Work Permit

Currently, with the increasing number of foreign enterprises (FDI) investing in Vietnam, along with the needs of Vietnamese enterprises themselves to employ foreigners, the legal bases related to the issuance of work permits and management of foreign workers in Vietnam as well as ensuring the rights and obligations of people foreign workers in Vietnam are increasingly being improved. Vietnamese law allows enterprises, agencies, organizations, individuals and contractors to recruit foreign workers to fill managerial, executive, expert and technical positions that Vietnamese workers have not yet met according to production and business needs. In order for foreign workers to work legally in Vietnam, foreign workers need a work permit. Viet An Law Firm would like to send you a summary of legal information you need to know about related to work permit procedures in Vietnam.

Legal documents guiding work permit issuance procedures

• The Labor Code 2019 takes effect from January 1, 2021;
• Decree 152/2020 ND-CP dated 30/12/2020 regulating foreign workers working in Vietnam and recruiting and managing Vietnamese workers working for foreign organizations and individuals in Vietnam;
• Decree 70/2023/ND-CP amending Decree 152/2020/ND-CP regulating foreign workers working in Vietnam and recruiting and managing Vietnamese workers working for foreign organizations and individuals in Vietnam.

Conditions for foreigners to be issued work permits in Vietnam

• Be at least 18 years old and have full civil act capacity;
• Have professional, technical, skilled and work experience; be in good health as prescribed by the Minister of Health;
• Not being a person who is serving a penalty or has not had his/her criminal record cleared or is being examined for penal liability in accordance with foreign or Vietnamese laws;
• Have a work permit issued by a competent state agency of Vietnam, except for cases where foreign workers working in Vietnam are not eligible for work permits under Article 154 of the 2019 Labor Code.

In addition, foreign workers working in Vietnam must comply with Vietnamese labor laws and be protected by Vietnamese law, unless otherwise provided for in international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.

Which foreigners are issueed work permits in Vietnam

The issuance of foreign work permits is applied to foreigners working in Vietnam, specifically including the following subjects:

• Performance of labor contracts;
• Intra-enterprise mobility;
• Investors contribute capital to Vietnamese companies, establish Vietnamese companies but contribute capital of less than VND 3 billion;
• Performance of various types of contracts or agreements on economics, trade, finance, banking, insurance, science and technology, culture, sports, education, vocational education and health;
• Contract service providers;
• Offering services;
• Working for foreign non-governmental organizations and international organizations in Vietnam permitted to operate in accordance with the provisions of Vietnamese law;
• Volunteers;
• Persons responsible for establishing a commercial presence;
• Managers, executives, experts, technical workers;
• Participate in the implementation of bidding packages and projects in Vietnam;
• Relatives of members of foreign representative offices in Vietnam are allowed to work in Vietnam in accordance with international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.

List of work permit dossiers and notes on work permit dossiers in Vietnam

Work permit dossiers to be prepared

• The health certificate or health certificate issued by a competent foreign or Vietnamese medical agency or organization is valid for 12 months from the date of signing the health conclusion to the date of submission of the application or the certificate of being physically fit as prescribed by the Minister of Health. For a list of hospitals eligible for medical examination for work permits, please refer to the article: https://luatvietan.vn/cac-benh-vien-kham-suc-khoe-cap-giay-phep-lao-dong.html
• A criminal record card or a document certifying that the foreign worker is not a person who is serving a penalty or has not had his/her criminal record cleared or is being examined for criminal liability issued by a foreign country or Vietnam.

Note about the criminal record card in the work permit application

• For a criminal record card issued abroad: a criminal record card issued or a written confirmation that the foreign worker is not a person who is serving a penalty or has not had his/her criminal record cleared or is in the period of being examined for criminal liability issued abroad for no more than 06 months, from the date of issuance to the date of submission of the application.
• For criminal record card issued in Vietnam: If the employee has confirmation of temporary residence in Vietnam and is residing in Vietnam, he can apply for a criminal record card at the Department of Justice where the foreigner is residing in Vietnam to apply for a work permit. The duration of criminal records issued in Vietnam to foreigners shall not exceed 06 months from the date of issuance to the date of submission.

Documents and papers proving that they are managers, executives, experts, technical workers

The specialist falls into one of the following cases:

• University degree or higher or equivalent and at least 3 years of work experience suitable to the job position that the foreign worker plans to work in Vietnam;
• Have at least 5 years of experience and have a practicing certificate suitable to the job position that the foreign worker plans to work in Vietnam;
• Special cases shall be decided by the Prime Minister at the proposal of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

A manager is a manager of an enterprise as prescribed in Clause 24 Article 4 of the Law on Enterprises or the head or deputy of the head of an agency or organization.

An executive director is a person who falls into one of the following cases:

• The head of a branch, representative office or business location of the enterprise.
• The head and direct administration of at least one field of the agency, organization or enterprise and is under the direct direction and administration of the head of the agency, organization or enterprise.

Technical workers fall into one of the following cases:

• Be trained for at least 1 year and have at least 3 years of experience suitable to the job position that the foreign worker plans to work in Vietnam;
• At least 5 years of experience in a job suitable to the job position that the foreign worker intends to work in Vietnam.

Note:

Documents proving that a manager or executive director include the following 3 types of documents:

• The company’s charter or operation regulations of agencies, organizations or enterprises;
• Certificate of enterprise registration or certificate of establishment or establishment decision or other document of equivalent legal validity;
• Resolutions or decisions on appointment of agencies, organizations or enterprises.

Documents proving experts and technical labor include the following 2 types of documents:

• Diplomas or certificates or certificates;
• Written certification of the overseas agency, organization or enterprise on the number of years of experience of experts, technical workers or work permits that have been issueed or confirmed not to be eligible for the issueed work permit.”.

Photo submitted with application

02 color photos (size 4 cm x 6 cm, white background, straight face, bare head, no stained glasses), photos taken not older than 06 months from the date of submission.

Copies of personal documents

A certified copy of the passport or a copy of the passport certified by the employer is valid in accordance with the provisions of law. Include all pages of the passport.

Other documents

• For foreign workers moving within the enterprise, the following documents are required:

• Documents sent by the foreign enterprise to work at the commercial presence of that foreign enterprise in the territory of Vietnam;
• Documents proving that the foreign worker has been employed by that foreign enterprise before working in Vietnam for at least 12 consecutive months;
  • For foreign workers performing various types of contracts or agreements on economics, trade, finance, banking, insurance, science and technology, culture, sports, education, vocational education and health:
• Contract or agreement signed between the Vietnamese partner and the foreign side. The contract must contain an agreement on the foreign worker’s work in Vietnam;
  • For foreign workers who are contracted service providers, the following documents must be provided:
• Service provision contract signed between the Vietnamese partner and the foreign side and documents proving that the foreign worker has worked for a foreign enterprise that has not had a commercial presence in Vietnam for at least 02 years;
  • For foreign workers offering services for sale, there must be a document:
• A document from the service provider sending the foreign worker into Vietnam to negotiate the provision of services;
  • For foreign workers working for foreign non-governmental organizations or international organizations in Vietnam, the following documents must be provided:
• Documents of agencies or organizations sending foreign workers to work for foreign non-governmental organizations or international organizations in Vietnam;
• Operation licenses of foreign non-governmental organizations and international organizations in Vietnam in accordance with the provisions of law;
  • For foreign workers who are managers, executives, experts and technical workers, the following documents must be provided:
• Documents of foreign agencies, organizations and enterprises sending foreign workers to work in Vietnam and suitable to the expected job position or documents proving to be managers as prescribed

Some notes when preparing a work permit dossier

• Documents and documents need to be consular legalized and notarized translation
• All the above-mentioned documents of foreigners issued abroad must be consular legalized, translated into Vietnamese and notarized or authenticated before submitting the dossier, except for papers and documents exempt from consular legalization in accordance with Vietnamese law or under international treaties to which Vietnam and the foreign countries concerned are as a member, or on the principle of reciprocity.

Work permit issuance process for foreign workers in Vietnam

Step 1. Apply for approval of the need to employ foreigners

• At least 15 days before the expected date of employment of foreign workers, employers (except contractors) are responsible for determining the demand for foreign workers for each job position that Vietnamese workers have not yet met and reporting to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs or the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Trade and the society where the foreign worker is expected to work.
• The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs or the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall approve or disapprove in writing the employment of foreign workers for each job position within 10 working days from the date of receipt of the explanatory report or the report explaining the change in demand for employing foreign workers.
• The dossier includes: Form of report explaining the demand for employing foreign workers (according to form No. 01 Appendix 01 of Decree No. 152/2020/ND-CP, amended and supplemented by Decree 70/2023/ND-CP) with a copy of business registration.

Step 2: Apply for a work permit

At least 15 working days before the date the foreign worker expects to start working for the employer, the employer must declare information in the declaration form and submit the application for a work permit as prescribed to the work permit issuing agency via the portal.

• Number of documents: 01 set
• Apply at: Submit directly at the 1-door department of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs or the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs
• Resolution time: 05 working days

Step 3: Sign a labor contract and report on the use of foreign workers to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs or the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs

After the foreigner is issueed a work permit, the enterprise (Employer) must carry out the following procedures:

• Sign a labor contract with a work permit issue;
• Pay health insurance and social insurance for foreign workers. From 01/01/2018, foreign workers, if they have been issueed work permits, practice certificates or practice permits by competent agencies of Vietnam, are also compulsory subjects to participate in social insurance in accordance with the Law on Social Insurance 2014.
• Before July 5 and January 5 of the following year, the foreign employer shall report on the first 6 months of the year and annually on the employment of foreign workers. In case a foreign worker works for an employer in many provinces or centrally-run cities, within 3 working days from the date the foreign worker starts working, the employer must report electronically to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs where foreign workers come to work

Step 4: Issue temporary residence cards according to the term of the work permit for foreigners

After the Foreign Worker is issueed a Work Permit in Vietnam, the next thing is to apply for a Temporary Residence Card according to the term of the Work Permit. In Vietnam, the maximum duration of a work permit is 02 years, so the maximum duration of the temporary residence card is also 02 years according to the work permit.

Application for temporary residence card

• A written request from an agency, organization or individual carrying out procedures for invitation and guarantee (usually the employer)
• Declaration of application for temporary residence card with photo: Form NA8 is issued together with Circular No. 04/2015/TT-BCA stipulating the form of documents related to the entry, exit and residence of foreigners in Vietnam. This declaration is signed by the applicant for a temporary residence card, clearly stating his or her full name. The guarantor agency or organization shall stamp the photo and declaration and affix the hanging seal on the other side;
• Passport of the person applying for a temporary residence card;
• Work permit of the person applying for a temporary residence card;
• 03 color photos (size 2cm x 3cm, white background, straight face, bare head, no stained glasses), photos taken not older than 06 months from the date of submission;
• Certificate of temporary residence certified by the police of the commune/ward where the foreigner temporarily resides;
• Documents proving the legal status of the guarantor.

Note on the use of work permits, temporary residence cards

In case the employee terminates the labor contract with the enterprise, the organization needs to revoke the work permit and temporary residence card issued to the foreigner as an employee at the enterprise or organization to avoid legal liabilities of the enterprise,  organization occurs (if any).

Some related questions

How long is the duration of a work permit?

The maximum term of a work permit is 02 years, in case of extension, it can only be extended once with a maximum term of 02 years.

What is documents subject to consular legalization?

Documents issued/issued by foreign agencies, organizations and enterprises that foreign workers submit in dossiers for work permits must be consular legalized, translated into Vietnamese and authenticated in accordance with Vietnamese law.

What units are employed by foreigners?

All companies, enterprises and organizations legally operating in Vietnam are allowed to employ foreign workers. Units employing foreign workers must fully comply with the provisions of law.

Work permit consulting service for foreigners of Viet An Law Firm

• Advising on procedures for issuance of criminal record cards for foreigners in Vietnam (to be able to carry out procedures for issuance of criminal record cards, foreigners need to have a temporary residence certificate in Vietnam);
• Advising on work permit application dossiers for foreigners as prescribed;
• Advising on medical examination procedures in Vietnam to apply for a work permit;
• Translating, notarize translation and consular lawfulness of documents serving the issuance of work permits;
• Advising on conditions for obtaining a work permit in Vietnam;
• Completing work permit dossiers in Vietnam for customers;
• Advising on cases not subject to work permit issuance and carrying out procedures for issuance of certification in cases where work permit is not required;
• Representating to carry out procedures for application for work permits at competent state agencies.
• Consulting, guiding preparation dossiers for issuance of temporary residence cards for foreigners after being issueed work permits.

Please contact with Viet An Law to get the best advisory and cost-effective services. Best regards!