Huỳnh Kha wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on Feb. 21, 2025. Đàm Vĩnh Hằng translated it into English for The Vietnamese Magazine.
Despite no official announcements from authorities, driver licensing centers across Việt Nam have been overwhelmed in recent months, with thousands of citizens scrambling to renew or replace their licenses.
The surge in demand, particularly in Hà Nội and Hồ Chí Minh City, stems from growing public confusion over the transfer of licensing responsibilities from the Ministry of Transport (MoT) to the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), part of a major government restructuring initiative enacted in early 2025.
Long Queues, Early Mornings, and Uncertainty
At licensing centers nationwide, crowds have been forming as early as 5:00 AM, with people lining up for hours in the cold rain or intense sun. Many prepared food, water, and even camping gear for the long wait.
At some Hà Nội locations, all available service tokens are distributed within the first few hours of opening, forcing many to return multiple days in a row.
This rush is driven by public anxiety about the new system. Hưng, a resident of Hà Nội’s Ba Đình District, expressed a common frustration: “I left work, got here at 5:00 AM, and waited in the rain just to renew my license. It’s exhausting, and no one seems to know what the new process will look like. Everyone’s worried the police will make it harder or require retesting, so we’re rushing to get it done now.”
The situation is similar in Hồ Chí Minh City, where a “congestion” of applicants has been reported, with many seeking to renew licenses that are still valid. In contrast, Department of Transport officials in some areas, like Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu province, have tried to quell the panic by proactively informing the public about the new regulations to reduce the number of people rushing to the centers.
The Three Drivers Behind the Licensing Surge
The sudden wave of renewals stems from three primary factors:
- A Confusing Transition of Authority:
Under the government’s administrative reform plan, the MoT’s driver licensing duties were reassigned to the Ministry of Public Security in early 2025. While the legal framework for this shift is in place, crucial details about implementation, timelines, and which specific offices are responsible remain unclear.
- Stricter Renewal Rules:
New regulations have created a high-stakes deadline for drivers. As of Jan. 1, 2025, under Circular 35 and the 2024 Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, a license that has expired by even a single day requires the holder to retake the theory test. If a license has expired for over a year, both theory and practical driving tests are mandatory.
- Technical Failures and Digital Barriers:
The procedure for renewing licenses on the National Public Service Portal is reportedly plagued with technical glitches. Compounding this, many people are not technologically adept enough to navigate the process, leaving them with no choice but to go to the centers in person. The Department of Roads acknowledged the issues, stating that the software is undergoing a massive update and “cannot be absolutely smooth right away.”
Mixed Signals from Authorities
The confusion began when new licensing regulations took effect on Jan. 1, 2025. While some local authorities had conducted outreach on the new rules, official state media coverage was critically incomplete, marked by poor coordination and inconsistent messaging. Several key details, such as how the licensing process would be managed under the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), were omitted.
This information vacuum led to inconsistent actions on the ground. Some provincial Departments of Transport (DoT) continued to accept applications as usual, while others, like in Hồ Chí Minh City, announced a halt to new applications starting February 19, citing the need to prepare for the administrative handover.
The core of the problem was a lack of coordination at the highest levels. On February 18, a senior MPS official clarified that the ministry had not yet begun processing license applications and was still awaiting a formal decision from higher authorities. This directly contradicted reports from a joint meeting just one week earlier, on February 11, where officials from both ministries had reportedly agreed to complete the transition by Feb. 19, 2025.
Faced with mounting uncertainty and the prospect of a total service shutdown, the Directorate for Roads issued an urgent directive on February 19, instructing all local DoTs to continue licensing operations as normal to protect public interests. This emergency reversal highlighted the staggering lack of coordination that fueled the public’s anxiety.
Legal Reform Creating Ripple Effects
The current licensing chaos is a symptom of a much larger administrative reform reshaping Việt Nam’s entire legal landscape. According to a 2025 report by the Ministry of Justice, the government’s restructuring affects over 5,000 legal documents, including 160 national laws, 833 decrees, and thousands of ministerial circulars, all of which require amendment or repeal.
Amid this massive legal review, speculation is growing that Circular 35 itself—the source of the strict new renewal rules—may be revised or repealed. This adds yet another layer of uncertainty to the situation. Until such a change is confirmed, however, the circular remains in full effect.
As such, citizens are thus caught in a difficult position: forced to comply with punitive new rules today, while facing the possibility that those very rules could change tomorrow, fueling deep concerns over fairness, transparency, and institutional accountability.
The Scale of Việt Nam’s Driver Training System
The driver training and licensing system that the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) is set to inherit is immense. As of mid-2025, it includes 371 driving schools, 154 testing centers, and over 54,500 licensed instructors managing more than 93 million active driver’s licenses nationwide.
This massive responsibility is just one of many new duties the MPS is absorbing as part of the government’s restructuring. The ministry is also taking on:
- Drug rehabilitation and post-rehab management (from the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs)
- Criminal background checks and judicial record issuance (from the Ministry of Justice)
- Cybersecurity and network information security (from the Ministry of Information and Communications)
- Airport and aviation security
- The ownership and management of MobiFone, a major telecom provider
Viewed in this context, the disarray in driver’s license management is emblematic of the immense challenges facing Việt Nam’s administrative reform. With hundreds of laws under review and critical public services caught in a bureaucratic shuffle, ordinary citizens are left navigating a maze of conflicting information, technical hurdles, and legal ambiguity—one early-morning queue at a time.
