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

A foreigner with a permanent residence card, or a temporary residence card valid 6 months or more, can register a motorbike in their own name. File with the provincial traffic police; commune police register domestic owners only. For a used bike, the seller must withdraw the old registration within 30 days of the sale.

You’ve agreed to buy a used motorbike in Da Nang and the seller wants to close the deal today. Here’s what Vietnam’s vehicle-registration circular says about 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 valid for 6 months or more, 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 valid diplomatic, official, consular or courtesy ID card, still in date, plus 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

No source checked says what happens in this case.

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. 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.

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 is limited to domestic owners. The traffic-police clause carries no such limit. As a foreign owner, you file with the provincial traffic police.

If you’re registering a new motorbike

1. Confirm you hold a permanent residence card, or a temporary residence card with 6+ months 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 (Phòng Cảnh sát giao thông) for your city of residence.
4. Receive the registration certificate and plate within 2 working days of the agency accepting a complete, valid file.

If you’re registering a used motorbike (sang tên)

The seller — the owner named on the current registration — must file to withdraw it within 30 days of the ownership-transfer paperwork being made, not the buyer.

If the seller misses that deadline, the agency runs an administrative-penalty procedure before processing the case further. The same applies if the seller won’t hand over the registration certificate and plate for you to file the withdrawal yourself. If the seller never comes in at all, the agency fines them directly and lists you as a witness on the record.

Not completing the change-of-owner registration is fined 800,000–1,000,000 VND for an individual owner, or 1,600,000–2,000,000 VND for an organisation.

1. Seller declares the withdrawal form online with a dossier code, or in person with form ĐKX11 at the registration agency. Then the seller submits the withdrawal dossier and gets a receipt slip with the result date.
2. You gather the sang-ten 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.
3. You bring the bike to the registration agency for inspection and file the dossier there.
4. The withdrawal certificate issues within 8 working hours if done fully online, or within 2 working days if partly online or in person.

Legally, this sang-ten registration is a case of re-issuing the registration certificate and plate, not a first-time registration.

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.

The sang-ten re-issue fee for a motorbike is a flat 70,000 VND nationwide, not split by zone.

The registration tax (lệ phí trước bạ) rate for a motorbike is 2% the first time it’s paid; 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.

Not confirmed: The circular requires a permanent or temporary residence card with 6+ months left to register a vehicle. It doesn't say what happens if that condition isn't met — no alternative route, temporary registration, or refusal is spelled out. It's unclear whether the buyer of a used motorbike has their own separate day-count deadline for registering, distinct from the seller's 30-day withdrawal duty. The circular describes the buyer's registration steps, but states no separate deadline for them. Whether a used-bike sale between two foreigners needs anything beyond the standard ownership-transfer paperwork isn't addressed in the sources checked.

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.

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