SIM Cards, Internet and Utilities for Foreigners in Vietnam
A mobile number registered in your own name is the key to everything else in Vietnam — banking OTPs, e-wallets, public service portals, delivery apps. A SIM registered to someone else works until the day it does not, and then it takes your bank access with it. The same principle runs through the rest of the household: the lease decides who signs the electricity contract, and who signs the electricity contract decides what you legitimately pay. This guide covers the SIM rules, the fixed internet and utility contracts, and the lease terms that quietly determine your monthly bills.
Who needs this
- Newly arrived foreign employees who need a Vietnamese number in their own name before they can open a bank account or activate mobile banking.
- Anyone currently using a SIM registered to a colleague, an agent or a landlord, who now needs the number moved into their own name.
- Tenants signing a residential lease who want to know who is supposed to hold the electricity, water and internet contracts.
- Foreign residents who suspect they are being charged above the regulated electricity price by a landlord or building manager.
- HR and mobility teams setting up housing and connectivity for incoming staff and their families.
What to bring
- Original passport, valid for use in Vietnam according to your entry visa or your maximum permitted stay — this is the identity document a foreign subscriber registers a SIM with.
- Visa, temporary residence card or the entry stamp evidencing your permitted stay, which telecoms operators check against the passport.
- Signed lease agreement with the address written exactly as it appears on the property records — every utility contract keys off this.
- Confirmation of your temporary residence declaration, which the electricity rules for rented homes refer to directly.
- Landlord's ownership documents or authorisation to lease, if you are to sign a utility contract in your own name.
- Existing electricity and water customer codes and the latest bills for the property, handed over at check-in.
- Meter readings photographed on the day you move in, with the landlord present — the cheapest dispute insurance available.
- A written record of how many people will live in the property, since the household norm for electricity pricing is calculated on headcount.
How it works
- 1
Register the SIM in your own name, at a proper registration point
Under Decree 163/2024/ND-CP, a foreign subscriber registers with a passport valid for use in Vietnam according to the entry visa or the maximum permitted stay, or with a digital identity account. Registration may only be done at points owned by the telecoms operator, at fixed-address points of businesses the operator has authorised, or through the operator's own app. Buy from a carrier store, not from a phone stall with a pre-activated SIM in a stranger's name.
- 2
Know the limits before you take a second or third number
For the first three prepaid mobile numbers on each network, you present your document and sign a confirmation of subscriber information. From the fourth number on the same network, you must sign a formal service contract at the operator's fixed-address point. Keep the count deliberate: numbers you no longer use but still hold in your name remain your responsibility, including anything done with them.
- 3
Complete subscriber re-authentication in person
Circular 08/2026/TT-BKHCN sets out the methods for authenticating subscriber information: online through VNeID, online through the operator's own app, or in person at the operator's or an authorised point. Subscribers registered on a passport are directed to a physical point — there is no remote-only path for that group. Operators suspend outbound service first and then service in both directions where authentication is not completed, so ask your operator for the deadline applying to your number and treat it as a hard date.
- 4
Sort the internet contract with the landlord, in writing
Fixed broadband is contracted to the premises, so in most rentals the line already exists in the owner's or building manager's name. Establish three things before you sign the lease: whether the line is included in rent or billed separately, what the actual contracted speed is, and whether you may install your own line with a different provider. If you install your own, agree who keeps the equipment at the end of the lease.
- 5
Get the electricity arrangement right for a rented home
Circular 60/2025/TT-BCT of the Ministry of Industry and Trade governs how retail electricity prices are applied. Where the tenant holds a lease of 12 months or more and has registered temporary or permanent residence, the owner signs the electricity purchase contract directly or signs it as the tenant's representative. Where the lease is under 12 months and the owner does not fully declare the number of people using electricity, the tier-2 residential price band of 101–200 kWh is applied to the entire metered volume. The household norm is calculated on headcount: four people count as one household norm, with one, two and three people counting as a quarter, a half and three quarters respectively.
- 6
Check what the landlord is allowed to collect
Where the tenant does not sign directly with the electricity seller, the total amount the landlord collects from tenants may not exceed the electricity charged on the monthly invoice issued by the retail electricity unit. In other words, a landlord may recover the bill, not mark it up. Ask for a copy of the utility invoice each month, photograph the meter on the same day, and raise a discrepancy immediately rather than at the end of the tenancy. Overcharging tenants for electricity is an administrative violation the authorities do enforce.
Where people get stuck
- Buying a pre-activated SIM registered in a stranger's name. It is the single most damaging shortcut a new arrival makes: you cannot re-issue the SIM when you lose the phone, you cannot recover banking access, and the number can be reclaimed without notice.
- Ignoring subscriber re-authentication notices because they arrive in Vietnamese. Passport-registered subscribers have to attend a service point, and once outbound service is blocked your banking OTPs stop with it.
- Signing a lease that is silent on utilities. If the contract does not say who signs the electricity and water contracts, how bills are evidenced and what happens to the deposit, you are negotiating from zero every month.
- Accepting a flat per-kWh rate quoted by the landlord without ever seeing the invoice. Where the tenant has no direct contract, what the landlord collects is capped by the retailer's monthly invoice — you are entitled to see the basis.
- Not declaring the real number of occupants. The household norm behind the residential electricity price is calculated on headcount, and an under-declared or undeclared household is exactly the case that lands on the flat tier-2 price for everything metered.
- Leaving with contracts still running. Mobile numbers, fixed internet and any utility account in your name outlive your departure unless you formally terminate them and settle the final invoice.
Common questions
Can I register a SIM with just my passport, or do I need a residence card?
A passport valid for use in Vietnam according to your entry visa or your maximum permitted stay is the identity document for a foreign subscriber, so a residence card is not the entry requirement. Expect the operator to record the validity period from your visa or stay permission, which means the subscriber record has an end date you will need to update when you renew your immigration papers.
My SIM is registered to my company. Is that a problem?
It works day to day, but it puts your personal banking and identity recovery inside someone else's control: you cannot re-issue the SIM yourself, and if you leave the company the number goes with it — along with the OTP channel for your bank account and e-wallets. If the arrangement is a company handset, keep a second number registered in your own name for banking and public services.
My landlord charges a fixed rate per kWh, higher than the published tariff. Is that allowed?
Where the tenant has not signed directly with the electricity seller, the total the landlord collects from tenants may not exceed the electricity amount on the monthly invoice issued by the retail electricity unit. Ask for the invoice and compare. If the landlord refuses, raise it with the local electricity retailer and the relevant local authority — this is a recognised administrative violation, not a private disagreement.
Should I put the electricity and water contracts in my own name?
It gives you the cleanest position — you see the real consumption, pay the regulated price directly and have a document trail — but it needs the owner's cooperation and the ownership or authorisation papers. Where the lease runs 12 months or more and you have registered residence, the rules contemplate the owner contracting directly or contracting as your representative, so raise it at lease negotiation and put the agreed arrangement in the contract.
Official sources
- Ministry of Science and Technology — the authority for telecommunications
- Ministry of Industry and Trade — the authority for electricity
- National Public Service Portal
- Government policy portal — documents used to register mobile subscriber information (Decree 163/2024/ND-CP)
- Government policy portal — retail electricity prices for residential use, including rented homes
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