Resolution 66.18/2026/NQ-CP · Issued May 18, 2026; relevant change July 1, 2026
What this means for you
- The specified joint-program approval, extension and adjustment procedures shift to university decisions, with disclosure, database updates and oversight.
- Quality and learner-protection duties remain. Extensions or adjustments require the specified website and database update within five working days.
- The relevant temporary window generally ends February 28, 2027, but corresponding provisions may end earlier under qualifying later rules. Check existing approvals and pending-file transitions.
Questions about how this applies to your institution? Talk it through with a USVN senior advisor.
The detail
Instrument: 66.18/2026/NQ-CP, issued May 18, 2026. Relevant education-linkage provisions generally effective July 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027, subject to Article 7's intervening-instrument rule. Last verified: October 30, 2026. Official Gazette record and full text.
What changed: Annex I.11, section 1.C.IV removes the specified prior approval procedure under Decree 86 Articles 21(1), 22, 23(1) and 24 and the listed 124 provisions. The HEI decides and bears responsibility, based on institutional/program standards and quality conditions. Section 2.C.III–IV disapplies the listed approval/extension conditions as approval conditions; section 1.C.IV(2)(a) expressly retains substantive quality conditions under Decree 86 Articles 16, 17, 18(1), 19 and 20 as amended. Do not translate the procedural change into removal of curriculum, staffing, facilities, assessment or learner-protection obligations. Official text, Annex I.11, PDF pp.382–385 and 407.
Who is affected: Vietnamese HEIs undertaking foreign-linked bachelor, master and doctoral training, their foreign academic partners and existing programs seeking extension or adjustment. This is not an offshore online-provider licence, foreign-degree recognition exemption, branch licence or guarantee that any proposed program satisfies the standards. It also is not confined to a marketing category of “autonomous university”; verify the actual HEI decision-maker and the applicable later instruments.
What the institution must do: maintain quality conditions; update the specialized higher-education database; publish accurate partnership information throughout delivery; align training with objectives/outcomes and quality; and accept MOET/local inspection, suspension, termination and penalties. Disclosed information includes partners/legal status, field/level, entrants, duration, form/method, language, faculty, intake, delivery address, issuer/award and tuition. Section 1.C.IV, PDF p.383.
Extensions, adjustments and existing approvals: section 1.C.V says pre-effective approval decisions continue for the parties' linkage, unless suspended/terminated. The HEI decides extension/adjustment on the stated quality basis and must disclose and update the website/database within five working days of its decision. Do not carry forward the older five-year renewal or 20-working-day government appraisal process as the current default for an activity covered by this resolution. Section 1.C.VI addresses institution-decided requested termination, learner/financial protection, publication, data updates and notice to MOET. PDF pp.383–385.
Transition and expiry: Article 6 distinguishes pending simplified procedures (earlier law at receipt), abolished procedures (stop processing; return files on request) and existing valid documents (continue to expiry). Read the specific linkage savings in section 1.C.V as well. Article 7(2)'s May 20 exceptions concern the enumerated A/B education sections, not a blanket early commencement for the C linkage provisions. Under Article 7(4), corresponding resolution provisions cease when a qualifying later instrument, issued/passed and effective in the specified window, takes effect. The February 2027 end date is therefore an outer window, not an unconditional guarantee of unchanged rules until then. Articles 6–7, PDF pp.4–5.
What a US school should do: replace the old blanket “submit a ministry approval dossier” checklist with a dated legal-route determination, evidence of the Vietnamese institutional decision, standards/quality file, disclosure/data records and the actual transition basis. Separately establish permitted delivery under Circular 07/2025, applicable undergraduate rules under Circular 56/2026, and recognition under Circular 65/2026. Recheck before recruitment, extension/adjustment and the February 2027 boundary.
Current delivery Library page · Joint-program rules · Online and Distance Delivery · Prepare a briefing.
For general information only, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with qualified counsel and the relevant Vietnamese authorities before acting.