Vietnam sets VNeID casino checks and tougher entry penalties

Casinos in Vietnam will be able to verify customers' identities through the national VNeID app from 15 November 2026, under Decree 392/2026/ND-CP, issued on 20 October. A second decree, 391/2026/ND-CP, applies from 5 December and sets fines of VND180 million to VND200 million for casinos that admit people to the gaming area in breach of the law or fail to monitor everyone entering and leaving.

LuatVietnam, a legal database, notes that Article 13 of the decree revises what prize gaming businesses must do under Decree 96/2016. The rules reach casinos, electronic gaming venues for foreigners and betting operators. Such operators are now required to verify a customer's personal information either through VNeID or through identity papers, then record the full details in a management register. The national digital identity app thus counts as an accepted alternative to physical documents; it does not replace record keeping.

Operating duties are restated in the amended article as well. Anyone who is not permitted to play has to be kept out, and house rules must be displayed at the entrance in Vietnamese and in a foreign language. Staff should call the police at once when a person carries weapons, explosives or flammable materials into the gaming area. People with criminal records for gambling, for organising gambling or for loan sharking should not be hired. At casinos and at electronic gaming venues that serve foreigners, licensed security service companies must supply no less than 30% of the guards.

Article 31 of Decree 391 also allows casino operations to be suspended alongside those fines: six to 12 months for a first offence and 12 to 24 months for repeat violations. A separate penalty of VND130 million to VND150 million applies where a business fails to open a register or issue electronic entry cards, keeps incomplete records of eligible players, or does not store those records for the minimum period. Organisations pay these amounts; for the same conduct, individuals are fined half as much.

Casinos are still off limits to most Vietnamese citizens. Resolution 8/2025/NQ-CP, issued in November 2025, lets eligible locals gamble at the Phu Quoc casino project starting 26 November 2025. Ho Tram runs a five-year pilot from that same date, and Van Don will begin a five-year pilot once its casino business certificate is granted. At these properties, the licence hinges on accurate checks of who may and may not gamble.