How to Register a Motorbike in Your Own Name in Vietnam as a Foreigner (2026)

A foreigner living and working in Vietnam presents a permanent residence card, or a temporary one with 6+ months of residence left, as the owner document. Commune police are assigned domestic owners; the traffic-police clause has no such limit, so file there. For a used bike, the seller must withdraw the old registration within 30 days of the transfer paperwork.

You’ve agreed to buy a used motorbike in Da Nang and the seller wants to close the deal today. Vietnam’s vehicle-registration circular says who qualifies to hold the registration in their own name.

Who the circular lets register a vehicle

Trường hợp chủ xe là người nước ngoài sinh sống và làm việc tại Việt Nam (trừ đối tượng quy định tại điểm a Khoản này): Xuất trình thẻ thường trú hoặc thẻ tạm trú (còn thời hạn cư trú tại Việt Nam từ 06 tháng trở lên).

A foreigner living and working in Vietnam, other than diplomatic, consular or international-organisation staff, must show a permanent residence card, or a temporary residence card with 6 months or more of residence time left in Vietnam, to be recognised as a vehicle owner. Thông tư 79/2024/TT-BCA

Diplomatic, consular and international-organisation staff show a different document instead.

Chủ xe là thành viên cơ quan đại diện ngoại giao, cơ quan lãnh sự, cơ quan đại diện của tổ chức quốc tế tại Việt Nam: Xuất trình chứng minh thư ngoại giao, chứng minh thư công vụ, chứng minh thư lãnh sự, chứng minh thư lãnh sự danh dự, chứng minh thư (phổ thông), còn giá trị sử dụng và nộp giấy giới thiệu của Cục Lễ tân Nhà nước, Bộ Ngoại giao hoặc Sở Ngoại vụ.

They show a diplomatic, official, consular, honorary-consular or ordinary ID card that is still valid, and submit an introduction letter from the State Protocol Department or the Ministry or Department of Foreign Affairs. Thông tư 79/2024/TT-BCA

Without a qualifying residence card

The owner-document rule names only these two cards, for a foreigner who lives and works in Vietnam. It does not mention a visa or a card with less time left. Ask the traffic police before you buy the bike.

Where registration happens

A vehicle owner registers at the vehicle-registration agency covering their own office or place of residence, whether a registered permanent or temporary residence, with some listed exceptions. Two agencies in the city do this, and the circular words their scope differently.

Phòng Cảnh sát giao thông đăng ký xe ô tô, rơmoóc, sơ mi rơmoóc, xe chở người bốn bánh có gắn động cơ, xe chở hàng bốn bánh có gắn động cơ, các loại xe có kết cấu tương tự xe ô tô (sau đây gọi chung là xe ô tô), xe mô tô, xe gắn máy và các loại xe có kết cấu tương tự xe mô tô (sau đây gọi chung là xe mô tô) và xe máy chuyên dùng của tổ chức, cá nhân có trụ sở, cư trú trong tỉnh, thành phố (trừ các loại xe quy định tại khoản 1 Điều này)

The provincial traffic police register cars, motorbikes and similar vehicles of organisations and individuals with an office or residence in the province or city, except vehicles covered by a separate clause.

Thông tư 79/2024/TT-BCA, Điều 4 khoản 2, as amended by Thông tư 51/2025/TT-BCA

Công an cấp xã đăng ký xe ô tô, xe máy chuyên dùng, xe mô tô của tổ chức, cá nhân trong nước có trụ sở, cư trú trong tỉnh, thành phố (trừ xe có nguồn gốc tịch thu và các loại xe quy định tại khoản 1 Điều này).

Commune-level police register a motorbike for a domestic organisation or individual with an office or residence anywhere in the same province or centrally-run city, except a confiscated-origin vehicle or one covered by a separate clause. Thông tư 79/2024/TT-BCA, as amended by Thông tư 51/2025/TT-BCA

The commune-police clause names domestic owners. The traffic-police clause does not use that wording. A foreign owner therefore files with the provincial traffic police.

If you’re registering a new motorbike

1. Confirm you live and work in Vietnam and hold a permanent residence card, or a temporary residence card with 6+ months of residence time left, or the diplomatic-staff documents above.
2. Gather the first-registration dossier: the registration declaration, your owner papers, proof of the vehicle’s origin, proof of lawful ownership, and proof of the registration-tax payment.
3. File the dossier with the provincial Traffic Police Department (Phòng Cảnh sát giao thông) for your city of residence.
4. The registration certificate issues no more than 2 working days after the agency receives a complete, valid file.

If you’re registering a used motorbike

The seller, the owner named on the current registration, must file to withdraw it within 30 days of the ownership-transfer paperwork being made. After the withdrawal, you file the change-of-owner registration.

If 30 days pass and the seller has neither filed the withdrawal nor handed you the registration certificate and plate to file it, the agency runs an administrative-penalty procedure first. If the seller never comes in at all, the agency draws up a violation record against the seller and fines them. You may sign that record as a witness and sign the withdrawal papers.

An owner who does not complete the change-of-owner registration is fined VND 800,000–1,000,000 for an individual, or VND 1,600,000–2,000,000 for an organisation.

1. Seller declares the withdrawal form online with a dossier code, or in person with form ĐKX11 at the registration agency where the seller lives or is based. Then the seller submits the withdrawal dossier and gets a receipt slip with the result date.
2. The withdrawal certificate is issued within 8 working hours of a complete, valid dossier filed fully online. Partly online or in person, it is no more than 2 working days.
3. You gather the ownership-transfer dossier: the registration declaration, your owner papers, the ownership-transfer document, the registration-tax payment document, and the certificate that the old registration was withdrawn.
4. You bring the bike to the registration agency for inspection and file the dossier there.

For fees, the change-of-owner registration counts as re-issuing the registration certificate and plate.

Fees and registration tax

Da Nang, a centrally-run city other than Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, is in fee Zone II. Zone I is Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

These are first-registration fees, for a bike registered in Vietnam for the first time, including a used one never registered here. For a change of owner, the fee is the re-issue fee for a motorbike’s registration certificate with a plate: VND 70,000.

The registration tax rate for a motorbike is 2% when tax is paid on the bike for the first time; from the second time onward, the rate is 1%.

Registering the bike is separate from being licensed to ride it. Check the driving licence rules for foreigners before you take it on the road.

↑ Contents

Not confirmed: Whether a visa, a card with under 6 months left, or a card held by someone not working in Vietnam is enough to register a motorbike in your name. Whether you have your own deadline to register a used bike, and who the fine falls on. Ask the traffic police on each point before you buy.

General information checked against the sources listed above, not legal advice for your situation. Rules and office practice change; confirm with the immigration office or a licensed adviser before you act. See how guides are checked.

Spotted an error? Report it.