Decree 393/2026/NĐ-CP on Foreign Workers Working in Vietnam: New Points and Effective from December 5, 2026

General information about the text

• Number: 393/2026/NĐ-CP, issued by the Government in Hanoi on October 20, 2026 (Signed by Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra).
• Basis: Law on Government Organization No. 63/2025/QH15 and Labor Code No. 45/2019/QH14; at the request of the Minister of Home Affairs.
• Effective: from December 5, 2026. From this date, Decree 219/2025/NĐ-CP dated August 7, 2025 will expire.
• Structure: 5 chapters, 37 articles and 4 appendices (profile template, list of 11 internal corporate travel service industries, list of culture - arts - sports experts, periodic report template).

The Decree regulates in detail the articles of the Labor Code on conditions, order, and procedures forissuance, re-issuance, extension, revocation of work permits and certification of non-issue of work permit (Article 154 and Article 157 of the Labor Code).

Regulated working forms (Article 2)

Foreign workers come to work in Vietnam in one of the following forms: implementing a labor contract; moving within the enterprise; implementing contracts or economic and social agreements between organizations abroad and in Vietnam; contract service providers; to offer and sell services; volunteers; Responsible for establishing commercial presence; transferred from an organization abroad; Participate in bidding packages and projects; relatives of members of foreign representative agencies; Chairman/member of the Board of Directors of a joint stock company or owner/member of a limited liability company with capital contribution of less than 3 billion VND; work under labor contracts with diplomatic missions and foreign organizations in Vietnam; and cases not subject to work permit issuance.

Employers include agencies, organizations, businesses, contractors, foreign diplomatic missions in Vietnam, and individuals permitted to operate business in accordance with the law.

Explain some important concepts (Article 3)

• Intra-enterprise transfer: managers, executives, experts who have been employed by a foreign enterprise for at least 12 consecutive months before entering Vietnam, temporarily transfer to the commercial presence of that same enterprise established in Vietnam.
• Commercial presence: economic organizations with foreign investment capital; representative offices and branches of foreign traders; Executive office of foreign investor in business cooperation contract; investment projects of foreign investors.
• Contract service providers: foreign workers who work for at least 24 months in a foreign enterprise that does not have a commercial presence in Vietnam, and come to Vietnam to perform a contract signed with a Vietnamese partner.
• Short-term work: Total cumulative time does not exceed 90 days in 1 year (from January 1 to the last day of the year).
• To offer services: no more than 90 days, only negotiate service consumption, do not receive remuneration from any source in Vietnam.

Four groups of job positions and conditions (Article 4)

Authority and legalization of documents (Articles 5 - 7)

• Provincial People's Committee has the authority to issue, re-issue, extend, and revoke work permits and certificates of non-qualification of work permits in the locality where the employee is expected to work. If you work for an employer in multiple provinces or cities, the jurisdiction belongs to the Provincial People's Committee where the employer has headquarters. The Provincial People's Committee decides on decentralization and authorization to competent agencies.
• Foreign documents (except passports) must be consularly legalized (except in cases exempted by international treaties, reciprocity principles or legal regulations), translated into Vietnamese and authenticated.
• Judicial record card: If the application is submitted online and the competent authority exploits information from the judicial record database, the employer does not have to provide a criminal record card; The processing time is calculated from the date of receiving the mining results.

Cases not subject to work permit issuance (Article 8)

In addition to the cases in Clauses 3 to 8, Article 154 of the Labor Code, the Decree lists:

• Owners or members contributing capital of 3 billion VND or more of a limited liability company; Chairman or member of the Board of Directors with capital contribution value of 3 billion VND or more of the joint stock company.
• People who provide professional and technical consulting services or perform tasks for programs and projects using non-refundable aid, official development assistance capital, or preferential loans.
• Press reporters certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; People with official passports working for state agencies, political and socio-political organizations; relatives of members of foreign representative agencies according to international treaties.
• Person responsible for establishing commercial presence; volunteers.
• People working on a short-term basis (if there is a hiring, labor-using, or salary-paying relationship, they must apply for a work permit in the form of a labor contract); Internally displaced people in 11 service sectors according to commitments with the World Trade Organization (Annex II).
• Foreigners working at educational institutions (teaching, researching, transferring international education programs; masters or higher in the fields of STEM, science, technology, digital transformation, finance, economics, business administration; PhD; professor, associate professor).
• People with special visa exemption cards according to Decree 221/2025/NĐ-CP; experts in the Strategic Technology Category and relatives; people are attracted under the National Artificial Intelligence Human Resources Development Program.

Documents, deadlines and certification procedures (Articles 9 - 11)

• Basic documents: written request according to Form No. 01; Health examination certificate not older than 12 months (or results connected and shared on the national health system); 02 photos 4 cm x 6 cm with white background; Copy of valid passport identification page; Judicial record card issued no more than 6 months; Documents proving the case is not subject to licensing. Documents can be waived if the agency can mine them from a national database.
• Time of submission: at least 10 working days but not more than 60 days up to the expected working day; Submit directly, by post, through an authorized service to the Public Administrative Service Center, or online via the National Public Service Portal.
• Resolution time limit: 05 working days from receipt of complete documents (Form No. 02); If not granted, they must respond in writing clearly stating the reason within 03 working days.
• Duration of certification: according to the term of the appointment document, contract, business license... but not more than 02 years; Particularly for internal travel in 11 service industries no more than 03 years.
• Some cases only need to be notified: cases such as owners/members contributing capital from 03 billion VND, members of the Board of Directors, reporters, relatives of members of representative agencies, people responsible for establishing a commercial presence, working on a short-term basis, professors/doctors teaching, holders of special visa exemption cards... do not have to go through the procedure to issue a certificate but the employer must notify notify the competent authority at least 03 working days before the expected start date. The agency updates information in the database within 03 working days.
• Change work location stably and regularly: notify at least 03 working days in advance.

Re-issue and renewal of certification (Article 12 - 18)

• Reissue when the valid certificate is lost or damaged; change full name, nationality, passport number, change employer name without changing identification number or tax code; or change headquarters, branches, representative offices, or business locations.
• Extension: submitted at least 10 working days but no more than 90 days before the expiration date; Resolved within 05 working days; can only be renewed once for a maximum period of 02 years.
• People who have been granted an extension and continue to work in the same position or field must complete the renewal procedure at least 10 working days in advance but no more than 60 days from the date the certificate expires.

Work permit: documents, deadlines, procedures (Articles 19 - 30)

Application dossier for a work permit (Article 19)

1. Document explaining the need to use foreign workers and requesting a work permit according to Form No. 03.
2. Health certificate not older than 12 months.
3. Copy of valid passport identification page.
4. Judicial record card issued no more than 6 months (or extracted from the database).
5. 02 photos 4 cm x 6 cm with white background.
6. Documents proving the form of work and documents proving the position (manager, executive director, expert, technical worker) according to Article 20: diplomas, certificates, documents confirming the number of years of experience of the employer abroad, company charter, appointment and transfer decisions...

People with previous licenses or certifications can use information in the foreign workers working in Vietnam database to prove years of experience.

Deadline and procedures (Article 22 - 23)

• Time of submission: at least 10 working days but not more than 60 days up to the expected working day.
• Resolution time limit: 10 working days from the date of receipt of complete documents (issued according to Form No. 04); In case the request is not approved or not granted, a written response clearly stating the reason must be given within 03 working days.
• License term: according to the term of one of the cases (expected labor contract, appointment document from the foreign party, contract or agreement between partners, business license...) but not more than 02 years.
• Labor contract: For the form of labor contract implementation and working with diplomatic missions and foreign organizations, after being granted a license, both parties must sign a written labor contract according to Vietnamese law before the expected working date.
• Regular, stable change of work location: notify at least 03 working days in advance.
• Changing employers: people with a valid license who want to work for another employer in the same position and field must go through the procedure to issue a new work permit (Article 21).

Re-issuance and renewal of licenses (Articles 24 - 30)

• Reissue in cases such as lost or damaged license; change full name, nationality, passport number, employer name (do not change identification number or tax code).
• Extension: submitted at least 10 working days but no more than 90 days before the expiration date; The agency resolves within 05 working days; can only be renewed once for a maximum period of 02 years. After the extension, both parties must sign a written labor contract before the expected date of resumption of work (in the form of a labor contract).

Revocation of licenses and certifications (Chapter IV)

• The work permit is revoked when it expires according to Clauses 2 to 7, Article 156 of the Labor Code; The employer or foreign worker fails to comply with regulations on issuance, re-issuance, and extension; deported workers; being detained, detained or serving a prison sentence; died, was declared incapable of civil acts or went missing.
• Order: within 10 working days from the date the license expires, the employer revokes it and returns it to the issuing agency with a report (if it cannot be revoked, the reason must be clearly stated). In the remaining cases, the competent authority issues a revocation decision, notifying the employer and the Ministry of Public Security.
• Certificate of non-licensing is revoked when working does not comply with the certified content; The foreign party announces that it will not continue working in Vietnam; the employer terminates operations; violating regulations on issuance, re-issuance and extension; expulsion; temporary detention, detention or execution of sentences; death or loss of civil act capacity. The withdrawal period is also 10 working days.

Responsibilities of the employer (Article 37)

• Comply with regulations on foreign workers; Recruit and use to ensure national security and social safety, directly meet your needs and do not subhire foreign workers.
• Recruiting foreigners not lower than the requirements in terms of technical expertise and experience; Information must be consistent with the recruitment announcement regarding position, form, location and working term. Encourage free posting of job advertisements on national employment exchanges or through public employment service organizations.
• Manage foreign worker information in paper or electronic form; regular reports before June 5 and December 5 every year according to Appendix IV, or irregularly when requested by competent authorities or when there is a change in the use of foreign workers (except in the case of information already exploited in the database).
• Declare truthfully and take responsibility before the law for the application dossier.

State agencies: The Ministry of Home Affairs presides over the development of a unified foreign worker database from central to local levels, connected to the national database on immigration; The Ministry of Public Security guides the exploitation of judicial record information to replace judicial record cards; The Provincial People's Committee periodically reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs before June 15 and December 15 every year.

Transitional regulations (Articles 35, 36)

1. Certificates of not being subject to work permits and work permits that have been issued, reissued, and extended according to Decree 219/2025/NĐ-CP and Decree 70/2023/NĐ-CP (amending Decree 152/2020/NĐ-CP) will continue to be used until the expiration date, and will be reissued and extended according to the new Decree.
2. Applications for issuance, re-issuance, extension, and revocation submitted before December 5, 2026 continue to be resolved according to Decree 219/2025/NĐ-CP.
3. The certification and license issued for the position of technical labor in the form of internal enterprise transfer according to Decree 219/2025/NĐ-CP will continue to be used until it expires and will be reissued and extended for the position of expert if the conditions in Point e, Clause 3, Article 4 are met (at least 05 years of appropriate experience).
4. The agency that has been decentralized and authorized by the Provincial People's Committee according to Article 4 of Decree 219/2025/NĐ-CP continues to perform its tasks until the Provincial People's Committee issues new regulations.
5. Extension documents submitted under Resolution 24/2026/NQ-CP before the effective date of this Decree continue to be resolved according to that Resolution. Clause 1 and 2 Part IV Section 1.2 Appendix I.2 of Resolution 24/2026/NQ-CP (April 29, 2026) expires from the effective date of this Decree.

What should businesses prepare before December 5, 2026?

• Make a list of all foreign workers currently working, clearly stating the position (managers, executives, experts, technical workers), license or certification expiration date, and type of work.
• Review the experience conditions of each person according to Article 4 (especially internally transferred technical workers may have to switch to expert positions when re-granting or renewing).
• Calculation of filing schedule: extension of filing within the window from 90 days to 10 business days before the due date; New grants are submitted within a window of 60 days to 10 working days before the expected working date. The license can only be renewed once, then a new one must be issued.
• Prepare foreign documents (consular legalization, translation and authentication) early, because this is often the step that takes the most time. See more: Foreign documents: criminal record, consular legalization.
• Schedule periodic reports before June 5 and December 5 each year according to Appendix IV.
• Sign a written labor contract before the expected working date after the license is granted or renewed. See more: Labor contracts with foreigners: content, duration, notes.

Related articles

• Foreigner work permit: conditions and documents 2026
• Foreign workers: new points of Decree 219/2025 on permits
• Cases of exemption from foreign work permits
• Renew your work permit just once: something to do soon
• Internal corporate relocation, transfer specialist

Note: This article is a summary of the main content of Decree 393/2026/NĐ-CP. When carrying out specific procedures, please refer to the official document, the attached appendices, and the guidance from the competent local authority. Nhân Kiệt can assist in reviewing foreign labor records and scheduling renewals for your business through the Contact page.