REQUIREMENTS FOR FOREIGNERS TO WORK IN VIETNAM

Legal basis:

– Law on Labor 2019;

– Decree No. 152/2020/ND-CP;

– Decree No. 70/2023/ND-CP.

1. Requirements for foreigners to work in Vietnam

A foreign employee means a person who has a foreign nationality and meets all requirements, as following:

– Be at last 18 years of age and has full legal capacity;

– Having qualifications, occupational skills, practical experience and adequate health as prescribed by the Minister of Health;

– Be not serving a sentence, not having an unspent conviction, be not undergoing criminal prosecution;

– Having a work permit granted by a competent authority of Vietnam, except in the cases of work permit exemption for foreign employees in Vietnam.

2. Work permit exemption for foreign employees in Vietnam

A foreign employee is not required to have the work permit if he/she:

– He/she is the owner or capital contributor of a limited liability company with a capital contribution value of at least 3 billion dong;

– He/she is the Chairperson or a member of the Board of Directors of a joint-stock company with a capital contribution value of at least 3 billion dong;

– He/she is an intra-company transferee within 11 sectors in the schedule of commitments in services between Vietnam and WTO;

– He/she enters Vietnam to provide professional and engineering consulting services or perform other tasks intended for research, formulation, appraisal, supervision, evaluation, management and execution of programs and projects using official development assistance (ODA) in accordance with regulations or agreement in international treaties on ODA signed between the competent authorities of Vietnam and foreign countries;

– He/she is granted a communication and journalism practicing certificate in Vietnam;

– He/she is sent by a foreign competent authority or organization to Vietnam to teach and research at an international school under management of a foreign diplomatic mission or the United Nations; or of a facility established under an agreement to which Vietnam is a signatory;

– He/she is a volunteer which an unpaid foreign worker who voluntarily works in Vietnam to implement an international treaty to which Vietnam is a signatory with certification of a foreign diplomatic mission or international organization in Vietnam;

– He/she enters Vietnam to hold the position of a manager, executive, expert or technical worker for a period of work of less than 30 days and up to 3 times a year;

– He/she enters Vietnam to implement an international agreement to which a central or provincial authority is a signatory;

– He/she is a student studying at a foreign school or training institution which has a probation agreement with an agency, organization or enterprise in Vietnam; or a probationer or apprentice on a Vietnam sea-going ship;

– He/she is a relative of a member of foreign representative body in Vietnam;

– He/she obtains an official passport to work for a regulatory agency, political organization, or socio-political organization;

– He/she takes charge of establishing a commercial presence;

– He/she is certified by the Ministry of Education and Training as a foreign worker entering Vietnam for teaching and research purpose;

– The manager of a representative office, project or the person in charge of the operation of an international organizations or a foreign non-governmental organization in Vietnam;

– Enters Vietnam for a period of less than 03 months to do marketing of a service;

– Enters Vietnam for a period of less than 03 months to a resolve complicated technical or technological issue which (i) affects or threatens to affect business operation and (ii) cannot be resolved by Vietnamese experts or any other foreign experts currently in Vietnam;

– A foreign lawyer who has been granted a lawyer’s practicing certificate in Vietnam;

– Gets married with a Vietnamese citizen and wishes to reside in Vietnam.

– Other circumstances specified by the Government, an international treaty to which Vietnam is a signatory.