Can we voluntarily return the plot of land?

Before 1993, according to the government's policy, I had been allocated an agricultural plot of land based on the number of people in the household. In addition, there was another plot of land that I reclaimed and obtained the Certificate of Land use right. Now, because of age, I am not healthy enough to engage in agricultural production and my children went to the city for other jobs. Thus, I intend to return the plot of lands to the State. Please advise me on how to carry out the procedure.

FDVN’s opinion:

Sincerely thank you for your concerning our legal consulting service. We are glad to give you our advice on your question. 

Currently, by issuing the laws, our State fully encourages the land users to voluntarily return the land when they no longer need to use it. Accordingly, the State will carry out the procedures for reclaiming this land in the following order and procedures:

Legal basis:

- Land Law 2013.

- Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP dated on 15/5/2014 guiding some provisions of Land Law.

- Circular No. 30/2014/TT-BTNMT dated on 02/6/2014 on the dossiers of land assignment, land lease, adjustment of land use purpose, the land reclaiming.

[1]. Composition, number of dossiers:

- A document on land return carried out by the land user or a written confirmation thereof made by the People’s Committee of the commune;

- Either of the certificate of land use rights, certificate of house ownership and land use rights, the certificate of land use rights, house ownership and other property pertaining to land or any documents on land use rights specified in Article 100 of the Land Law and Article 18 of the Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP (if any);

- An on-site inspection record made by the natural resource and environmental authority (if any);

- The extracted cadastral map or extracted cadastral survey of the piece of land;

- A written request and the draft of the decision on land expropriation provided.

The number of the dossier: 1 set

[2]. Competent authorities:

- Consideration Agency: Division of Natural Resources and Environment.
- Decision Agency: District People's Committee.
- Coordinating agencies: Land fund development organizations, the commune-level People’s Committee, and Vietnam Fatherland Front...

[3]. The procedure:

- Land users send the documents to the reception division of the district-level People’s Committees.

- Natural Resources and Environment office submit the dossier to the district-level People’s Committees to decide to recover land.

- District People's Committee reviews the documents and issues a Decision on land reclamation.

Above are the advice of FDVN Limited Law Firm base on studying law provisions and theories. We hope that our opinions would be useful.

Legal expert: Nguyen Thi Hai Nhi

FDVN Law Firm