Guidance on the Registration and Issuance of Land Certificates

Article 1

General Provisions. 1. Purpose: This Instruction prescribes the system, methods, and procedures for the registration and issuance of land titles to confirm the land use rights of individuals, legal entities, and organizations who are holders of land use rights or lawful users of various types of land in accordance with laws and technical standards, aiming to facilitate the management and protection of land nationwide, improve the lives of the people, ensure social stability, order, and justice, and contribute to socio-economic development. 2. Registration and Issuance of Land Titles: Refers to the initial issuance of land titles to confirm the land use rights of individuals, legal entities, and organizations for various types of land in accordance with the law, facilitating unified national land management and protection; all land plots must undergo registration and issuance of land titles according to the plans, zoning, and land categories of the provincial or district-level Natural Resources and Environment authorities in accordance with the Land Law. 3. Interpretation of Terms: 1) Alien, refers to a person holding an alien certificate, permanently residing in Laos, and whose home government is still officially recognized; 2) Stateless person, refers to a person residing within the territory of Laos, who is not a Lao citizen and cannot prove their nationality; 3) Foreigner, refers to a person of another nationality who enters Laos temporarily or permanently to perform a specific task and returns upon its completion, managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant sectors; 4) Foreigner of Lao origin, refers to a person holding foreign nationality, both or one of whose parents are Lao citizens or Lao of Lao origin; 5) Land registration database, refers to a system for electronically managing land registration data, including cadastral surveys, land title registration, and registration of changes and transfers of land use rights; 6) Land data repository, refers to an electronic document storage system (server) that stores copies of all documents of land plot files; 7) Electronic document, refers to information recorded using electronic tools to preserve the content of documents; 8) Land use confirmation certificate, refers to a document issued by the state organization under resettlement policies to Lao citizens as proof of land use rights for residence and production; 9) Land development confirmation certificate, refers to an official document issued by the relevant state authority after verifying compliance with the conditions set out in the land use confirmation certificate. 4. Scope of Application: This Instruction applies to individuals, legal entities, and organizations who are Lao citizens, as well as aliens, stateless persons, foreigners, foreigners of Lao origin, and organizations of the aforementioned persons living and operating within the territory of Laos.