In general, foreign nationals entering Vietnam for employment for a period of three months or more must obtain a Work Permit.
The Work Permit application must be sponsored by a Vietnam registered entity. The applicant must satisfy the following conditions:
Be 18 years of age or older, be in good health to the job demands or requirements, be a manager, executive or specialist, and must not have a criminal record for a national security offense, not facing criminal prosecution or serving a criminal sentence as of the time of the Vietnam assignment.
Certain foreign nationals, however, are exempt from the Work Permit requirement and may owrk in Vietnam while holding a Business Visa. They are the following:
Those entering Vietnam to work for a period of less than three months, or to resolve emergency situations. Emergency cases include complex technical or technological incidents which affect, or threaten to affect, production or business activities and cannot be resolved by experts based in Vietnam. In such instances, the employee must submit a letter providing his/her name, nationality, passport number, job description, and a copy of the employment contract indicating a period of less than 90 days to the Labor Department;
Members of a limited liability company with two or more members;
Owners of a one-member limited liability company;
Members of the board of directors of a shareholding company;
Employees of foreign service suppliers who enter Vietnam to promote or market services; and
Lawyers who are certified by the Ministry of Justice to practice in Vietnam.
Heads of foreign branch and representative offices, and employees of foreign-based contractors are no longer exempt from the Work Permit requirement. Individuals in these categories must obtain Work Permits by July 12, 2008 in order to continue working in Vietnam.
The general procedure for obtaining a Work Permit is as follows:
The employee submits a letter to the Vietnam employer requesting for a position in the company;
The sending company overseas prepares an assignment letter which provides an estimate of the date when the employment contract with the receiving company in Vietnam will be signed. The estimated date for signing must be after the date of the filing of the Work Permit application;
Once all document requirements are complete, a Work Permit application is prepared and filed with the Labor Department;
The Labor Department processed and approves the application;
Upon issuance of the Work Permit, the employment contract is signed by the employer and the employee.
Please note that the immigration authorities and/or Consulate reserve the right to request additional information, documentation, and/or a personal appearance, and to exceed stated processing times.The processing of the Work Permit application may take between 15 to 30 business days from the date of filing with the Labor Department.
All documents that are not in Vietnamese must be translated, notarized and certified by the Vietnamese Embassy or Consulate in the employee's home or host country. However, in order for a foreign-sourced document to be translated and certified in Vietnam, it must first be legalized by (i) an agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the employee's country or an equivalent agency, and (ii) the Embassy or Consulate of the employee's country in Vietnam. The legalization procedure could extend the overall processing timeframe.
The validity period of the Work Permit is based on the length of assignment provided in the employment contract, up to a maximum of 3 years. Renewals will also be based on the employment contract, as extended, up to a maximum of 3 years per renewal. Renewals may be allowed up to a maximum of 3 times.
