Resolution 23/2026/NQ-CP · Education procedure reform
What this means for you
- Recruitment consultancy, a joint degree and a foreign branch follow different procedures; one checklist will not cover them all.
- The specified study-abroad consultancy route uses advance notification and continuing disclosure, not the former business-certificate procedure.
- For a new branch application, use the later Decree 361 rules. Older files and temporary procedures need their own date and transition checks.
Questions about how this applies to your institution? Talk it through with a USVN senior advisor.
The detail
1. The rule and its status
The resolution simplifies and reallocates specified education procedures, but later sector rules and the resolution's transitions determine which route applies today. Issued/effective April 29, 2026; partly displaced for new branch cases by Decree 361 from September 17. Official record; signed resolution.
2. Who it affects and what it means for a US school
The relevant annex depends on the activity. Annex IV addresses foreign-invested/foreign-branch education procedures; Annex VI addresses study-abroad consultancy. A single “education approval” checklist will therefore give the wrong result. The resolution also has a temporary operating horizon and a rule for replacement instruments; do not use an earlier annex against a later decree governing the same new application.
3. What to do, by partnership model
- Recruitment: determine whether a Vietnamese intermediary carries on regulated study-abroad consultancy. Annex VI replaces the old business-certificate procedure with notification to the local education department at least five working days before operation, plus the specified disclosure/oversight requirements. The July 1 conditional-business transition must be distinguished from the resolution's general April 29 effectiveness.
- 2+2/3+1: decide whether the activity is recruitment/consultancy or linked educational delivery; notification for consultancy does not license a degree program.
- Dual degree/joint program: retain the separate linked-program authorization analysis. These models are not automatically approved by using a simplified recruitment process.
- Online/blended: identify the underlying provider/program and permitted mode. Digital recruitment does not remove classification or disclosure obligations.
- Branch campus: for a new application use361's current conditions/procedures. Use Annex IV historically only where a valid saved-file route applies; compare the filing and completeness dates under 361 Article 42.
Recommended diligence: retain the intermediary's notification evidence, current disclosures and scope, and assign responsibility for student information and complaints. For branches, keep establishment and operation files separate. The former annex's20-day operating appraisal must not be marketed as the current new-application process after 361.
4. Change history
The resolution modifies the earlier sector procedure framework rather than replacing every education instrument. Annex IV and Annex VI · Final official Gazette record should be read with Article 6, the Investment Law's July 1 transition and 361 Articles 41–42. The resolution's outer March 1, 2027 horizon is not a guarantee that every provision remains operative until that date where replaced sooner. Check whether later instruments have changed the provision needed for your activity.
5. Sources and verification
Official signed resolution · Annex IV · Annex VI
Last verified: 2026-10-22. English explanation; the official Vietnamese text controls.
6. Related pages
Recruitment rules · Investment Law · Current branch regime · University Atlas · Why partnerships stall.
7. Briefing and legal note
Not legal advice. Prepare a briefing with a USVN senior advisor to identify the activity, notification/approval evidence and current procedural route before launching recruitment or a campus project.
For general information only, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with qualified counsel and the relevant Vietnamese authorities before acting.