Recruitment Process for Foreigners to Work in Vietnam

Learn about the process of recruiting foreign workers: Explaining the need for employment, applying for a work permit, signing a labor contract & applying for a visa for foreigners.

Conditions for recruiting foreigners to work in Vietnam

Employers are allowed to employ foreign workers but must meet the conditions for recruiting and employing foreign workers specified in Article 152 of the 2019 Labor Code. Specifically:

• Employers are only allowed to recruit and use foreign workers in managerial, executive, expert and technical positions, positions requiring capacity and expertise that Vietnamese workers are not yet able to meet according to production and business needs;
• If the employer is an enterprise, agency, organization or individual, before recruiting foreign workers to work in Vietnam, it must make a report explaining the need to employ foreigners and receive written approval from the competent state agency;
• If the employer is a contractor, before recruiting and using foreign workers, it must specifically declare the job positions, technical skills, professional qualifications, work experience requirements and expected time of using the workers to implement the project, bid package, etc., then submit it to the competent authority and get approval for the recruitment needs. 

>> See more: Conditions for foreigners to work in Vietnam.

Recruitment process for foreigners working in Vietnam

Vietnamese organizations and enterprises that want to recruit foreign workers to work in Vietnam must carry out the following procedures in turn:

1. Report explaining the need to use foreigners

Employers determine the need to use foreign labor for specific job positions to report to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs or the People’s Committee of the province or city where the employee is expected to work according to the following regulations:

• Time for submitting explanatory report: At least 15 days before the expected working day in Vietnam of the foreign worker;
• Time for processing application: Within a maximum of 10 working days from the date of receipt of the application, the competent authority shall issue a document approving or disapproving the use of foreign workers, stating the reasons.

Note:

1. The above procedure only applies to cases where the employer is an enterprise, agency, organization or individual;
2. During the process of waiting for the application to be processed, if there is a change in the need to use foreign labor, the employer must report to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs or the People’s Committee of the province or city where the employee is expected to work at least 15 days before the expected date of work in Vietnam;
3. For the cases specified in Clauses 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, Article 7 of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP and Clauses 3, 4, 5, Article 154 of the 2019 Labor Code, this step is not required.

>> View profile details and download form: Application form for foreign labor demand.

2. Recruiting foreign workers

After receiving a written approval from the competent authority for the need to use foreign labor, the employer can carry out the work of recruiting foreign labor according to the recruitment needs of the unit.

3. Apply for a work permit for foreigners or a work permit exemption certificate

After the competent authority approves the need to use foreign labor and conducts recruitment, the employer must apply for a work permit for the foreigner. This is a document verifying that the employee is legally working in Vietnam, except in cases where a work permit is exempted, this document is not required.

➨ Cases where a work permit must be applied for for foreigners

At least 15 days before the foreign employee’s expected date of work in Vietnam, the employer must submit an application for a work permit to the Ministry or Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of the employee’s expected workplace.

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

>> Reference: Procedures for applying for a work permit (see detailed information and download form).

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The procedure for obtaining a work permit for foreigners is relatively complicated and requires working with many agencies. Therefore, if you do not fully understand the documents, procedures or lack practical experience working with competent authorities, the time to issue a work permit may be longer than the expected date of work in Vietnam of the employee.

To avoid this situation, you can consider using the work permit service for foreigners at fdiinvietnam.com – cost from only 6,000,000 VND – completion time from 20 – 25 working days – free delivery of work permit to your place.

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➨ Cases exempted from work permit

In case foreign workers are exempt from work permits in Vietnam, the employer must submit an application for a work permit exemption certificate for foreign workers according to the following regulations:

• Application submission time: At least 10 working days before the expected date of starting work in Vietnam of the foreigner;
• Agency receiving documents: Ministry or Department of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs of the place where the foreign worker is expected to work.

Within 5 working days from the date the competent authority receives the application for confirmation of work permit exemption, the Ministry or Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall issue a document confirming that the employee is not subject to work permit issuance to the employer.

Reference: 

>> Cases of work permit exemption for foreigners;

>> Procedures for applying for work permit exemption (detailed information and form download).

4. Signing labor contracts with foreigners

Pursuant to Clause 3, Article 11 of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP, after a foreign employee is granted a work permit, the employer and the foreign employee must sign a written labor contract with a term not exceeding the term of the work permit, implemented before the employee’s expected working date. 

The employer is responsible for sending a certified copy or the original of the labor contract signed with the foreign employee to the agency that previously issued the work permit. 

In case the employer does not send the additional labor contract signed with the foreign employee to the competent authority, it is considered a violation of the law and will be subject to an administrative fine of up to VND 3,000,000.

5. Apply for visa for foreigners

After receiving a work permit or a work permit exemption certificate for a foreigner, the employer carries out the procedure to sponsor a work visa for the foreigner to enter Vietnam. For cases of visa exemption, the employer carries out the procedure to issue a visa exemption certificate for the foreigner at this step.

➨ Cases where foreigners must apply for an entry visa

The employer shall submit a notification of visa sponsorship for foreigners entering Vietnam to the Immigration Department. In case there is any change in the content of the document, a supplementary notification must be provided.

The employer then submits the visa application for the foreigner to the Immigration Department.

Within 3-5 working days from the date of receipt of the application, the Immigration Department will review, process and respond in writing to the employer. The employer will notify the foreign employee to complete the visa application procedure at the competent visa-issuing authority of Vietnam abroad or receive it at the international border gate as prescribed.

>> For details, see: Visa application procedures for foreigners (with attached documents).

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If your business is in need of visa sponsorship for foreign workers but does not yet understand the process, you can refer to the visa service for foreigners at fdiinvietnam.com – cost from only 6,000,000 VND – completed after 5 – 7 working days.

➨ Visa exemption for foreigners

For cases of visa exemption as prescribed in Article 12 of the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam 2014, employers shall submit applications for visa exemption certificates for foreigners to the Vietnam Immigration Department – Ministry of Public Security.

Within 5 days from the date of receiving complete and valid documents, the Immigration Department shall issue a visa exemption certificate to foreigners.

>> See details: Procedures for granting visa exemption certificates to foreigners.

Some notes after recruiting foreign workers

For foreign labor recruiters, it is necessary to note the following procedures after successfully recruiting foreign workers:

1. Make declarations of labor use to relevant agencies;
2. Collect and update employee records according to the provisions of the Labor Law and prepare for tax declaration and tax settlement during the employee’s working period at the unit;
3. Register personal tax codes for foreigners, deduct monthly taxes and pay them to the tax authority on behalf of employees. Employees who work less than 12 months in a fiscal year, have direct income from abroad or have multiple sources of income are not allowed to authorize the company to settle taxes;
4. Employers prepare and submit personal income tax declarations for foreign employees monthly, quarterly, and annual settlements according to regulations. Refer to the article “Instructions for calculating personal income tax for foreign employees”;
5. Declare and pay compulsory social insurance for foreign employees according to regulations in Clause 2, Article 2 of the Law on Social Insurance 2014;
6. Employers must apply for temporary residence cards for foreigners so that they are eligible to live and work legally in Vietnam, and note to renew the temporary residence card 7-10 working days before the card expires;
7. Employers should note to apply for a work permit extension at least 5 days and no more than 45 days before the permit expires;
8. The employer must complete the procedure to cancel the work permit immediately upon termination of the labor contract, and at the same time revoke the foreigner’s temporary residence card to submit to the temporary residence card issuing agency.

Above are some notes for employers and foreign workers working in the unit. At the same time, foreign workers should also note the conditions for foreigners working in Vietnam according to the provisions of law.

>> Reference: Regulations on foreigners working in Vietnam.

Frequently asked questions about recruiting and employing foreign workers