Circular No. 16/2011/TT-BTNMT stipulates amendments and supplements to certain contents related to administrative procedures in the field of land.

CIRCULAR

Regulations amending and supplementing certain contents related to administrative procedures in the field of land

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Based on the Land Law dated November 26, 2003;

Pursuant to the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of Laws Related to Basic Construction Investment on June 19, 2009;

WHEREAS, Decree No. 181/2004/NĐ-CP dated October 29, 2004 of the Government on the implementation of the Land Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 84/2007/NĐ-CP dated May 25, 2007 of the Government stipulating additional provisions on issuing Land Use Right Certificates, land recovery, compensation, support, resettlement procedures when the State recovers land, and handling complaints about land;

Pursuant to Decree No. 88/2009/NĐ-CP dated October 19, 2009 of the Government on issuing Land Use Right Certificates, ownership certificates for houses, and certificates for other assets attached to land;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 56/NQ-CP dated December 15, 2010 of the Government on simplifying administrative procedures within the scope of management functions of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

Pursuant to Decree No. 25/2008/NĐ-CP dated March 4, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; Decree No. 19/2010/NĐ-CP dated March 5, 2010 of the Government amending and supplementing points c, d, g, h, and i of Clause 5, Article 2 of Decree No. 25/2008/NĐ-CP dated March 4, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment,

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment hereby promulgates regulations amending and supplementing certain contents related to administrative procedures in the field of land as follows:

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular stipulates amendments and supplements to certain contents regarding procedures for issuing Land Use Right Certificates, ownership certificates for houses, and certificates for other assets attached to land (hereinafter referred to as Certificates); reissuing Certificates due to loss; registering changes in land use and assets attached to land; registering transfer, inheritance, gift, lease, sublease, mortgage, or capital contribution with land use rights and assets attached to land; issuing Certificates in cases of subdividing, consolidating land plots; extending land use; changing land use purposes; returning land, leasing land in high-tech zones, economic zones.

Article 2. Applicability

1. State management agencies; specialized agencies on natural resources and environment and other relevant agencies; cadres of the People's Committee at commune, ward, town level.

2. Land users, owners of houses and other assets attached to land, organizations and individuals with relevant interests.

Chapter II

AMENDED AND SUPPLEMENTED CONTENTS

Article 3. Additional provisions on the time limit for processing procedures for issuing Certificates, registering changes in land and assets attached to land

1. The time limit for processing procedures for issuing Certificates stipulated in Clause 1, Article 12 of Decree No. 88/2009/NĐ-CP dated October 19, 2009 of the Government on issuing Land Use Right Certificates, ownership certificates for houses, and certificates for other assets attached to land (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 88/2009/NĐ-CP) for households, individuals, community groups, overseas Vietnamese who are entitled to own houses in Vietnam shall be as follows:

a) The time for performing tasks at the People's Committee at commune, ward, town level (hereinafter referred to as the commune level) shall not exceed ten (10) working days from the date of receiving complete valid files, excluding the time for publicizing the results of verification;

b) The time for performing tasks at the Land Registration Office under the Department of Natural Resources and Environment shall not exceed fifteen (15) working days from the date of receiving complete valid files. In cases where the application for issuance of Certificates is submitted directly to the Land Registration Office under the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the time limit prescribed in this point shall not include the time for sending the file to the People's Committee at commune level for verification, confirmation, and publicizing according to point a of this clause;

c) The time for performing tasks at state management agencies on housing, construction, agricultural management shall not exceed five (05) working days from the date of receiving the opinion solicitation form sent by the Land Registration Office;

d) The time for signing Certificates by the People's Committee at district, county, town level (hereinafter referred to as the district level) shall not exceed three (03) working days from the date of receiving complete valid files.

2. The time limit for processing procedures for issuing Certificates stipulated in Clause 1, Article 12 of Decree No. 88/2009/NĐ-CP for organizations, religious establishments, overseas Vietnamese, foreign organizations, and individuals shall be as follows:

a) The time for performing tasks at the Land Registration Office under the Department of Natural Resources and Environment shall not exceed twenty (20) working days from the date of receiving complete valid files;

b) The time for performing tasks at state management agencies on housing, construction, agricultural management shall not exceed five (05) working days from the date of receiving the opinion solicitation form sent by the Land Registration Office;

c) The time for signing Certificates by the People's Committee at provincial level or the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (in cases authorized) shall not exceed three (03) working days from the date of receiving complete valid files.

3. In cases of implementing procedures for subdividing or consolidating land plots and cases of converting agricultural land use rights where the registration change application only has land use right documents as stipulated in Clause 1, 2, and 5, Article 50 of the Land Law, in addition to the time limits for processing procedures as stipulated in Article 19 of Decree No. 84/2007/NĐ-CP and Clause 2, Article 147 of Decree No. 181/2004/NĐ-CP, there shall be an additional period not exceeding fifteen (15) working days for the Land Registration Office to perform verification and confirm conditions for issuing Certificates.

4. In cases where cadastral surveying of land plots is conducted when issuing Land Certificates or registering changes in land status at places without cadastral maps or due to subdividing, consolidating land plots, or adjusting boundaries of land plots, the time for conducting cadastral surveying shall not exceed seven (07) working days from the date of receiving valid application files. For areas in mountainous regions, islands, remote areas, and cases requiring cadastral surveying of multiple land plots, the implementation period shall not exceed ten (10) working days. The cadastral surveying must be carried out simultaneously with the process of checking and appraising application files at various levels; the time spent on this work shall not be included in the total processing time for issuing Land Certificates or registering changes in land status as stipulated in Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of this Article and Article 21 of Circular No. 17/2009/TT-BTNMT dated October 21, 2009, of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment regarding Land Certificates for land use rights, ownership of houses, and other assets attached to land (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 17/2009/TT-BTNMT).

Article 4. Detailed regulations on the procedure and formalities for reissuing lost Land Certificates

1. The person requesting the reissue of a Land Certificate shall submit one (01) set of application files at the Registration Office for Land Use Rights under the competent authority issuing the Land Certificate, which includes:

a) Application for reissuing a Land Certificate;

b) Documents proving that the announcement of the loss of the Land Certificate was published three (03) times within a period not exceeding ten (10) days in one of the mass media in the locality for domestic organizations, foreign organizations, foreign individuals, and overseas Vietnamese. For households and individuals, there must be a confirmation letter from the People's Committee of the commune certifying that the notice of loss of the certificate was posted at the People's Committee office for a period of fifteen (15) days.

In cases where the loss of the certificate is due to natural disasters or fire, there is no need to provide proof of publication of the loss announcement or posting of the notice, but a confirmation letter from the People's Committee of the commune regarding the natural disaster or fire must be provided.

2. The submission of application files for the reissue of a lost Land Certificate can only be made after thirty (30) days from the first day of publishing the loss announcement or from the day of posting the notice of loss of the Land Certificate or the date of signing the confirmation letter of the People's Committee of the commune regarding the natural disaster or fire as stipulated in point b, Clause 1 of this Article.

3. The Registration Office for Land Use Rights shall check the application files; submit to the competent state agency for signing the decision to cancel the lost Land Certificate, while simultaneously signing the issuance of a new Land Certificate; and hand over the Land Certificate to the person requesting the reissue of the Land Certificate.

Article 5. Supplementary provisions when registering changes in land use and attached assets due to name change; reduction in plot area due to natural erosion; change in usage restrictions; change in financial obligations; change in construction area, usable area, number of floors, main structure, building grade; change in information about forest tree ownership as stipulated in Article 29 of Circular No. 17/2009/TT-BTNMT

1. The type of document specified in point b, Clause 1 of Article 29 of Circular No. 17/2009/TT-BTNMT is defined as follows:

a) In cases where individuals or household representatives change their surname or name, they must have a certified copy of the recognition document issued by the competent state agency according to the law;

b) In cases where a household changes its head, a certified copy of the household registration book of that household must be provided; in cases where another member of the household becomes the representative, a written agreement of the household confirmed by the People's Committee of the commune must be provided;

c) In cases where an organization changes its name, a certified copy of the document issued by the competent authority allowing or recognizing the name change must be provided;

d) In cases where a community changes its name, a written agreement of the community confirmed by the People's Committee of the commune must be provided;

đ) In cases where the plot area or attached assets decrease due to natural erosion, a confirmation document from the People's Committee of the commune regarding the situation of natural erosion must be provided;

e) In cases where all financial obligations recorded on the Land Certificate have been fulfilled, evidence of completion of these obligations must be provided, except in cases where the land user is exempted or does not have to pay due to changes in land law regulations;

g) In cases where the usage restrictions or ownership of attached assets recorded on the Land Certificate are changed according to an agreement between interested parties in compliance with the law, a written agreement of the change confirmed by the People's Committee of the commune must be provided;

h) In cases where the construction area, usable area, number of floors, main structure, building grade recorded on the Land Certificate require permission according to construction law regulations, a certified copy of the construction permit issued by the competent authority must be provided.

In cases where information about ownership of production forests (plantation forests) is changed, a confirmation document from the People's Committee of the commune (for households, individuals, and communities) or documents specified in Clauses 5 and 6 of Article 10 of Decree No. 88/2009/NĐ-CP (for organizations) must be provided.

i) Copies of documents specified in points a, b, c, and h of this clause must be certified according to the law or not certified but the original must be presented for verification and comparison by the file receiving agency.

2. In cases where Page 4 of the issued Land Certificate has no space left for confirming changes, the Registration Office for Land Use Rights shall recover the issued Land Certificate for management and issue a new Land Certificate (based on the updated information) to submit to the competent authority for signature and issuance without having to go through the separate procedure for changing the Land Certificate and without requiring the land user or owner of attached assets to perform additional administrative procedures.

Article 6. Supplementary provisions on submitting the Certificate of Land Use Right when registering for land use right conversion, transfer, inheritance, gift, lease, sublease, mortgage, or contribution with land use rights and attached immovable property.

When registering for land use right conversion, transfer, inheritance, gift, lease, sublease, mortgage, or contribution with land use rights and attached immovable property, if the land user or owner of attached immovable property already has a Certificate of Land Use Right, Certificate of House Ownership and Attached Immovable Property Rights, Certificate of House Ownership and Residential Land Use Right, Certificate of Land Use Right, Certificate of House Ownership, or Certificate of Construction Project Ownership, they must submit the original certificate.

Article 7. Detailed regulations on the procedure and process for issuing the Certificate of Land Use Right to the person receiving land use rights and ownership rights of attached immovable property in cases of organizational division or merger; household division or division of groups of land users or owners of attached immovable property as stipulated in Article 140 of Decree No. 181/2004/ND-CP.

1. The person receiving land use rights shall submit one (01) set of documents including:

a) Application for issuance of the Certificate of Land Use Right as prescribed in Circular No. 17/2009/TT-BTNMT;

b) Certificate of Land Use Right, Certificate of House Ownership and Attached Immovable Property Rights, Certificate of House Ownership and Residential Land Use Right, Certificate of Land Use Right, Certificate of House Ownership, or Certificate of Construction Project Ownership that have been issued, or one of the documents regarding land use rights as prescribed in Clause 1, 2, and 5 of Article 50 of the Land Law and documents regarding ownership rights of attached immovable property as prescribed in Articles 8, 9, and 10 of Decree No. 88/2009/NĐ-CP (if there is a need to certify ownership rights of attached immovable property);

c) One of the following types of documents: decision of the competent authority regarding organizational division or merger; Household Registration Book for household division cases; agreement of the group of common land users or common owners of attached immovable property regarding the division of common land use rights and common ownership rights of attached immovable property.

2. Within no more than seven (07) working days from the date of receipt of complete and valid documents, the Office of Land Registration shall be responsible for reviewing the documents, confirming the legality of the documents and the conditions for issuing the Certificate of Land Use Right on the application form; extracting the cadastral map or conducting cadastral survey (for areas without a cadastral map), copying the cadastral file (for cases where a Certificate of Land Use Right has been issued), and printing the Certificate of Land Use Right to transfer to the natural resources and environment agency.

If the application for issuance of the Certificate of Land Use Right only includes documents regarding land use rights as prescribed in Clause 1, 2, and 5 of Article 50 of the Land Law, the time for the Office of Land Registration to perform its tasks shall be extended by no more than fifteen (15) working days.

3. Within no more than three (03) working days from the date of receipt of the documents, the natural resources and environment agency shall be responsible for signing the Certificate of Land Use Right (in cases of delegation) or submitting it to the People's Committee for signature and transferring it to the Office of Land Registration.

4. Within no more than three (03) working days from the date of receipt of the documents accompanied by the signed Certificate of Land Use Right, the Office of Land Registration shall be responsible for making copies of the Certificate of Land Use Right for archiving and sending them to the competent state authorities managing the type of attached immovable property being certified; delivering the Certificate of Land Use Right to the recipient who has fulfilled their financial obligations or sending it to the People's Committee of the commune or town for delivery in cases where the application was submitted at the commune or town level; updating changes in the cadastral file and database.

Article 8. Supplementary provisions when implementing registration procedures or requesting permission to change land use purposes as stipulated in Articles 133 and 134 of Decree No. 181/2004/NĐ-CP.

1. In cases where land users have a Land Use Right Certificate, House Ownership Certificate and other assets attached to the land, or a House Ownership Certificate and Residential Land Use Right Certificate, or a Land Use Right Certificate, they must submit the original certificate.

2. In cases where land users possess one of the land rights certificates as prescribed in Clauses 1, 2, and 5 of Article 50 of the Land Law (which have not yet been issued with a Certificate), in addition to performing the tasks specified in Point a, Clause 3, Article 133 or Clauses 2 and 3, Article 134 of Decree No. 181/2004/NĐ-CP, the Land Registration Office shall be responsible for checking the conditions for issuing the Certificate to present to the competent authority for issuance of the Certificate according to the new land use purpose.

Article 9. Supplementary provisions when implementing procedures for transferring land, leasing land in high-tech zones, economic zones as stipulated in Article 128 of Decree No. 181/2004/NĐ-CP.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment shall sign the Certificate (if authorized) or submit it to the People's Committee at the same level for signing for organizations receiving land transfer or lease from the Management Board of the high-tech zone or economic zone.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 10. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from July 5, 2011.

2. The following regulations are abolished:

a) Abolish the confirmation content of the People's Committee of the commune (township, town) in the Application Form for Allocation of Land for Housing (Form No. 02/ĐĐ) issued together with Circular No. 09/2007/TT-BTNMT;

b) Abolish Forms Application for Change of Land Use Purpose (Form No. 11/ĐK), Declaration Form for Registration of Change of Land Use Purpose (Form No. 12/ĐK), and Application Form for Extension of Land Use (Form No. 13/ĐK) issued together with Circular No. 09/2007/TT-BTNMT, and replace them with the Application Form for Registration of Changes in Land Use Rights, House Ownership Rights and Other Assets Attached to the Land (Form No. 03/ĐK-GCN) issued together with Circular No. 17/2009/TT-BTNMT, which includes additional content "III - Opinion of the Natural Resources and Environment Authority" for use in cases requiring permission to change land use purpose and cases of extending land use;

c) Remove the phrase "Supplementary page" in Clause 3, Article 4 of Circular No. 20/2010/TT-BTNMT dated October 22, 2010 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment regarding supplementary provisions on the Certificate of Land Use Right, House Ownership Right and Other Assets Attached to the Land.

Article 11. Responsibilities for Implementation

1. Chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall direct the implementation of this Circular in their localities and review and abolish local regulations that contradict the provisions of this Circular.

2. Directors of Departments of Natural Resources and Environment of provinces and centrally governed cities shall be responsible for organizing implementation in their localities in accordance with the provisions of this Circular.

During the implementation process, if there are difficulties or obstacles, agencies, organizations, and individuals shall promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for consideration and resolution./.