New points of Decree 70/2023/ND-CP related to work permit in Vietnam

Decree 70/2023/ND-CP, effective from September 18, 2023, has amended many contents of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP on employment management of foreigners in Vietnam. There are many amendments related to work permits for foreigners. Viet An Law will update the new points of Decree 70/2023/ND-CP related to Work Permits in the following article.

Legal basis

• Labor Code 2019;
• Decree 152/2020/ND-CP, as amended and supplemented by Decree 35/2022/ND-CP and Decree 70/2023/ND-CP on employment of foreigners in Vietnam and the recruitment and management of Vietnamese workers working for foreign organizations or individuals in Vietnam.

In cases where foreign workers are not subject to a work permit

Modify the case of being sent to teach and research

Article 7 of the Decree 70/2023/ND-CP amended one of the cases exempted from work permits “Be sent to Vietnam by a competent foreign agency or organization to teach or work as a manager or executive director at an educational institution requested by a foreign diplomatic representative agency or intergovernmental organization established in Vietnam; establishments and organizations established under international treaties that Vietnam has signed and participated in”.

Accordingly, compared to the old decree, the new decree has added the case of being sent to ” work as a manager or executive director at an educational institution requested by a foreign diplomatic representative agency or intergovernmental organization established in Vietnam” instead of the case of doing “research at international schools under the management of foreign diplomatic missions apart or the United Nations”.

Specify the case confirmed by the Ministry of Education and Training

In addition to cases where the Ministry of Education and Training confirms foreign workers entering Vietnam to teach and research as prescribed in Article 7.14 of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP, the new decree also adds cases for the purpose of performing: “work as a manager or executive director at an educational institution requested by a foreign diplomatic representative agency or intergovernmental organization established in Vietnam”, which is aligned with the above-amended regulation.

Confirm that foreign workers are not subject to a work permit

To be more clear about the deadline in exceptional cases, foreign employers can proceed with notification procedures to the Department of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs instead of asking for confirmation, the new decree has replaced the word “3 days” in the old decree becomes “3 working days” to be consistent with current administrative documents. This regulation will apply to foreigners:

• Enter Vietnam for less than 3 months to offer services; or
• Be a foreign lawyer who has been granted a License to practice law in Vietnam according to the provisions of the Law on Lawyers.

Accordingly, the above exception regulation also eliminates the case specified in Article 154.8 of the Labor Code, i.e. the case of a foreigner marrying a Vietnamese and living in Vietnamese territory, if he becomes a foreign worker, shall carry out procedures to confirm that foreign workers are not subject to a work permit at least 10 days in advance from the date the foreign worker starts working.

Amendments related to procedures for applying for work permits

Additional content in the written request for a work permit

In the employer’s written request for a work permit according to Form No. 11/PLI, Appendix I issued with Decree 152/2020/ND-CP, Decree 70/2023/ND-CP also stipulates The decision adds that “in case a foreign worker works for an employer in multiple locations, the work permit application must fully list the work locations”. This regulation helps make the management of foreign workers in Vietnam more transparent, facilitating the review and inspection of tax obligations of foreign individuals in Vietnam.

Additional documents proving that the employee is the manager

To specify what documents prove to be a manager or executive director, Decree 70/2023/ND-CP has clearly specified the following 3 types of documents:

• Company charter or operating regulations of agencies, organizations, or enterprises;
• Business registration certificate or establishment certificate or establishment decision or other documents of equivalent legal value;
• Resolution or Appointment Decision of agencies, organizations, or enterprises.

As for documents proving experts and technical workers, the new decree also adds alternative documents (shown in the regulations in italics and underlines) and clearly includes the following two types of documents:

• Diploma or diploma or certificate;
• Written confirmation from an agency, organization, or enterprise abroad regarding the number of years of experience of the expert, technical worker, or that the work permit has been issued or that the work permit is not required to be issued.

Application for the work permit

In case the employee comes to work in Vietnam under the form of a labor contract, the application for a work permit clearly emphasizes that it is not necessary to include documents related to the employee such as documents. Letter of appointment to work, service provision contract as in other cases.

For foreign workers working in Vietnam as managers, executives, experts, and technical workers, the foreign organization’s appointment document can be replaced with documents proving that they are the enterprise manager according to the provisions of the Vietnam Enterprise Law or the head or deputy head of the agency or organization.

Supplementing licensing documents in new special cases for foreign workers who are experts and technical workers who have been granted a work permit and have had it extended once but wish to continue working. with the same job position and job title stated in the work permit. Accordingly, the application for a new work permit does not need to include a criminal record card or documents proving the position but must be supplemented with a copy of the issued work permit.

Regulations on documents in records

Passport

• Passport in the application for confirmation of not being subject to a work permit (Article 8.3), application for a work permit (Article 9.7), and application for work permit extension (Article 17.5), the new decree replaced the phrase “Certified copy of passport” with the phrase “Certified copy of passport or copy of passport certified by the employer”.
• Accordingly, in addition to a certified copy of the passport, current employees can replace the authentication with the employer’s confirmation to validate the documents in the application for confirmation that they are not required to be issued a work permit.

Certified papers

• Also in the above documents, the new decree also amends the regulations on authentication of documents. Specifically, Decree 70/2023/ND-CP replaced the phrase “translated into Vietnamese and certified” with the phrase “translated into Vietnamese and notarized or authenticated” for documents specified in Article 9.10 and Article 23.4.
• Accordingly, the law clearly stipulates that these documents can be notarized according to the notarization law in Vietnam, not only through authentication procedures at state agencies to be valid when submitting documents. This is suitable for the notarization needs of foreigners or organizations and businesses that are the above applicants in Vietnam due to the convenience and speed of notarization procedures in Vietnam.

Form of the work permit

Decree 70/2023/ND-CP has supplemented regulations on the form of work permits issued in Article 11.2 of previous Decree 152. Accordingly, in addition to stipulating the form attached to Appendix 1 of Decree 152, the license also needs to ensure:

• The work permit is A4 size and includes 2 pages: page 1 is blue; Page 2 has a white background, blue pattern, and a star in the middle. Work permits are coded as follows: province and centrally run city codes and Ministry of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs numbers according to the prescribed form; The last 2 digits of the year of license issuance; type of license (new issuance symbol 1; renewal symbol 2; re-issue symbol 3); serial number (from 000.001).
• In case the work permit is an electronic copy, it must comply with relevant legal regulations and meet the content according to the prescribed form.

Reissue of the work permit

The new Decree has added the case of “changing content related to changing the business name without changing the business code recorded in the valid work permit is a case of re-issuance of the work permit”.

However, it can be seen that this is an unreasonable regulation, because in fact information about the business code is not displayed on the work permit, so there is no basis to verify whether changing the business name will work. Change the business code. In this case, it can be understood that if the business name displayed on the work permit is changed, the employee must apply for a new work permit, if the permit is still valid.

The application for re-issuance also omitted a document component that was considered unreasonable in practice, which is “a document approving the need to employ foreign workers except in cases where the need is not determined.” Employing foreign workers”.

Authority to issue work permits

Previously, the Industrial Park Management Board also had the authority to ” Issue, re-issue, extend, revoke Work Permits and confirm that foreign workers are not subject to work permits for foreigners to work in industrial parks and economic zones” according to Article 6a of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP amended by Decree 35/2022/ND-CP. However, Decree 70/2023/ND-CP abolished this authority and concentrated the licensing focal point on the Ministry or Department of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs where foreign workers are expected to work

Above are some updated contents about the new Decree 70/2023/ND-CP related to Work Permits compiled by Viet An Law. If you need to renew, re-issue, or extend a Work Permit or related procedures, please contact Viet An Law for the best support.