First-time social insurance service in Vietnam

Registration for social insurance (social insurance) for the first time is a mandatory procedure for enterprises when starting to employ employees with contracts. This is an important first step to ensure social security benefits for employees, as well as a legal obligation in accordance with current laws. However, many businesses, especially newly established units, are still confused in preparing documents, implementation processes and related issues. Therefore, the social insurance service was born for the first time to support businesses to complete procedures quickly, in accordance with regulations and save time and effort. Viet An Tax Agent will provide you with important information about social insurance services for the first time according to Law No. 41/2014/QH15 effective from 01/07/2025.

Subjects who are required to participate in social insurance

According to Clause 1, Article 2 of the Law on Social Insurance 2024, the law has expanded the subjects of compulsory participation in social insurance (social insurance) with the addition of 07 groups of employees, specifically as follows:

• Employees who work part-time, have signed a labor contract for full 01 month or more and have a monthly salary equal to or higher than the minimum wage as a basis for paying compulsory social insurance.
• Managers of enterprises, controllers, representatives of state capital portions or capital portions of enterprises in accordance with law; members of the Board of Directors, General Directors, Directors, members of the Control Board or controllers and other managerial positions elected at cooperatives or cooperative unions under the Law on Cooperatives, even if they do not receive salaries.
• Part-time activists in villages and neighborhoods.
• Heads of business households belonging to individual business households with business registration and participation in accordance with the Government’s regulations.
• Defense officials.
• Standing militia.
• The spouse does not receive salary from the state budget, but is sent on a working trip with a member of the representative mission of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam abroad, and is entitled to the subsistence allowance regime.
• An employee who is a foreign citizen working in Vietnam under a definite-term labor contract of full 12 months or more with an employer in Vietnam, except for the following cases:
  • Internal relocation of enterprises in accordance with the provisions of Vietnamese law;
  • Have reached the retirement age according to Clause 2, Article 169 of the Labor Code 2019 at the time of signing the contract;
  • International treaties to which Vietnam is a contracting party have other provisions.

In addition, according to Clause 4, Article 2 of the Law on Social Insurance in 2024, the new regulations have also expanded the subjects eligible to participate in voluntary social insurance, including:

• Vietnamese citizens are full 15 years old or older, are not subject to compulsory social insurance and are not enjoying pensions, social insurance allowances or monthly allowances.
• Cadres, civil servants, public employees, persons working under labor contracts (not specified or the term of full 01 month or more), including cases of signing contracts under other names but with contents showing that salaries are paid and subject to management and administration, In case of suspension of the performance of the labor contract or working contract, the employee is still allowed to participate in voluntary social insurance unless the two parties have another agreement on continuing to pay compulsory social insurance during this period.

Social insurance regimes changed for the first time according to the Law on Social Insurance No. 14/2024/QH15

Conditions for enjoying one-time social insurance are tightened

• From July 1, 2025, employees are only allowed to withdraw social insurance once in special cases, instead of just taking 1 year off work as before.
• Cases eligible for one-time withdrawal of social insurance include:
  • Reached retirement age but have not contributed to social insurance for 15 years, and do not continue to participate to meet the conditions for retirement.
  • Going abroad for legal permanent residency.
  • Suffering from critical illnesses or long-term diseases requiring treatment, such as cancer, decompensated cirrhosis, polio, HIV/AIDS…
  • Suffering from a working capacity reduction of 81% or more, or severe disability.
  • After 12 months of no longer being subject to social insurance contributions, with less than 20 years of contributions, applicable to those who participated in social insurance before July 1, 2025.
  • Individuals in the armed forces, police, or military who have been demobilized or resigned without meeting the conditions for retirement benefits.

Social insurance participants after July 1, 2025 are restricted from the right to withdraw once

• There is no longer the right to withdraw social insurance once just because you quit your job and do not participate in social insurance for 1 year.
• Withdrawal may only be made once if it falls into the special cases mentioned in the above section
• The goal of the policy is to limit early withdrawal of social insurance, helping employees enjoy a stable pension in the long run.

The level of one-time social insurance entitlement remains unchanged, still calculated according to the total time of social insurance payment:

• 5 months of salary for each year paid before 2014.
• 2 months of salary for each year of payment from 2014 onwards.
• The average salary is calculated according to the monthly salary on which social insurance premiums are based.

The new law encourages employees to reserve the time to pay social insurance in order to:

• Continue to participate and be eligible for pension when they reach the age of majority.
• Enjoy free health insurance upon retirement.
• There are additional benefits such as survivorship allowance, monthly allowance if not eligible for pension.
• Reserving social insurance is a sustainable security solution, helping employees have a stable source of income in old age, instead of receiving a lump sum with a lower value.

Dossier of registration for compulsory social insurance for the first time

For employers (enterprises, cooperatives, employers):

• Declaration of participation in social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, occupational health insurance-occupational health insurance according to the form TK3-TS.
• List of employees participating in compulsory social insurance according to form D02-TS.
• A copy of the Enterprise Registration Certificate or Establishment Decision (if you have never registered for social insurance).
• Power of attorney (if authorizing another unit to submit the dossier).

For employees:

• Declaration of participation and adjustment of social insurance and health insurance information (form TK1-TS).
• A copy of the employment contract or written appointment (if the business manager).
• Copy of CCCD or passport (in case of submitting paper documents).
• Documents proving the right to enjoy higher health insurance (if any).

Social insurance registration dossier for non-salaried managers, heads of business households

• The TK1-TS declaration clearly states personal information.
• No need for a labor contract, no need to go through a business.
• Participate individually or in groups (if local support).

The process of carrying out procedures for participating in social insurance for the first time

Participation in compulsory social insurance is the legal responsibility of employers when signing working contracts with employees. To ensure compliance with regulations, the procedure for registering social insurance for the first time needs to be carried out according to the specific steps below:

Step 1: Prepare documents and relevant information

Enterprises need to collect all basic documents from employees such as labor contracts, copies of identity cards/citizen IDs, household registration books (if necessary), and other documents to serve as a basis for filling in accurate information in the required forms. Thorough preparation from the beginning will help avoid errors and shorten the processing time.

Step 2: Register the code of the social insurance unit

In case the unit participates in social insurance for the first time and has not been issued a management unit code, the enterprise needs to submit the TK3-TS declaration to the competent social insurance agency where the head office is located. This is the first step for the insurance agency to establish unit information in the management system. After submitting the application, within 1 to 7 working days, the enterprise will receive  the social insurance unit code through the application receiving system or directly at the insurance agency.

Important notes when registering for social insurance for the first time from 01/07/2025

• From July 1, 2025, the administrative system at the district and district levels will be rearranged, and the whole country will only have district-level administrative units. This can affect the place to submit and receive social insurance documents, especially in large cities.
• When carrying out online procedures, even though they have submitted a complete dossier through the Public Service Portal or electronic social insurance software, some provinces/cities still require additional paper dossiers directly at the social insurance agency. Therefore, businesses and employees need to contact in advance to understand local regulations.
• Processing time: Within 1 – 7 working days from the date of receipt of a complete and valid dossier, the social insurance agency will issue a social insurance unit code to the enterprise, and at the same time handle relevant procedures for employees.

Step 3: Prepare a dossier to report the increase in employees participating in social insurance for the first time

After being granted the unit code, the enterprise shall prepare a registration dossier for employees who are required to participate in social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance and occupational accident and occupational disease insurance. Forms to be prepared include:

• TK1-TS declaration for employees who do not have social insurance codes
• List of participating laborers according to form D02-TS
• List of dossiers made according to form D01-TS
• Employment contract and attached identification documents

Step 4: Submit the dossier to the competent social insurance agency

Enterprises submit all prepared dossiers to  the district-level social insurance agency where the enterprise registers its business. The determination of the receiving social insurance agency is based on the address of the head office stated in the business registration certificate. In addition to submitting paper documents directly, enterprises can submit electronic documents through  the Vietnam Social Insurance e-Transaction Portal if they have registered to use digital signatures.

Step 5: Receive the result of processing the dossier from the social insurance agency

Within 5 working days from the date the social insurance agency receives a complete and valid dossier, the enterprise will be issued  a personal social insurance code for each employee (if not previously available) and  the corresponding health insurance card. After that, the enterprise can proceed to pay insurance premiums for employees every month according to regulations.

Completing the procedures for participating in social insurance for the first time not only shows the compliance with the law of the enterprise, but also contributes to protecting the benefits of welfare, health and pension for employees during the working process. Therefore, units need to implement seriously and on time to avoid risks related to arrears, sanctions or complaints from employees.

Form of submitting documents to participate in social insurance for the first time

When carrying out the procedures for registering for social insurance participation for the first time for employees, enterprises can flexibly choose between two forms of application: paper application or electronic application, depending on the conditions and implementation ability of the unit.

Submit paper documents through public postal services

With this form, enterprises prepare a complete set of dossiers according to regulations and send them to the social insurance agency through the postal system – a unit authorized by Vietnam Social Security to perform dossier receipt services. The advantages are:

• Businesses do not need to go directly to the social insurance agency, helping to save time and effort.
• The cost of submitting documents by post is free, because this is a public service to support businesses in the process of participating in social insurance.
• Businesses only need to register an account to trade documents through the public service of social insurance to use this form conveniently and quickly.

Submit documents via electronic transactions

This is a modern form and is being widely applied in the process of reforming administrative procedures in the insurance industry. Enterprises can carry out the entire process of declaring, submitting documents, tracking results and receiving feedback from social insurance agencies through electronic social insurance declaration software.

• Businesses only need to equip a valid digital signature and register an electronic transaction account with the social insurance agency.
• The application will be submitted quickly through software provided by I-VAN service providers such as EFY Vietnam, TS24, VNPT, MISA, etc. furnish.
• This form helps businesses significantly save processing time, minimize errors, and monitor the process of processing documents in a transparent and public way.

In addition, for large-scale enterprises that often experience labor fluctuations, the use of electronic transactions is not only the optimal option, but also almost a mandatory requirement to ensure efficiency in human resource management and insurance costs.

If you have any difficulties or questions related to social insurance services for the first time, please contact Viet An Tax Agent for the most specific advice.