Online and blended partnership rules · Circulars 07/2025, 56/2026, 65/2026 and 49/2026
What this means for you
- Start with the degree issuer and the student's location; domestic undergraduate teaching, foreign-linked delivery and recognition have different tests.
- For foreign-linked programs, up to 30% online workload is direct delivery; more than 30% through 50% is combined delivery for bachelor's and master's; above 50% is bachelor's only.
- Assessment for online or blended subjects normally stays in person at the Vietnamese partner, with the specified force-majeure exception.
- A permitted online percentage or university decision does not guarantee recognition of the foreign award. Check recognition and cohort transitions separately.
Questions about how this applies to your institution? Talk it through with a USVN senior advisor.
The detail
Last verified: 2026-10-30. Not legal advice.
Circular 38/2020 has been replaced. Use Circular 07/2025 for the new regime, while checking its grandfathering provision for existing approvals. Verified status memo; Official Circular 07, Article 8, printed pages 6–7. Last verified: 2026-10-21.
Foreign-linked categories under Circular 07/2025
| Delivery form | Online share of total program workload | Permitted levels within Article 2 |
|---|---|---|
| In person | 30% or less | Bachelor's, master's, doctorate |
| Blended | More than 30%, at most 50% | Bachelor's, master's |
| Online | More than 50% | Bachelor's only |
All rows: Article 2, printed pages 3–4. Last verified: 2026-10-21. Exactly 50% falls in blended; exactly 30% falls in in-person. These categories are not launch approvals or degree-recognition guarantees.
Circular 07 requires a pre-course study plan, compliance with Vietnamese and foreign-institution requirements on technology in online instruction, foreign faculty responsibility for at least 25% of workload, and the institution's oversight and reporting. Articles 4 and 7, printed pages 4–6. Last verified: 2026-10-21.
Amended Decree 86 Article 20(3) requires assessments for online/blended subjects to be organized in person at the Vietnamese partner, except specified force-majeure situations. Do not promise that “online” means no attendance in Vietnam. Official consolidated decree, page 16. Last verified: 2026-10-21.
Undergraduate delivery and approval are separate checks
Circular 56/2026, effective July 7, replaces 08/2021 and 28/2023. For Vietnamese undergraduate education it distinguishes regular/continuing forms from direct/distance/combined methods. Regulation Article 5(1) requires more than 50% actual direct daytime teaching at the institution for regular education, accounting for distance delivery, domestic-partner teaching and recognized credit together. Article 12(2)'s remote-assessment weight limit is a different measure. Foreign-awarded programs follow the specific cooperation rules plus compatible undergraduate requirements under Articles 2(7) and 7. Do not transfer one instrument's percentage to another regime.
Article 27 preserves the specified earlier-announced/ongoing cohorts, linkages and recognized learning; the new rules apply to the stated 2026/27-onward cohort. Internal rules must be aligned before December 31, 2026, with learner-beneficial adoption during transition subject to quality/accountability. Official signed Circular 56, pp.1, 4–5, 10, 23–24.
Approval-route update, checked October 30, 2026: Resolution 66.18/2026/NQ-CP, Annex I.11 section 1.C.IV–VI, replaces the specified prior approval/extension/adjustment procedures with HEI decisions, disclosure, database updates and supervision, while retaining substantive quality conditions. Its relevant window generally runs July 1, 2026–February 28, 2027, subject to Article 7(4)'s intervening-instrument rule and the specific existing-approval/pending-file transitions. An old ministry dossier, five-year renewal period or autonomy label does not by itself establish the current route. Official resolution · Tracker and transition detail. Verify the institution's decision-maker and the actual program's current legal basis.
Transition and recognition
Circular 07 Article 8(2) preserves the published provisions of programs approved before May 5, 2025. Read that delivery transition with Resolution 66.18 section 1.C.V's separate savings for pre-effective approval decisions and institutional extensions/adjustments; do not apply the former fixed-term renewal procedure as the current default. Circular 07, Article 8(2). Last verified: 2026-10-21.
Recognition changed on September 26, 2026. Circular 65/2026 Article 10 replaces Circulars 13/2021 and 07/2024, subject to Article 9 transitions for earlier applications and specified doctoral cohorts. Article 3(5) requires distance programs to be permitted by the competent education authority in the country where the learner resides and studies, as well as meeting home-country conditions. Vietnam-based activity must satisfy Article 3(3)'s lawful-operation conditions where applicable. A master's program with 40% online workload does not automatically qualify for recognition or a procedural exemption. Neither an approved partnership nor online workload of at most 30% supplies a general Article 6(4) exemption. Preserve only the specific Article 9 earlier-application, doctoral and existing-inspection/conclusion cases. New recognition rule and transition detail; Official signed text, Articles 3, 6, 9–10. Last verified: 2026-10-21.
Before signing
Recommended agreement provisions: define the workload calculation; identify assessment sites; assign academic identity checks, accessibility, technical support, records and data responsibilities; disclose attendance and award-recognition limitations to students. Circular 49/2026, effective August 15, replaces Circulars 15/2018 and 30/2023 and requires specified LMS functions, institutional acceptance, academic-integrity and data controls. It does not by itself expand permitted modes. This page covers joint delivery with a Vietnamese institution; direct cross-border online enrollment needs separate classification. Confirm institutional decision authority, recognition conditions and subsequent amendments for the actual program. Online and Distance Delivery. Last checked: 2026-10-22.
Related: joint programs; dual degrees.
For general information only, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with qualified counsel and the relevant Vietnamese authorities before acting.