Who needs a work permit?
In principle, foreign workers working in Vietnam for 3 months or more need a work permit, except for cases of exemption according to regulations.
Common work permit exemption cases
- Be an owner or capital contributing member of a limited liability company, or a member of the Board of Directors of a joint stock company with capital contribution value according to the prescribed level.
- Intra-enterprise transfer (managerial personnel and experts transferred from parent company abroad to branch/subsidiary in Vietnam) in certain service industries according to international commitments.
- Enter Vietnam to work less than 30 days and no more than 3 times a year to handle complex technical problems.
- Foreign lawyers have been granted licenses to practice law in Vietnam.
Documents need to be legalized even though they are exempt from work permits
Even if work permit exemption is granted, businesses still need to carry out procedures to confirm work permit exemption with the competent authority, and experts still need a visa/temporary residence card suitable for work purposes.
Legalization documents for cases requiring a work permit
- Passport, criminal record, professional degrees/certificates (consular legalization).
- Health certificate.
- Document approving the enterprise's need to use foreign workers.
- Labor contract or document of appointment to work in Vietnam.
Consequences if incorrectly determining exemption/non-exemption cases
If an enterprise believes that an expert is exempt but in reality this is not true, allowing the expert to work without a valid work permit may result in administrative sanctions and in some cases the expert may be forced to leave the country.
How do you know for sure whether an expert is exempt from a work permit? You should consult a specialized labor legal consulting provider to properly review the grounds for exemption, because self-identification is quite common and the legal risks are not small.
Do experts who come to Vietnam for short-term business trips of less than 1 week need to go through any procedures? Depending on the specific purpose and time, an appropriate visa is still required; If you only do business or regular meetings, you usually do not need a work permit, but if you perform professional or technical work, you need to carefully review each case.