Conditions & procedures for foreigners working in Vietnam

What are the regulations for foreigners working in Vietnam? Refer to detailed documents and procedures for foreign workers working in Vietnam.

Regulations on foreigners working in Vietnam

1. Regulations on conditions for foreigners to work in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 151 of the 2019 Labor Code, the conditions for foreigners to work in Vietnam include:

• Have foreign nationality, be 18 years of age or older and have full civil act capacity;
• Must be in good health according to regulations of the Minister of Health;
• Must have professional qualifications, technical qualifications, skills and work experience;
• Not being a subject who is serving a sentence, has not had his/her sentence expunged, or is being prosecuted for criminal liability under the provisions of foreign law or Vietnamese law;
• Granted work permits to foreigners by competent authorities of Vietnam, except in cases not subject to licensing under the provisions of law.

Foreign workers wishing to work in Vietnam, in addition to the above-mentioned background requirements, must also ensure:

• The term of a foreign employee’s labor contract signed with an enterprise in Vietnam must not exceed the term of the work permit;
• During their working time in Vietnam, foreign workers must comply with Vietnamese labor laws and will be protected by Vietnamese law, unless otherwise provided in international treaties to which Vietnam is a member.

>> Reference: Regulations on work permits for foreigners.

2. Regulations on forms for foreign workers to work in Vietnam

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 2 of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP, foreign workers (people with foreign nationality) work in Vietnam in the following forms:

• Sign labor contracts with enterprises in Vietnam;
• Employees move to work within the enterprise;
• Performing contracts or agreements on economics, trade, finance, banking, insurance, education, culture, sports, science and technology, vocational education and health;
• Foreigners who are currently contract service providers;
• Offering services;
• Working for a foreign non-governmental organization or international organization in Vietnam that is permitted to operate under Vietnamese law;
• Is the person responsible for establishing the commercial presence of a foreign trader;
• As a volunteer;
• Currently participating in implementing bidding packages and projects in Vietnam;
• As an executive, as a manager, as a specialist or as a technical worker;
• Relatives of members of foreign representative agencies in Vietnam are allowed to work in Vietnam according to the provisions of international treaties to which Vietnam is a member.

Documents & procedures for foreigners working in Vietnam

To participate in the Vietnamese labor market, foreigners must satisfy the conditions prescribed by Vietnamese law as mentioned above. At the same time, employers and foreign citizens must carry out additional procedures such as: requesting approval for the need to use foreign labor, making a criminal record, applying for a work permit for foreigners, except for cases exempted from a work permit. And to work completely legally in Vietnam, it is necessary to carry out additional procedures to grant temporary residence to foreigners. 

The entire process and procedures for foreigners working in Vietnam are as follows:

➨ Step 1. Enterprises in Vietnam register their need to recruit foreign workers

This is a step taken by the employer (enterprise in Vietnam). 

At least 15 days before the expected date of employment, the employer must prepare a set of documents explaining the need to employ foreign workers to submit to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs or the People’s Committee of the province or centrally-run city where the foreign worker is expected to work.

Note:

The time to review the application for approval of the need to employ foreign workers is 10 working days from the date of receipt of the application from the enterprise.

If the applicant is not the legal representative of the enterprise, a letter of introduction or power of attorney must be provided.

➨ Step 2. Carry out procedures for criminal records for foreigners

Foreigners carry out procedures to apply for a criminal record certificate as a basis to supplement the application for a work permit. Foreign workers can apply for a criminal record certificate in their country of residence or in Vietnam.

Foreigners submit application and fee at:

• Department of Justice where the foreigner is residing (for foreigners currently in Vietnam);
• Vietnam National Center for Judicial Records at 09 Tran Vi Street, Mai Dich Ward, Cau Giay District, Hanoi City (for foreigners who have lived in Vietnam or authorized persons submitting documents).

Within no more than 15 working days from the date of receipt of complete and valid documents, foreigners will be issued a criminal record certificate. 

Note:

• Because criminal record certificate No. 2 fully shows the expunged and unexpunged criminal records, to ensure personal rights, the law does not allow authorization to apply for criminal record certificate No. 2. Therefore, foreigners must apply for criminal record certificate No. 2 themselves and cannot authorize relatives to do so;
• In case of authorization to request for criminal record certificate No. 1, you replace form No. 03/2013/TT-LLTP with form No. 04/2013/TT-LLTP;
• Foreign workers can obtain a criminal record certificate before a Vietnamese enterprise submits an application for approval of the need to employ foreign workers or use a previously verified criminal record certificate, which is valid for no more than 6 months from the date of issue.

>> Reference: Procedures for making criminal records for foreigners.

➨ Step 3. Carry out procedures to apply for a work permit for foreigners

After receiving the written notice of approval of the job position using foreign workers and the criminal record of the foreigner, the employer shall submit the application for a work permit for the foreigner to the Ministry or Department of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs at least 15 days before the expected date of work in Vietnam of the employee.

Note:

Depending on the position and position, foreign workers need to pay attention to the following issues:

• If the foreign employee is a manager or executive director, the document confirming that the employee holds these positions must be valid for at least 3 years;
• If the foreign worker is an expert, he/she must have a university degree and at least 3 years of working experience in the field in which he/she intends to work in Vietnam;
• Documents related to foreign employees can be the parent company’s appointment decision, labor contract, company charter;
• All documents issued abroad (criminal records, health certificates, experience verification, university degrees, etc.) included in the application must be translated and consularized;
• Work permit fees may vary by locality and are determined by the Provincial People’s Council.

Within 5 working days from the date of receipt of the complete application for a work permit, the Ministry or Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs will issue a work permit to the foreigner. In case of refusal to issue a work permit, the Ministry or Department will issue a written notice stating the reasons.

>> Reference: Procedures for obtaining work permits for foreigners.

——-

Work permits for foreigners are only valid for a maximum of 2 years, so in case a foreigner is still working in Vietnam but the work permit expires, the employer or employee must carry out procedures to extend the work permit for the foreigner.

➨ Step 4. Make temporary residence card for foreigners

After being granted a work permit, it means that foreign workers have enough grounds and conditions to work in Vietnam. At this time, foreign workers must register for a temporary residence card for foreigners to legally reside in Vietnam and have their rights protected by Vietnamese law.

Note:

• Passport must be valid for at least 13 months and have a visa for the correct work purpose, with symbols LD1, LD2 from the sponsoring company;
• When submitting an application for a temporary residence card for foreigners, the applicant must present an ID card/CCCD;
• Documents in the relevant file of foreigners must be consular legalized and translated into Vietnamese. 

If the application is complete and valid, within no more than 5 working days from the date of receipt of the application, the Immigration Department – Ministry of Public Security or the Immigration Department of the provincial or municipal police will issue a temporary residence card and collect a fee equivalent to the duration of the temporary residence card. If the application is not valid, it will be requested to be corrected or supplemented.

Reference:

>> Temporary residence registration procedures for foreigners;

>> Regulations on temporary residence cards for foreigners.

Full service package for foreigners who want to work in Vietnam

It can be seen that completing procedures for foreigners to work and live legally in Vietnam is relatively complicated and requires working with many agencies and departments. 

So, let Online Accounting help you through a full range of services for foreigners to work legally in Vietnam, specifically:

1. Criminal record service;
2. Work permit service;
3. Temporary residence card service.

To save time and reduce the workflow with many units, you can consider using the above-mentioned full-package service chain of Online Accounting or use each service individually depending on the needs of foreign workers.

When choosing Online Accounting, you will be supported from A to Z as follows:

• Get free advice on legal issues related to each type of license;
• Get free consultation on how to make temporary residence declaration form for foreigners;
• Get detailed advice on cases of work permit exemption and instructions on procedures for confirming work permit exemption – Free;
• Get results fast, on-site – Free shipping.

See details: 

>> Service of applying for criminal records for foreigners;

>> Work permit application service for foreigners;

>> Temporary residence card application service for foreigners.

Frequently asked questions about procedures for foreigners to work in Vietnam