Conditions and procedures for applying for work permits for foreigners

Refer to detailed conditions, procedures for applying for work permits for foreigners & cases requiring work permits in this article of fdiinvietnam.com.

A work permit (also known as a work permit) is a document that allows a foreign individual to work in Vietnam. Due to the increasing demand for foreign workers in Vietnam, fdiinvietnam.com would like to summarize and send you some important information about the procedures for applying for a work permit for foreigners in the article below. 

5 conditions for granting work permits to foreigners in Vietnam

According to current law, foreigners wishing to apply for a work permit in Vietnam must be foreign nationals and meet the following conditions:

1. 18 years of age or older;
2. Full civil capacity;
3. Have professional qualifications and work experience; and meet health requirements as prescribed by the Minister of Health in Vietnam;
4. Not in the case of serving a sentence, not having a criminal record cleared or being under criminal prosecution;
5. Issued a document approving the need to use foreign labor.

Procedures for applying for work permits for foreigners

Procedures for applying for a work permit for foreigners in Vietnam include the following 2 steps:

➨ Step 1: Procedures for requesting approval for the need to use foreign labor 

Application for foreign labor demand is detailed in the following table:

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At least 15 days before the expected date of employment, the employer shall submit the application to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs or to the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee.

Within 10 working days from the date of receiving the dossier from the enterprise, the competent authority shall have a written response regarding approval or disapproval.

➨ Step 2: Procedures for applying for a work permit for foreigners

Employers must submit applications for work permits for foreigners to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs at least 15 working days before the date the employee is expected to work in Vietnam.

Application documents for work permit for foreigners in Vietnam according to the following table:

(*) Proof documents will vary depending on each case, specifically:

• In case the employee is a manager or executive director: Document confirming that the employee has worked in a management or executive director position for at least 3 years;
• In case the employee is an expert: Have a university degree and have at least 3 years of working experience in the trained field suitable for the position the employee is expected to work in Vietnam.

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Within 5 working days from the date of receiving complete and valid documents, the competent authority shall be responsible for issuing a work permit in case the documents are valid or issuing a notice requesting amendments or adjustments to the documents if there are errors.

Work permit fees: Work permit fees may vary depending on the locality and are determined by the Provincial People’s Council.

Note: 

• Documents issued by foreign countries (such as university degrees, experience verification, health certificates, etc.) must be consularized and notarized before submission.
• Work permits for foreigners working in Vietnam are valid for a maximum of 2 years. When the permit expires, if the enterprise wants to continue employing foreign workers, it must apply for a work permit extension. The work permit can only be extended once for a maximum of 2 years.

>> See more: Procedures for extending work permits for foreigners

Foreigners must apply for a work permit

According to Decree 152/2020/ND-CP, foreigners in the following cases must apply for a work permit when working in Vietnam, including:

• Implementation of labor contracts;
• Foreign workers who have been employed by a foreign enterprise for at least 12 months and are transferred internally to work at the foreign enterprise’s commercial presence in Vietnam;
• Employees performing contracts or agreements on economics, trade, finance, banking, science and technology, culture, education, vocational education, sports, insurance and health;
• Foreign workers working for at least 2 years at a foreign enterprise without a commercial presence in Vietnam and must meet the conditions for experts;
• Foreign workers participating in activities related to negotiating and consuming services for service providers in Vietnam (Not directly selling or providing services);
• Employees working for international organizations and foreign non-governmental organizations in Vietnam are permitted to operate under the provisions of Vietnamese law;
• Foreign workers working in Vietnam voluntarily, without salary;
• Person responsible for establishing a commercial presence of a foreign enterprise in Vietnam;
• Workers are Managers, Executives, Specialists, Technical Workers;
• Workers participating in implementing projects and packages in Vietnam;
• Employees who are relatives of members of foreign representative agencies in Vietnam are allowed to work in Vietnam according to the provisions of international treaties to which our country is a member.

However, currently, foreign workers applying for work permits in Vietnam are most commonly in the following positions: Manager, expert, technical worker or executive director.

Note:

• Upon termination of the employment contract or in certain other cases, the granted work permit will be revoked;
• If a foreign worker works in Vietnam without a work permit, both the worker and the employer will be fined. The forms and levels of fines are stipulated in Decree 28/2020/ND-CP;
• There are some cases where foreign workers working in Vietnam are exempt from work permits. However, in order to work in Vietnam, these workers still have to apply for work permit exemption.

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Above are the shares of fdiinvietnam.com about the procedures for applying for work permits for foreigners. If your business is in need of applying for work permits for foreigners who are workers, experts, technicians, etc., you can refer to:

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Frequently asked questions when applying for work permits for foreigners

Call us at 0978 578 866 (North) – 033 9962 333 (Central) – 0946 724 666 (South) for support.