Visa exemption for Vietnamese people residing abroad

Visa exemption for Vietnamese people residing abroad, foreigners who are spouses, and children of Vietnamese people is a policy of the Vietnamese government issued under Decree 82/2015/ND-CP dated September 24, 2015 (effective from November 15, 2015). A visa is a document issued by a competent authority of Vietnam to allow foreigners to enter Vietnam (as explained in Clause 11, Article 3 of the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam 2014). Vietnamese people residing abroad are one of the subjects exempted from visas in Vietnam. In this article, Viet An Law will provide information related to the above regulations.

Visa exemption for Vietnamese people residing abroad when entering Vietnam

Vietnamese people residing abroad are defined in Clause 4, Article 3 of the 2008 Law on Vietnamese Nationality, amended and supplemented in 2014, as follows:

“Vietnamese people residing abroad are Vietnamese citizens and persons of Vietnamese origin who permanently reside abroad. ”

Accordingly, Vietnamese people residing abroad are people who have all of the following characteristics:

This concept needs to be distinguished from the concept of Persons of Vietnamese origin residing abroad. Accordingly, Vietnamese people have a broader meaning, which can include people who are not of Vietnamese origin but are qualified and are Vietnamese citizens according to the provisions of law (i.e. have Vietnamese nationality).

According to Article 2 of Decree 82/2015/ND-CP, subjects exempted from visa when entering Vietnam include:

• Vietnamese people living abroad;
• Foreigners are wives, husbands, and children of Vietnamese people residing abroad;
• Foreigners are wives, husbands, and children of Vietnamese citizens.

Thus, based on the principle that “The Socialist Republic of Vietnam protects the legitimate rights and interests of Vietnamese citizens abroad ” in Article 6 of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality, Vietnamese people residing abroad are one of the three subjects exempted from visas when entering Vietnam when meeting the conditins specified in Article 3 of Decree 82/2015/ND-CP as follows:

• Have a passport or travel document valid for at least 01 year;
• Have documents proving Vietnamese residing abroad ;
• Not subject to entry ban or exit suspension according to the provisions of the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam 2014.

Documents proving Vietnamese residing abroad

As defined, to prove that you are Vietnamese, you need to have documents proving:

• Vietnamese citizen, i.e. person with Vietnamese nationality.
• People of Vietnamese origin, i.e. Vietnamese people who once had Vietnamese nationality, whose nationality was determined at birth based on the principle of bloodline and their children and grandchildren.

One of the following documents is valid to prove Vietnamese nationality:

• Birth certificate; in case the birth certificate does not clearly show Vietnamese nationality, it must be accompanied by documents proving the Vietnamese nationality of the parents;
• Identity card/ citizen identification card;
• Vietnamese passport;
• Decision on granting Vietnamese nationality, Decision on restoring Vietnamese nationality, Decision on recognizing adoption of foreign children, Decision on allowing foreigners to adopt Vietnamese children.

Cases of entry ban and exit suspension

Article 21 of the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam 2014 stipulates the following cases of not being allowed to enter the country :

“1. Any of the conditions in Clause 1 Article 20 of this Law is not satisfied.

2. Children under 14 years of age without parents, guardians or authorized custodians.
3. Forging papers or providing false information to obtain entry/exit/residence permit.
4. Any person suffering from a mental disease or infectious disease that threatens the public health.
5. Any person that was deported from Vietnam within the last 03 years.
6. Any person that was compelled to leave Vietnam within the last 06 months.
7. For reasons of epidemic prevention.
8. For reasons of natural disasters.

9. For reasons of national defense, national security, social order, and social safety”

Article 36 of the 2019 Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens stipulates cases of temporary suspension of exit, including:

• Suspect, defendant; person denounced, the person proposed for prosecution, who through examination and verification has grounds to determine that person is suspected of committing a crime and it is deemed necessary to immediately prevent that person from escaping or destroying evidence.
• Persons with obligations under the provisions of law on criminal and civil proceedings.
• The person who must execute the sentence.
• Taxpayers, legal representatives of enterprises being forced to execute administrative decisions on tax management, Vietnamese people leaving the country to settle abroad, and Vietnamese people residing abroad who have not fulfilled their tax payment obligations before leaving the country according to the provisions of the law on tax management.
• The person being enforced, the representative of the organization being enforced to execute the decision on administrative sanction and it is deemed necessary to immediately prevent that person from escaping.
• The person being inspected, examined, or verified has sufficient grounds to determine that he or she has committed an especially serious violation and it is deemed necessary to immediately prevent that person from escaping.
• People with dangerous, contagious diseases need to be stopped immediately.
• People whose exit from the country affects national defense and security are considered by the authorities to be reasonable.

State agency issuing Visa Exemption Certificate

• Vietnamese visa-issuing authority abroad (Embassy): the person requesting a visa exemption certificate is residing abroad;
• Immigration Department: People temporarily residing in Vietnam who need a visa exemption certificate.

Duration, value, and form of visa exemption certificate:

• Visa exemption papers include the following 2 types:
  • Type of sticker: Visa exemption paper is glued to foreign passports of Vietnamese people residing abroad and foreigners used to enter Vietnam.
  • Type of certificate: Visa exemption certificate for Vietnamese people residing abroad who only have permanent residence certificates issued by foreign countries and people using passports of countries and territories with which Vietnam does not have diplomatic relations.
• Visa exemption certificate has a maximum validity of no more than 05 years and is at least 06 months shorter than the validity of the passport or international travel document of the person granted it.
• Visa exemption papers are issued to people entering Vietnam to visit relatives or handle personal matters.
• Visa exemption papers are issued in passports; the following cases are issued separately (in book form):
  • Passport has run out of visa pages
  • Passport of a country that does not have diplomatic relations with Vietnam
  • International travel documents
  • At the request of the visa exemption holder
  • For diplomatic, defense, and security reasons.
• Visa exemption certificates are issued separately for each individual. Children’s visa exemption certificates are issued together with their parents’ visa exemption certificates when they share the same passport as their parents.

In the following cases, the visa exemption certificate (visa) will be reissued:

• Visa exemption certificate (visa) lost, damaged, expired;
• People who need to adjust the content of the visa exemption certificate.

Issuance of temporary residence certificate in Vietnam

A temporary residence certificate is understood as the competent authority of Vietnam determining the period a foreigner is allowed to temporarily reside in Vietnam.

Regulations on granting temporary residence certificates are implemented according to Article 10, Decree 82/2015/ND-CP as follows:

• People entering the country with a visa exemption certificate will be granted a temporary residence certificate for 6 months by the immigration control agency for each entry; if the validity of the visa exemption certificate is less than 6 months, a temporary residence certificate will be granted corresponding to the remaining validity of the visa exemption certificate;
• In case a person entering with a visa exemption certificate needs to stay longer than 06 months, and is sponsored by an agency, organization, or individual in Vietnam with legitimate reasons, they may be considered for a temporary residence extension of no more than 06 months.

For all procedures related to granting visa exemption for Vietnamese people residing abroad and foreigners who are spouses or children of Vietnamese people residing abroad or of Vietnamese citizens, please contact Viet An Law Firm for detailed advice.

Update: 8/2024