Which direction for foreigners to work in Vietnam?

Updated on: 14/02/2020

During the integration period with foreign economies, a series of foreign investors have chosen Vietnam as one of the potential countries to invest in many business projects.

With high demands on qualifications, expertise, and skills, especially differences in culture and language, many foreign-invested enterprises tend to bring their own employees of their own country to work in Vietnam. This is also the reason leading to the increasing number of Foreign employees and creating a large competitive market for Domestic employees.

The legal in Vietnam does not prohibit the recruitment of foreign employees, however, in order to create fairness and limit unemployment for Vietnamese employees, The legal in Vietnam only allows Foreigners to work in Vietnam when having enough the following conditions:

Having the capacity for civil acts in full;
Having professional qualifications, skills and health in accordance with the job requirements;
Not being the criminal or prosecuted for criminal liability in accordance with the Vietnamese law and foreign law;
Having a work permit granted by the Vietnamese competent state authorities, except the following cases exempt from work permit:
- As capital-contributing members or owners of limited companies;
- As a member of the Board of Directors of the Joint Stock Company;
- As a Head of Representative Office, a project of an international organization, non-governmental organizations in Vietnam;
- Coming to Vietnam with a period of fewer than 03 months to offer services;
- Coming to Vietnam with a period of fewer than 03 months to handle the problem, technical situation and complex technology arising that affect or threaten to affect the production and business that the Vietnamese and foreign experts currently in Vietnam cannot be handled;
- As a foreign lawyer who has been licensed to practice law in Vietnam in accordance with the Law on Lawyers;
- Under the provisions of an international agreement in which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member;
- As students who are studying and working in Vietnam, but the employer must give a notice 07 days in advance to the provincial state management agency on labor;
- Being internally reassigned in the companies which engage in 11 service industries in Vietnam’s WTO commitments on services, including: business, communication, construction, distribution, education, environment, finance, health, tourism, culture, entertainment and transportation;
- Entering Vietnam to provide professional and technical advisory services or provide other tasks serving the research, construction, appraisal, assessment, management and execution of programs and projects funded by ODA according to the International Treaties on ODA between the competent authorities of Vietnam and other countries;
- Being issued with the licenses for the practice of communications or journalism in Vietnam by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
- Being appointed by foreign agencies or organizations to teach or do research in international schools under the management of foreign diplomatic missions or international organizations in Vietnam or the employees are permitted to teach or do research in education and training institutions in Vietnam by the Ministry of Education and Training;
- As volunteers who have obtained the certification of the foreign diplomatic missions or international organizations in Vietnam;
- Entering Vietnam to hold the positions of experts, managers, chief executive officers or technicians for a period of under 30 days and an accumulated working period of under 90 days per year;
- Entering Vietnam to implement international agreements to which central or provincial agencies and organizations are signatories in accordance with the law;
- Students who are studying in schools or training institutions in foreign countries have internship agreements in agencies, organizations and enterprises in Vietnam;
- As relatives of members who are implementing their functions in foreign missions in Vietnam upon the approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, unless otherwise provided for by an international treaty of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member;
- Having official passports for working in state agencies, political organizations or sociopolitical organizations;
- Other cases as prescribed by the Prime Minister at the request of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs;
- Taking charge of establishing the commercial presence.

However, in the case that a work permit is required, the Foreigner must have the conditions specified in Article 9 of Decree 11/2016 / ND-CP to be issued a work permit by the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, specifically as follows:

Having the capacity for civil acts in full;
Having health in accordance with the job requirements show at The health certificate a medical examination certificate issued by the foreign or Vietnamese authorized health organizations or agencies and takes effect within 12 months from the signing date of the conclusion of health status to the date of application;
As a manager, chief executive officer, expert or technician: According to this regulation, a foreigner who is only a manager, executive director, expert or technical worker is a subject for a work permit. These specific regulation include:
- Enterprise managers is the manager of the company or manager of private company, who is either an owner of a private company, a general partner, the chairpersons of the board of members, a member of the board of members, the company’s president, the chairperson of the board of directors, a member of the board of directors, the director/general director, or a person holding another managerial position who is entitled to enter into the company’s transactions on behalf of the company according to the company’s charter;
- Chief executive officers are the heads who directly manage subordinate units of agencies, organizations or enterprises;
- A foreign employee expert must meet one of the following requirements:
  - Has a document certifying that he/she is an expert of an overseas agency, organization or enterprise, or
  - Has a bachelor’s degree or equivalent or higher qualifications provided that he/she has worked at least 03 years in his/her training field in correspondence with the job position that he/she shall be appointed in Vietnam and other special cases upon the consideration and decision of the Prime Minister;
- Technicians are employees who had undergone training in technique or other majors for at least 1 year and have worked for at least 03 years in their training fields;
- Not being the criminal or prosecuted for criminal liability in accordance with the law of Vietnam and foreign law show at The criminal record or written certification that the foreign employee is not a criminal or liable to criminal prosecution issued by the foreign competent authority (it must be applied for the consular legalization, authenticated, and translated into Vietnamese). If the foreign employee is a lawful resident in Vietnam, only the criminal record issued by the Vietnamese competent authority is required;
- Being approved in writing by the competent state agency show at the approval of position using foreign employees by the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs;