A work permit for foreign teachers in Vietnam is a mandatory legal condition for foreign teachers, lecturers, and education experts to teach legally in Vietnam. As the Vietnamese education market grows strongly, the demand for recruiting foreign teachers at schools, foreign language centers, training institutions, and international educational organizations is increasing. However, besides the requirements for expertise, qualifications, and teaching experience, employers must strictly comply with the regulations regarding the procedure for a Vietnam work permit for foreign teachers. The following article by Viet An Law Firm will analyze the conditions, dossiers, procedures, duration, and important notes when carrying out the work permit application for foreign teachers in Vietnam.
Quick summary of the foreign teacher work permit in Vietnam
| Content | Necessary Information |
| Target subjects | Foreign teachers, lecturers, education experts working in Vietnam |
| Is a work permit mandatory? | Yes, unless falling under an exemption case |
| Competent authority | Provincial People’s Committee or decentralized agency |
| Duration | Maximum of 02 years |
| Processing time | 10 working days from the date of receiving a complete dossier |
| Main dossier | Form 03, passport, photos, health certificate, criminal record, qualifications/certificates, documents proving the position |
| Important note | Teachers should not be allowed to teach before being granted a work permit |
Decree 219/2025/ND-CP stipulates that the competence to issue work permits belongs to the provincial People’s Committee or a decentralized agency; the work permit has a duration based on specific grounds but maximum not exceeding 02 years.
The management of foreign workers working in Vietnam is regulated very strictly to protect the domestic labor market and ensure social security and order. According to Article 151 of the Labor Code 2019, all foreign citizens entering Vietnam to work must have a legal licensing document issued by a competent state agency, except for some very specific exemption cases.
In the education sector, cases exempted from licensing usually only fall into the group of subjects holding diplomatic passports, or experts sent to Vietnam to teach by non-governmental organizations, diplomatic representation agencies under bilateral agreements, or those entering Vietnam for less than 30 days and no more than 3 times a year.
In reality, the majority of foreign teachers recruited under labor contracts at schools, foreign language centers, international schools, or training institutions in Vietnam must perform the work permit application for foreign teachers, unless they fall under an exemption category according to the law. Any individual participating in regular teaching and receiving a salary from a legal entity in Vietnam is obliged to have a work permit for foreign teachers in Vietnam or a document confirming the exemption from a work permit.
Based on the regulations of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP, the work permit requirements for foreign teachers in Vietnam participating in the education market have been concretized, in order to attract truly high-quality human resources and streamline unnecessary barriers.
Professional qualifications are the core measure for competent authorities to determine whether candidates have sufficient capacity to assume the position of an education expert. The minimum requirement is that candidates must hold a Bachelor’s Degree or higher issued by recognized universities and academies in the world. An important point to note is that the major stated on the degree must be compatible and suitable for the position and subject they intend to teach in Vietnam.
In case the degree is issued by foreign educational institutions, this document cannot be used directly in Vietnam right away. Accordingly, all documents and materials issued by foreign agencies must undergo the consular legalization procedure for work permit application documents. Specifically, the bachelor’s degree needs to be sealed for certification by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the host country, then brought to the Vietnamese Embassy or Consulate in that country for legalization. At the same time, these documents must be translated into Vietnamese and notarized at legal notary organizations in Vietnam before submitting the dossier for a foreign teacher work permit in Vietnam to the labor management agency.
A very common scenario during the recruitment process is that the candidate possesses a university Bachelor’s Degree, but the major is completely unrelated to education or pedagogy (e.g., Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering, Bachelor of Accounting…). In this case, to prove their teaching skills and meet the work permit requirements for foreign teachers in Vietnam, providing an international pedagogical certificate is a COMPULSORY condition. This especially applies to any work permit for foreign English teachers in Vietnam.
The most popular and widely recognized certificates today include TESOL, TEFL, and CELTA. These are academic proofs showing that the employee has undergone systematic training on teaching methods, student psychology, and classroom management skills.
However, not all certificates are accepted. State agencies often require this certificate to show a minimum training duration of 120 hours (120-hour in-class/online course) and include a teaching practicum component. Like a university degree, these certificates are also required to undergo the entire process of consular legalization, translation, and judicial notarization before submission.
This process usually goes through 3 strict steps:
The enterprise will have to use Form 03 specified in the Appendix issued together with Decree 219/2025/ND-CP to make the declaration. In this request and explanation document, the sponsoring entity must strictly argue the reasons why they cannot recruit domestic personnel. At the same time, the declared information about the job title must strictly match the Education Operation License.
| Document Group | Documents to Prepare |
| From foreign teachers | Passport, 4×6 photos, health certificate, criminal record, university degree, teaching certificate if any, experience confirmation |
| From school/center | Form 03, education operation license, center/school establishment decision, documents proving the need to use foreign teachers |
| Foreign documents | Consular legalization, translation, authentication according to regulations |
The dossier for granting a work permit under Article 18 of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP includes Form 03, health certificate, passport, criminal record, photos, documents proving the working form, and documents proving the job position.
Unlike normal commercial enterprises, a foreign language center belongs to the group of conditional business lines. Therefore, for a foreign language center to have sufficient legal capacity to sponsor and apply for a work permit for foreign English teachers in Vietnam, that center must provide the Center Establishment Decision and the Education Operation License issued by the Department of Education and Training, which are currently still valid.
In addition, the job title recorded on the permit application document must match the actual activities. The sponsoring entity cannot register the title as “Manager” or “Chief Executive Officer” to circumvent the law, but in reality arrange for that personnel to perform the job of teaching students in class.
| Criteria | Self-implementation | Using the services of Viet An Law Firm |
| Checking teacher’s conditions | Easy to confuse degrees, certificates, and experience | Reviewed prior to submitting the dossier |
| Consular legalization | Easy to miss steps, wrong translation, wrong authentication | Guided to standardize documents from the beginning |
| Form 03 | Easy to record wrong position, title, working location | Draft dossier suitable for the teacher position |
| Processing time | May be rejected, prolonging recruitment time | Limit the risk of dossier being amended or supplemented |
| After having a permit | Easy to forget labor contract, temporary residence card, extension | Support legal procedures after licensing |
According to current regulations, the licensing document has a maximum duration of 02 years (24 months). When it is about to expire, the enterprise can carry out procedures to extend it only once for a maximum of another 02 years.
No. When an employee moves to work for another legal entity, they are obliged to carry out procedures to apply for a new one from the beginning.
Yes. If foreign teachers participate in teaching, working, and receiving a salary in Vietnam, they must have a work permit or a document confirming the exemption from a work permit before working.
The dossier processing time is usually 10 working days from the date the competent authority receives a valid and complete dossier.
Yes. Degrees, certificates, and documents issued by foreign countries must be consularly legalized, translated into Vietnamese, and authenticated according to regulations, except for cases where they are exempted.
It is not mandatory in all cases, but these are important certificates to prove teaching skills, especially for English teachers at foreign language centers.
Yes. A foreign language center can act as a sponsor if it has a valid legal status, a valid education operation license, and a need to use foreign teachers suitable for the teaching position.
The above is the advice of Viet An Law Firm regarding the process of applying for a work permit for foreign teachers. If clients have any questions related to the procedure for a work permit for teachers, please contact us for the best support!
