:
- Subjects in clause 1 of Article 5 (Vietnamese enterprises and cooperatives and foreign enterprises investing in Vietnam): (a) the original or electronic form of the application under the template in Appendix I; (b) one original or an electronic copy issued from the original register of the audited financial statements; an enterprise that does not undergo audit must instead be guaranteed equivalently by a bank or another organisation or individual, or have an alternative financial plan as provided by law.
- Subjects in clause 2 of Article 5 (enterprises of states party to the Framework Agreement on Multimodal Transport): (a) the application under the Appendix I template; (b) a copy of the international multimodal transport business registration certificate or equivalent document issued by the competent authority of that state and consular-legalised; (c) the original multimodal transport professional liability insurance contract or an equivalent guarantee.
One simplification is easily missed: the new dossier no longer requires a copy of the business or enterprise registration certificate – under clause 6 of the new Article 6, the licensing authority itself checks the enterprise registration information on the National Business Registration Portal or the enterprise information portals of provincial Departments of Finance before issuing; if the international multimodal transport business line is not registered or the registration number or enterprise name does not match, the dossier is handled as incomplete.
Issuing authority and timelines
The issuing authority is the Ministry of Construction (before 15 January 2026, the Ministry of Transport). If the dossier is incomplete, within three working days of receipt (in person, online, or the date of the postal stamp), the Ministry of Construction must reply to the enterprise in writing and state the reasons. On a complete dossier, the Ministry issues the license within three working days of receipt; the license is valid for five years from the date of issue. For comparison, the old layer: under Decree 144/2018/ND-CP issuance took five working days and the authority was the Ministry of Transport – both points have been replaced and no longer apply to dossiers filed from 15 January 2026.
Re-issuance under the current Article 7
A license is re-issued when one of the particulars recorded in it changes during its validity, or when the license expires, is lost, destroyed or damaged. The dossier comprises the re-issuance application under the Appendix II template and – for re-issuance on expiry or a change of recorded particulars – audited financial statements or an alternative financial plan or an equivalent guarantee. The Ministry of Construction re-issues within two working days of receipt of a complete dossier; an invalid dossier receives a written reply within two working days. A license re-issued on expiry is valid for a fresh five years from the date of issue; re-issuance for a change of particulars or loss, destruction or damage runs for the remaining term of the license already issued. Under the newly added Article 4a, information already held in national or sectoral databases is replaced by data once those databases operate, and procedure results are returned in electronic form with the same legal value as paper documents. Dossiers filed before 15 January 2026 continue to be processed under the old rules under the transitional provision in Article 4 of Decree 14/2026.
What should the company do now?
Four practical steps. One, inventory held licenses and plan re-issuance under the new Article 7 ahead of expiry (a license re-issued on expiry carries a fresh five-year term) or when license particulars change. Two, update capability documents and bid dossiers that still cite the old procedure – the Ministry of Transport, five working days, paper dossiers with certified copies of the registration certificate – to the current Ministry of Construction procedure. Three, keep the Article 5 conditions continuously satisfied (assets equivalent to SDR 80,000 and liability insurance), because a re-issuance dossier on expiry or a change of particulars must evidence the financial capacity again. Four, for running multimodal contracts, review license-referencing clauses so the license particulars (number, term, issuing authority) always match the current license.
Frequently asked questions
What did the multimodal transport license dossier include?
Under Article 6 of Decree 87/2009/ND-CP as replaced by Decree 14/2026/ND-CP: clause-1 subjects file the application under Appendix I and audited financial statements (the original or an electronic copy issued from the original register); without an audit, an equivalent guarantee or an alternative financial plan. Clause-2 subjects file the Appendix I application, the consular-legalised home-country international multimodal transport registration certificate and the original liability insurance contract or an equivalent guarantee. Filing is at the Ministry of Construction one-stop section, by post, or on the National Public Service Portal.
Which authority issued it, and how long did it take?
The Ministry of Construction issues it (before 15 January 2026, the Ministry of Transport). On a complete dossier: issuance within three working days; on an incomplete dossier: a written reply within three working days. The license is valid for five years from the date of issue.
How long does issuance take now?
Three working days from receipt of a complete dossier under clause 4 of the current Article 6 – previously five working days under Decree 144/2018/ND-CP. Re-issuance under the current Article 7: two working days from receipt of a complete dossier.
How long is the license valid?
Five years from the date of issue. On expiry, the enterprise applies for re-issuance under Article 7 and the re-issued license is valid for a fresh five years; re-issuance for a change of particulars, loss or damage runs for the remaining term of the license already issued.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council
