You can download Drone permit application here. Contact us if you need help filling up!
Download application form for drone permit
By law, to fly a drone in Vietnam (include pleasure purpose) you need to have a permit (according to Decree 36/2008/ND-CP and Circular 79/2011/ND-CP) without a permit, you can be both confiscated the drone and fined.
(Check out: New anti-drone weapon made in Vietnam)
1) Where to apply drone permit in Vietnam
Drone permit is granted by Department of Operations – General Staff of the Ministry of Defence. The only official way to contact them is to come to their office or via airmail. So how to apply drone permit if you are outside of Vietnam? If you are coming for filming, it can be done with help of Foreign Press Center or your fixer. If you are coming for travel purpose, you can ask help from a travel agency/drone permit service.
If your drone permit isn’t granted, you would receive an answer for the reason. Drone permit won’t be granted if you use drone at or close to: military base, airports, seaports, train stations, electricity and water plants, electricity stations, government offices, television and broadcasting stations, research institutes, and border of the country and more.
* Note:
As foreigners/foreign organization you can’t apply drone permit directly under your name, you must apply film permit first, then apply for drone permit. Those who come under tourist visas, if they want to apply for drone permit, then they have to ask a travel agency to apply for them, and they must have a tour guide going with them. However, as a tourist, you would most probably not be able to apply for drone permit for more than 3-5 locations. And location here I mean only one location with its own/unique longitude and latitude, not a whole area.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a general drone permit for all locations. And you can’t come first, see the places, then decide of where do you want to fly.
2) Drone permit application for filming purpose and commercial purpose
+ Drone permit will be under name of filming crew, price varies depend on your purpose and locations.
+ To be able to apply for drone permit easily and quickly, it’s best if you give names of exact locations: such as: street name/village name + district name + province name (together with longitude and latitude)
Photo of a drone permit
* If you come for travel purpose and want to fly your drone, here are conditions about it:
– The permit must stand on a Vietnamese person name, so you should hire a Vietnamese to go with you to stand on the permit name.
3) Cost of drone permit:
To acquire a drone permit in Vietnam, you need to pay for:
+ film permit, which is usually daily rate
+ a film officer to accompany you
+ drone permit
All those costs are quoted by Foreign Press Center and Ministry of Defense and it’s case-by-case based.
Price of the permit depends on how many days you want to fly the drone, and how many spots in that day. On the drone permit, the spots will be listed as exact as longitude and latitude.
Drone permit cost can be cheaper if being applied under a Vietnamese person’s name, as a Vietnamese can apply for a drone permit directly without applying for a film permit. This is because the policy of Vietnam is only allow a foreigner to fly a drone if the purpose is to film legally in Vietnam.
3) Drone permit for foreign tourist/individual:
There is NOT legal frame for drone permit for foreign tourist/individual yet, so we can’t help to process a drone permit under your name. We can only support for filming/business purpose. You can apply a drone permit only if you have a film permit and it would be costly and complicated for you.
If you bring a drone to Vietnam and use without a permit, it’s under your own risks. Maybe you don’t get caught and be fine, but we can’t guarantee for it.
4) Drone permit for agricultural/health care purpose:
Please contact us to inquiry if you need drone permit for agricultural/health care purpose.
* Note:
If you would the fly the drone in Hanoi, then after having the drone permit, you should upload its scan to dji app, since due to the forbidden of flying drones at some certain places in Hanoi, dji may block many parts of Hanoi in their original setting of the drone, DJI fly safe page.
There are certain parts of Hanoi that even if you apply for a drone permit, it’s usually not being permitted, for example those around Ba Dinh square.
5) Aircraft registration dossier
(applicable from July 20, 2026)
On June 5, 2026, the Minister of Public Security issued Circular 78/2026/TT-BCA detailing a number of articles of the Law on People’s Air Defense.
Article 9 of Circular 78/2026/TT-BCA stipulates the aircraft registration dossier applicable from July 20, 2026, as follows:
[1] The aircraft registration dossier for agencies, organizations, and individuals not belonging to the Ministry of National Defense or the Ministry of Public Security includes:
- Aircraft registration declaration form (Form No. 01 issued with this Circular);
- Documents identifying the aircraft owner and the person authorized to register the aircraft (if any), as prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 10 of this Circular, accompanied by the originals for verification;
- Documents proving lawful ownership of the aircraft, as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 18 of Decree 288/2025/NĐ-CP, accompanied by the originals for verification;
- Documents proving compliance with technical standards and regulations, as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 18 of Decree 288/2025/NĐ-CP, accompanied by the originals for verification;
- Proof of payment of registration fees as prescribed (if applicable);
- In cases where the aircraft was self-assembled or manufactured prior to the effective date of Decree 288/2025/NĐ-CP, documents proving lawful ownership and documents confirming technical status shall be subject to Clause 3, Article 18 of Decree 288/2025/NĐ-CP.
[2] The aircraft registration dossier for the Ministry of Public Security includes:
- Aircraft registration declaration form (Form No. 01 issued with this Circular); – Documents proving that the aircraft was procured, ordered, commissioned for manufacture, imported, or received as a donation by the Ministry of Public Security, as well as documents proving its assignment to a specific Public Security unit or locality for management, use, and service of public security operations;
- Documents proving compliance with prescribed technical standards and regulations;
- Documents regarding the aircraft owner as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 10 of this Circular.
[3] In cases where the aircraft registration application is submitted in paper form, the applicant must present copies of documents accompanied by the originals for verification.
In cases where the aircraft registration application is submitted via the Ministry of Public Security’s Public Service Portal, the applicant must submit electronic documents that have been created or digitized from paper documents, accurately and completely reflecting the content and format of the original paper documents. Individuals signing the aircraft registration application may use a digital signature to sign directly on the electronic documents, or sign directly on the paper documents and scan them in color.
Regulations on aircraft registration numbers effective from July 20, 2026
Pursuant to Circular 78/2026/TT-BCA, the aircraft registration number is an identifier issued by the aircraft registration authority under the Ministry of Public Security to identify the aircraft owner; it consists of a sequence of letters and numbers structured as follows: AB – X – N1N2N3N4 – CD.
Wherein:
- The two-character group “AB” identifies the code of the province or centrally-run city where the aircraft is registered, in accordance with Appendix 01 issued with this Circular.
- The letter “X” indicates whether the aircraft is motorized or non-motorized:
- Motorized aircraft are designated as C; + K denotes a non-powered aircraft.
- The four-digit group “N1N2N3N4,” numbered from 0001 to 9999, indicates the aircraft registration sequence.
- The two-letter group “CD” identifies the entity registering the aircraft, as follows:
- TN denotes Vietnamese agencies, organizations, or individuals registering an aircraft;
- NN denotes foreign agencies, organizations, or individuals registering an aircraft.
NOTE ABOUT DRONE PERMIT IN VIETNAM:
The Prime Minister recently directed to ban drones in the radius of 8km from any airport.
The directive document is all in Vietnamese.
However, you can check this article in English here.
It will be okay in Hanoi, Hue and Hoi An, due to most regular filming locations are far away from airports.
However, some locations in Ho Chi Minh city and Da Nang may not be approved, such as Notre-Dame cathedral in Ho Chi Minh city and Dragon bridge in Da Nang.
Want to inquiry further about drone permit Vietnam? => Contact Ms. Khuyen – Film Production in Vietnam via khuyen@filmproductionvietnam.com