Procedures for applying for work permit for foreigners

1. What is Work permit?

Work permit is a permit issued by a competent Vietnamese state agency to foreigners to work legally in Vietnam. Work permit is a mandatory condition for foreign workers to work in Vietnam.

2. Legal provisions on Work permit for foreigners

Work permit for foreigners are specified in the following legal documents:

• Labor Code No. 45/2019/QH14.
• Decree 152/2020/ND-CP on foreign workers working in Vietnam and recruitment and manage of Vietnamese employees working for foreign organizations and individuals in Vietnam.

3. Cases of application for Work permit

Foreigners working in Vietnam must carry out procedures for applying for Work permit, except for cases where they are exempted from Work permit.

Currently, there are 20 cases of Work permit exemption specified in Article 154 of the Labor Code No. 45/2019/QH14 and Article 7 of Decree 152/2020/ND-NP, specifically as follows:

1. The foreigner is the owner or the capital contributor of a limited liability company with a capital contribution value of VND 3 billion or more.
2. The foreigner is the Chairman of the Board of Directors or a member of the Board of Directors of a joint-stock company with a capital contribution value of 3 billion VND or more.
3. The foreigner is the head of a representative office or project or is primarily responsible for the operation of an international organization or foreign non-governmental organization in Vietnam.
4. The foreigner is foreign lawyer who has been granted a license to practice law in Vietnam in accordance with the Law on Lawyers.
5. The foreigner is an intra-company transferee within 11 sectors in the schedule of commitments in services between Vietnam and WTO, including: business services, communication services, construction services, distribution services, educational services, environmental services, financial services, health services, tourism services, recreational and cultural services, and transport services.
6. The foreigner enters Vietnam to provide professional and technical consulting services or performs other tasks in service of research, construction, appraisal, monitoring, evaluation, management and implementation of programs and projects using official development assistance (ODA) sources according to regulations or agreements in international treaties on ODA signed between competent agencies of Vietnam and foreign countries.
7. The foreigner is practicing licensed in communication and journalism by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vietnam in accordance with law.
8. The foreigner is sent to Vietnam by competent foreign agencies and organizations to teach and conduct research at international schools under the management of foreign diplomatic missions or the United Nations; or at the premises and organizations established under agreements that Vietnam has signed or joined.
9. The foreigner is a volunteer working in Vietnam voluntarily and without pay to implement international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a signatory and certified by a representative agency foreign diplomats or international organizations in Vietnam.
10. The foreigner enters Vietnam to work as manager, executive, expert or technical worker for less than 30 days and no more than 03 times in a year.
11. The foreigner enters Vietnam with a term of less than 3 months to make a service offering.
12. The foreigner enters Vietnam with a term of less than 3 months to handle problems, technical situations, complex technologies that arise affecting or potentially affecting production and business that Vietnamese experts and foreign experts currently in Vietnam can’t handle it.
13. The foreigner enters Vietnam to comply with international agreements signed by central and provincial agencies and organizations in accordance with law.
14. The foreigner is student who is studying at overseas schools and training institutions that have an internship agreement in agencies, organizations and enterprises in Vietnam; or trainees on Vietnamese ships.
15. The foreigner is relative of member of foreign representative offices in Vietnam.
16. The foreigner with official passport to work for state agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations.
17. The foreigner is responsible for establishing commercial presence.
18. The foreigner is certified by the Ministry of Education and Training as foreign worker entering Vietnam for teaching and research purposes.
19. The foreigner marries Vietnamese and lives in Vietnamese territory.
20. Other cases according to the provisions of international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.

4. Role of Work permit to foreigners in Vietnam

Work permit is a mandatory legal condition for foreign workers to work in Vietnam. Accordingly:

• Work permit is a mandatory document for foreign workers to apply for a visa/work visa or temporary residence card in Vietnam and at the same time, can sponsor their relatives (spouse, children, etc.) to reside in Vietnam for the same term as the employee.
• Foreigners who come to work in Vietnam without Work permit (except for cases where they are exempt from work permit) will be expelled from the Vietnamese territory according to the Government’s regulations.
• Foreigners who come to work in Vietnam without Work permit (except for cases where they are exempt from work permit) will be administratively fined from VND 15,000,000 to VND 25,000,000.
• If a Company employs a foreigner to work without Work permit, the company will be sanctioned for administrative violations. The fine level depends on the number of Foreign workers without Work Permit that the Company uses. The highest fine is from 60,000,000 VND to 75,000,000 VND for violations of 21 or more employees.

5. Requirements for applying for Work permit for foreigners

Conditions for foreigners to be granted work permit are specified in Article 151 of the Labor Code 2019 including:

– Having professional qualifications, techniques, skills and working experience;

– Being 18 years or older and having full civil act capacity;

– Having sufficient health as prescribed;

– Not being a person who is currently serving a penalty or not having had his/her criminal record cleared yet or being examined for penal liability in accordance with foreign or Vietnamese laws;

– Conditions for each job position, for example:

♦ For expert who is foreign worker, he/she must be subject to one of the following cases:

• Having a university degree or higher or equivalent and having at least 3 years of working experience in a specialized field of training suitable to the job position that the foreign worker is expected to work in Vietnam;
• Having at least 5 years of experience and having a practicing certificate suitable to the position in which the foreign worker is expected to work in Vietnam;
• Special cases shall be decided by the Prime Minister at the proposal of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

♦ For technical worker being foreign worker, he/she must be subject to one of the following cases:

• Having been trained in a technical or other discipline for at least 1 year and working for at least 3 years in the trained specialty;
• Having at least 5 years of experience in working in a job suitable to the position that the foreign worker is expected to work in Vietnam.

6. Procedures for applying for Work permit for foreigners

To apply for a Work Permit, you must take the following steps:

Step 1: Explanatory report on demand for foreign workers

♦ Requirements: At least 30 days before the expected date of employment of foreign workers, the Company (except for contractors) is responsible for determining the need to employ foreign workers for each job position which Vietnamese workers have not yet met and report to explain.

♦ Profile composition includes:

• Official letter explaining the demand for foreign workers.(Download)
• Power of attorney to sign documents if not signed by the legal representative of the company.
• Copy of Enterprise Registration Certificate.
• Authorization letter to submit application.

♦ The application is submitted to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

Some localities have implemented online application submission. Like in Ho Chi Minh City, you need to submit your application online at https://dichvucong.hochiminhcity.gov.vn , after the application is approved, the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs will notify you to submit the paper application directly at the agency.

♦ Time to get results: 10 days from the date of submission of complete and valid dossiers.

Step 2: Apply for a Work Permit

♦ Requirements: At least 15 days before the foreign worker is expected to start working in Vietnam, the Company shall submit an application for a Work Permit to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs. where the foreign worker is expected to work.

♦ Profile composition includes:

• A written request for a work permit (Download).
• Health certificate/health certificate valid for 12 months.
• Judicial record card No. 1/ Document certifying that the foreign worker is not a person who is currently serving a sentence or has not yet had his/her criminal record cleared or is being examined for penal liability. These documents must not be issued over 06 months, if they are issued by foreign organizations, they must be consularly legalized with a notarized translation.
• Documents and papers proving that they are managers, executives, experts, technical workers and a number of occupations and jobs (documents of foreign organizations must be consularly legalized together with notarized translations – you must submit originals, not use certified copy).
• 02 color photos (size 4cm x 6cm, white background, straight face, bare head, no colored glasses), photos taken not older than 06 months.
• Original written approval of demand for foreign workers (result of step 1).
• Authenticated copy of passport (enclosed with original passport + visa).
• Power of attorney to sign documents if not signed by the legal representative of the company.
• Certified copy of Enterprise Registration Certificate.
• Authorization letter to submit application.

♦ The application is submitted at the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

♦ Time to get results: 05 working days from the date of submission of complete and valid dossiers.

7. Term of Work Permit

A definite-term work permit is granted according to the term of the work permit application document (labor contract expected to be signed, agreement signed between Vietnamese and foreign partners, etc.) but not exceeding 02 years.

When the Work Permit is about to expire, if the foreigner continues to work at the Company, the Company needs to carry out procedures for the renewal of the Work Permit.

8. Fee of application for Work permit

Expenses for applying a Work Permit includes:

• State fees for applying work permit: According to the provisions of Article 3 of Circular No. 85/2019/TT-BTC stipulating the fee for granting work permit to foreigners working in Vietnam will be decided by the People’s Council of the province. Therefore, depending on the locality, the fee for granting a work permit will be different. In Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, fee for granting a work permit: 600,000 VND/permit.
• In addition, there are other fees: medical examination fee (depending on the hospital that the foreigner examines), judicial record application fee, translation fee, document authentication, consular legalization fee if they are issued by a foreign agency or organization such as the foreigner’s degree.

9. Why should use service of application for Work permit of CIS Law Firm?

Applying for a Work Permit requires a lot of preparation and time-consuming steps. Besides, if you do not have the experience to prepare documents and evaluate them, your application will be easily refused because you do not fully meet the conditions for applying for Work permit.

With a team of experienced, reputable and responsible lawyers, CIS Law Firm has supported many clients with work permits. Lawyers will assist you with the following:

• Advice on procedures and conditions for applying for Work permit in Vietnam;
• Evaluate and check dossier;
• Advice on procedures and dossiers of application for judicial record issuance for foreigners in Vietnam;
• Advice on dossiers and procedures for medical examination in Vietnam to apply for Work Permit;
• Translate, notarize and consular legalize documents serving the application of work permit;
• Complete the application for work permit in Vietnam for the client;
• Carry out procedures for applying for work permit at a competent state agency;
• Advice on legal procedures for signing a labor contract after being granted Work permit in Vietnam;
• Advice on legal procedures on management and reporting on the use of foreign workers in Vietnam;
• Renewal of Work permit.
• Re-issuance of Work Permit

Above are detailed instructions on the procedure for applying for Work Permit for foreigners. If you have problems in the process of applying for Work Permit, or you have any unclear content or need legal assistance, please immediately contact a lawyer of CIS Law Firm with the following information:

ENTERPRISE LEGAL DEPARTMENT – CIS LAW FIRM

109 Hoang Sa, Da Kao ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh city

Tel: 028 3911 8580 – 3911 8581

Email: info@cis.vn