Find out: What is work permit exemption? Conditions and cases of work permit exemption for foreigners? Documents and procedures for work permit exemption?
With an increasingly open market economy policy, our country is currently exempting work permits for about 20 cases of foreigners coming to work in Vietnam. However, many businesses still wonder whether the foreign experts and workers they hire are exempted? What are the conditions and procedures for requesting confirmation of work permit exemption? fdiinvietnam.com will help you answer all of these questions in the article below.
What is work permit exemption?
A work permit is an important legal document that allows foreign workers to work legally in Vietnam. Normally, foreigners will need to apply for a work permit in Vietnam. However, some special cases will be exempted from a work permit.
In fact, the term “person exempt from work permit” is used to refer to foreign workers who are not required to have a work permit. In these cases, they will not have to apply for a work permit but will have to go through another procedure, which is the procedure for requesting confirmation that they are not required to have a work permit.
Cases exempted from work permit in Vietnam
Currently, there are 20 cases exempted from work permits as specifically stipulated in Article 154 of the 2019 Labor Code and Decree 152/2020/ND-CP. However, it is possible to generalize the cases that do not require work permit exemption confirmation procedures, including:
- Foreigners holding the position of head of representative office or being the main person in charge of working at international organizations and foreign non-governmental organizations operating in Vietnam;
- Foreigners moving within enterprises within the scope of 11 service sectors including: business, construction, information, distribution, environment, education, finance, tourism, healthcare, culture, entertainment and transportation;
- Foreign experts coming to Vietnam to handle technical situations, handle arising incidents, and complex technologies that Vietnamese experts or other foreign experts currently working in Vietnam cannot handle for a maximum period of 3 months;
- Foreigners with a license to operate press and information in Vietnam, and are lawyers with a certificate to practice law in Vietnam;
- Foreigners coming to Vietnam to provide professional and technical consulting services for ODA projects (projects using official development assistance);
- Foreigners are volunteers coming to Vietnam to implement the provisions of international treaties to which Vietnam is a member;
- Foreigners coming to Vietnam to implement international agreements or international treaties to which Vietnam is a member;
- Foreigners working for Vietnamese government agencies with valid official passports;
- Foreigners sent to Vietnam to teach or conduct research at international schools established under agreements signed or participated in by Vietnam or under the management of foreign diplomatic missions or the United Nations;
- Foreigners are students under an internship agreement at educational institutions, agencies, organizations and enterprises in Vietnam.
Thus, it can be seen that most of the cases exempted from work permits are cases where Vietnam creates conditions for foreign experts, officials, and high-quality workers to come to work, help Vietnam, or are in diplomatic relations between Vietnam and other countries. This demonstrates an open foreign policy, creating favorable conditions for foreign workers to work in Vietnam.
Procedures for applying for work permit exemption for foreigners
For foreigners who are exempt from work permits, enterprises and organizations employing foreign workers must apply for work permit exemption at the competent authority.
1. Step 1: Prepare documents to apply for work permit exemption for foreigners
Pursuant to Article 8 of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP, foreigners who want to apply for confirmation of not being eligible for a work permit need to fully prepare the following documents:
- Document requesting confirmation that foreign workers are not subject to work permit issuance according to form No. 09/PLI Decree 152/2020/ND-CP;
- Health certificate/medical examination certificate valid for 12 months;
- Document approving the need to use foreign workers, except for cases where it is not necessary to determine the need to use foreign workers;
- Certified copy of passport or temporary residence card valid according to Vietnamese law;
- Documents to prove that foreign workers are not subject to work permit issuance.
>> DOWNLOAD FORM: Form 09/PLI – Document requesting confirmation that foreign workers are not subject to work permit issuance.
Note:
>> Documents proving that foreigners are not eligible for work permits include:
- For foreigners who are managers, it is necessary to submit: business registration certificate, charter of the company where he/she holds that position to prove;
- For foreigners who are relatives of foreigners who are members of foreign representative agencies in Vietnam, they must submit: household registration book, marriage certificate to prove their legal relationship.
>> Documents and papers issued by foreign agencies and organizations must be consular legalized, translated into Vietnamese and notarized according to the provisions of Vietnamese law.
2. Step 2: Submit application
After preparing all documents, enterprises and organizations need to submit the documents to the Department/Ministry of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs where the foreign employee is expected to work to request confirmation that the foreign employee is not subject to a work permit at least 10 days before the date the foreign employee starts working.
3. Step 3: Get results
Within 5 working days from the date of receiving valid documents, the competent authority shall issue a document confirming that the employee is not subject to a work permit (also known as a work permit exemption certificate).
Conditions for requesting confirmation of work permit exemption
1. General conditions
In any case, foreigners wishing to be granted a work permit in Vietnam must meet the following general conditions:
- Be a person with full civil act capacity according to the provisions of Vietnamese law;
- Have good health suitable for the job position in Vietnam;
- Not being prosecuted for criminal liability, not being a criminal under the provisions of Vietnamese law and international law;
- Be eligible for work permit exemption according to Decree 152/2020/ND-CP;
- There is a written approval on the use of foreign workers from a competent Vietnamese authority.
2. Specific conditions for each job position
In addition to the general conditions mentioned above, foreigners holding some important job positions need to meet other conditions such as degrees, certificates and work experience. There are 4 job positions that can be mentioned: experts, managers, CEOs and technical workers. Specifically:
➥ For experts
Have a university degree or equivalent and at least 3 years of work experience relevant to the expected job in Vietnam;
Have at least 5 years of experience and be certified to practice in accordance with the expected job in Vietnam.
➥ For managers
Manager is the term used to refer to people who hold positions with the right to manage and operate a company such as: director, general director, private business owner, chairman of the board of directors, chairman of the board of members, etc.
➥ CEO
This is the highest position a person holds in a business, the head and direct manager of a unit under an agency, organization, or business.
Therefore, current law allows foreigners holding the position of executive director to be exempted from work permits in Vietnam.
➥ Technical labor
Although not in management positions, technical workers are still a high-quality workforce and should be given priority to attract this group of workers to work in Vietnam.
Currently, our country allows foreign workers with high professional qualifications to be exempted from work permits in the following cases:
- Have been trained in technical expertise or other equivalent majors for at least 1 year and have at least 3 years of working experience in the trained major;
- Have at least 5 years of working experience in the field relevant to the expected job position in Vietnam.
Duration of work permit exemption certificate
According to the provisions of the 2019 Labor Code, the certificate of non-work permit issuance has a maximum validity of 2 years.
The duration of a work permit exemption certificate is not specifically determined, but will usually depend on the duration of the contract, agreement, or the length of time the foreigner holds the position or performs the duties of that work permit exemption.
When the term of the contract or agreement ends or when the person exempted from a work permit completes his/her duties or stops holding a management position, the term of the work permit exemption certificate will also end.
When the certificate expires, foreigners need to apply for a new certificate of non-work permit eligibility or a new work permit if they want to continue working in Vietnam.
>> See more: Procedures for applying for work permits for foreigners.
Some questions about procedures for applying for work permit exemption
1. What is a work permit exemption confirmation?
Requesting confirmation of exemption from a work permit is essentially requesting confirmation of not being subject to a work permit. Therefore, you will not be able to find a request form for confirmation of exemption from a work permit, but only a request form for confirmation of not being subject to a work permit.
2. What documents are required to apply for confirmation of work permit exemption?
Profile components include:
- Document requesting confirmation of work permit exemption;
- Certificate of good health or medical examination;
- Document approving the need to use foreign workers;
- Certified copy of passport/temporary residence card valid according to Vietnamese law;
- Documents proving that foreign employees are not subject to work permit issuance.
3. In what cases is it necessary to apply for confirmation of exemption from work permit in Vietnam?
There are currently 4 job positions confirmed to be exempt from work permits in Vietnam: experts, managers, executives, and technical workers.
4. What are the conditions for being confirmed as exempt from a work permit?
To be confirmed as exempt from a work permit, you must first meet the following general conditions: Have full civil capacity; have good health suitable for the job position; not be prosecuted for criminal liability; not be subject to a work permit and have a written approval of the use of labor from a competent Vietnamese authority. Next, depending on the job position you undertake, you must meet the requirements for qualifications, certificates or work experience.
5. Where to submit application for confirmation of work permit exemption?
After preparing all documents according to the above instructions, the enterprise employing foreign workers must submit the application for confirmation of work permit exemption to the Ministry/Department of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs where the foreigner is working or is expected to work.
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