I. APPLICATION SCOPE AND COLLECTION LEVELS

1. This Circular prescribes fees for granting passports, visas and assorted papers to Vietnamese and foreigners on entry, exit, transit and residence (referred collectively to as entry/exit fees), which are collected in Vietnam by agencies under the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of Defense (not prescribing fees for granting passports, visas and assorted papers on entry and exit, which are collected by foreign-based Vietnamese diplomatic missions as prescribed in the Finance Ministry's Circular No. 99/2002/TT-BTC of October 25, 2002).

2. Vietnamese and foreigners, when being granted passports, visas and/or assorted papers on entry, exit, transit or residence in Vietnam by competent agencies under the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Defense, must pay fees according to the provisions of this Circular, except for the following cases entitled to fee exemption:

a/ Guests (including their spouses and children) of the Party, the State, the Government and the National Assembly or the leaders of the Party, the State, the Government or the National Assembly in their personal capacity.

b/ Administrative and technical staff (including their spouses and minor children) of foreign diplomatic missions and consular offices as well as international organizations, which enjoy privileges and immunities.

c/ Foreigners holding diplomatic passports or official passports issued by foreign countries on the basis of reciprocity.

d/ Foreigners eligible for fee exemption under the treaties or agreements which the Vietnamese Government has signed.

e/ Foreigners being citizens of the countries which have not yet signed treaties or agreements with Vietnam on the visa-fee exemption for each other's citizens but have unilaterally not collected the visa-granting fees from Vietnamese citizens holding diplomatic, official or general passports, shall also be correspondingly exempt from visa fees on the principle of reciprocity.

f/ Those who are entitled to fee exemption under decisions of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Public Security or the Minister of Defense.

For the above-said cases entitled to fee exemption, the fee-collecting agencies must stamp the "fee exemption (GRATIS)" seal on the granted papers.

3. The entry/exit fee levels are specified in the Fee Table issued together with this Circular.

The entry/exit fees are collected in Vietnam dong. For fee levels which are prescribed to be collected in US dollar (USD), they shall be collected in USD or Vietnam dong on the basis of converting USD into Vietnam dong at the actual average foreign currency sale/purchase rates on the inter-bank foreign currency market, announced by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time of fee collection.

II. ORGANIZATION OF COLLECTION, REMITTANCE AND USE MANAGEMENT

1. Agencies under the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Defense shall grant passports, visas and papers on exit, entry or residence prescribed in Clause 3 of Article 17 and Clause 3 of Article 18, of the Government's Decree No. 05/2000/ND-CP of March 3, 2000, and Clause 6 of Article 22, Clause 6 of Article 23 and Clause 2 of Article 24, of the Government's Decree No. 21/2001/ND-CP of May 28, 2001, and organize the collection of the entry/exit fees (hereinafter referred collectively to as the entry/exit fee-collecting agencies) according to the following stipulations:

a/ To publicly post up notices on the fee payers and levels at the fee collection places strictly according to the provisions of this Circular. When collecting fees, to grant the fee-collecting receipts (of the kinds prescribed by the Finance Ministry) to the fee payers (receipts shall be received at the tax offices of the localities where the collecting agencies are headquartered, and managed and used according to the current regime).

b/ To open entry/exit fee custody accounts at the State treasuries of the localities where they are headquartered; every day or at least once a week, to make lists and deposit the collected fee amounts into the accounts opened at the State treasuries, and closely manage them strictly according to the current financial regime.

c/ To register, declare and remit fees with the tax offices of the localities where they are headquartered; to settle fee-collecting receipts as well as fee collection and remittance with the tax offices directly managing them strictly according to the provisions of the Finance Ministry's Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC of July 24, 2002 guiding the implementation of law provisions on charges and fees.

2. The fee-collecting agencies may deduct 30% (thirty percent) of the total collected fee amount in the period to cover expenses for collection according to the following specific contents:

a/ Expenses for purchase, printing or transportation of passports, visas and papers of other kinds on exit and entry as well as relevant assorted forms in service of entry/exit fee collection.

b/ Expenses for purchase of stationery, working-trip allowances (travel or stay) and public-duty allowances according to the current criteria and norms.

c/ Expenses for repair of tools and facilities in service of fee collection.

d/ Expenses for payment of wages and contributions for contractual laborers (if any) according to the prescribed regime. Expenses for nigh-shift and overtime allowances for fee collectors.

e/ Other regular expenses related to fee collection.

f/ Deduction for commendation and welfare funds to be enjoyed by officials and employees directly engaged in entry/exit fee collection. The per-head annual level of deduction for setting up the above-said two funds shall not exceed 3 (three) months' actually paid salary if the collected amount is higher than that of the previous year, or be equal to 2 (two) months' actually paid salary if the collected amount is lower than or equal to that of the previous year.

The whole entry/exit fee amounts deducted according to the above-said stipulations must be used by the collecting agencies for the right purposes with lawful vouchers according to the prescribed regime; at the year-end, if such amounts have not yet been used up, the remainder shall be transferred to the subsequent year for spending according to the prescribed regime.

3. For the total actually collected entry/exit fee amount, after subtracting the amount retained in percentage as prescribed at Point 2 of this Section, the remainder (70%) must be remitted into the State budget (corresponding chapters, categories and clauses of Item 045, Sub-Item 03 of the current State Budget Index). The remittable amount shall be allocated to the State budgets of all levels according to the provisions of the State Budget Law.

4. The elaboration and execution of revenue-expenditure estimates and the revenue-expenditure settlement of entry/exit fee money shall comply with the guidance in the Finance Ministry's Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC of July 24, 2002 guiding the implementation of law provisions on charges and fees.

III. IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION

1. The Tax Departments of the provinces and centrally-run cities as well as the agencies under the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense shall have to collect and remit entry/exit fees strictly according to the provisions of this Circular.

2. This Circular takes implementation effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette and replaces the Finance Minister's Decision No. 136/1999/QD-BTC of November 10, 1999 promulgating the Table of levels of fees for entry, exit, transit and residence in Vietnam and the Finance Ministry's Circular No. 103/2000/TT-BTC of October 20, 2000 guiding the regime of management and use of fees for entry, exit, transit and residence in Vietnam.

In the course of implementation, if any problems arise, agencies are requested to report them to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and settlement.

For the Finance Minister
Vice Minister
TRUONG CHI TRUNG

Notes for Appendix I:

1. For supplementation and/or modification of passports' and laissez-passers' contents, the collection level shall be equal to 25% of that of the same type.

2. For children accompanying their relatives who have passports or papers of passport-substitute value, the collection level shall be equal to 25% of that of the same type.

Notes for Appendix II: For cases where the above-said papers are lost or damaged and must be re-granted, the collection levels shall be the same as for new granting.-