Work Permits In Vietnam

An overview of the process to be followed by foreigners coming to Vietnam for work...

Foreigners wishing to work in Vietnam must have a work permit in order to work for longer than three months and must fulfil the following conditions:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Ensure their health status is suitable to meet the job requirements
• Possess a university degree and have a high degree of specialised knowledge or professional skills which are lacking in the domestic labour market, and have at least five years’ experience of working in the sector
• Have no criminal record, and no criminal prosecution in Vietnam or their home country

The government organisation responsible for stipulating guidelines and policies on the recruitment and management of both local workers and foreigners working in Vietnam is the Ministry of Labour - Invalids and Social Affairs.

Exemptions

Foreigners do not require a work permit if they are:

• Working in Vietnam for less than three months
• A member or owner of a limited liability company or a member of the management board of a shareholding company
• A lawyer, working under a professional licence issued by the Ministry of Justice
• A Chief Representative Officer, Chief Project Officer, or representative of an international company operating in Vietnam
• An internal transferee of a company that engages in one of the 11 service sectors as stated in Vietnam’s (World Trade Organisation) WTO service commitments:
  • For full details of Vietnam’s WTO service commitments: Click here (PDF)
• Providing a professional and technical consultancy service for Official Development Aid programmes or projects
• Conducing media activities in Vietnam, as permitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

What benefits does a work permit service in Vietnam to Foreign workers and businesses?

Every business always has 02 ways to apply for a work permit for its foreign employees, including: Self-implementing 02 processes for applying for a work permit; Use the service to make a work permit.

A work permit, also known as a work permit exemption, is a necessary document for foreign workers to legally work in Vietnam. It is the responsibility of the employee or business to submit a work permit application to the state agency in order to obtain a legal work permit. At this time, work permit services will provide optimal support to save costs and time thanks to their available knowledge and skills in law practice.

Legal risks of foreign workers working in Vietnam without a work permit

Due to the high demand for qualifications, expertise and skills, Vietnamese companies tend to use foreign workers to work in Vietnam. Foreign workers must obtain a work permit (“WP”) or a WP exemption certificate (“WPEC”) before entering into an employment contract with their employer. So what legal risks do foreign workers face if they work in Vietnam without a WP?

According to the regulations, if a foreign worker works in Vietnam without a foreign operating agency (without a management agency of a foreign company), both the employee and the foreign company will be prosecuted. punish.

Foreign workers and businesses face many risks when working without a work permit

(I) For companies using WP/WPEC or for foreign workers with unexpired WP, ​​the penalties are:

• 60 - 90 million VND with violations from 01 person to 10 people.

• Violations from 11 to 20 people cost from 90 to 120 million VND.

• 120-150 million dong for violations from 21 people or more.

(ii) Employees working in Vietnam who are not exempt from CIT will be fined from 15 to 25 million VND. In addition, in this case, the worker may be deported from Vietnam.

Moreover, in the case of a labor management dispute between a foreign worker and an enterprise, the foreign worker may not have his/her legitimate rights and interests protected by Vietnamese law.

Can businesses prepare documents for work permits by themselves? Pros and cons?

If the business makes the work permit by itself, the biggest advantage is that the business will save the direct cost of applying for a work permit.

However, businesses will face 05 common difficulties as follows:

Regulations on work permits often change, and people who carry out procedures for work permits need to understand the process and procedures to be able to do so easily;

There are many subjects that are granted a work permit, so the documents that need to be prepared for each subject will be different, and the person in charge of making the work permit needs to be sure of this information.

Requirements for documents are quite complicated, some documents need to be prepared in original, some documents need to be prepared and provide notarized copies, some documents need to provide consular legalization, and the person preparing the documents You must be aware of these requirements.

Business can complete the work permit process if they have enough legal help

Although Vietnam has policies to attract foreign workers, the procedure for granting work permits to foreigners is still very complicated, taking a lot of time and effort to prepare documents for a work permit.

In addition, the regulations on work permits often change, it is necessary to understand the processes and procedures to be able to apply for a work permit yourself. When submitting dossiers, they must prepare carefully and give reasonable explanations to State officials about their dossiers. Since the do-it-yourself process can be difficult and inconvenient, the outcome rate may be lower than 60%.

Considering the implementation procedures with normal time, the reviewer will have many requests for enterprises to amend and supplement their dossiers, even some enterprises will be refused from the step of registering the list of foreign workers. That's why companies often use the service to save travel time and standardize the time it takes to complete procedures for a work permit for foreigners.

With these difficulties, many businesses are choosing to use the service of applying for work permits for foreigners.

The advantages of work permit service in Vietnam

• To be consulted on regulations on applying for work permits for foreigners in Vietnam as well as answering related questions;

• Be consulted carefully with the necessary documents to apply for a work permit in accordance with regulations;

• To be consulted on procedures for making criminal records for foreigners in Vietnam, handling criminal records for foreigners granted abroad;

• Advice on procedures and places to make a health check to apply for a work permit in accordance with the law;

• Consulting and supporting the process of notarized translation, consular legalization of work permit applications;

• Fill in the necessary declarations;

Work permit services are considered the first choice for businesses

• Check the logic of the application file for a work permit in Vietnam and advise on adjustment if necessary;

• Complete the application for a work permit;

• Consulting work permit exemption cases and procedures for applying for work permit exemption;

• Update the business on the status of application review;

• Free consultation on related procedures after being granted a work permit such as applying for a temporary residence card for foreign workers, ...

Some notes when making work permits for foreign workers

About 30 days before intending to work officially, the Enterprise needs to apply for the Official Letter approving the recruitment of foreign workers from the Chairman of the People's Committee of the province or city where the Enterprise is located.

According to the provisions of the latest Labor Law, foreigners entering Vietnam in a short time must apply for a criminal record at the Department of Justice of the province or city.

Health certificate, if you are examined in Vietnam, please see the list of Hospitals that have an approved work permit.

Work permits for foreigners will be issued if the application meets a complex series of requirements

All documents in foreign languages ​​(University diploma, College diploma, Certificate of work experience, Criminal record, criminal record ...) must be consular legalized and notarized for translation into English and Vietnamese.

About 30 days before foreigners will officially work at the enterprise, you must apply for a written approval to recruit foreign workers from the Chairman of the People's Committee of the province or city where the enterprise is operating.

Foreigners who have never been to Vietnam must have a criminal record. If you have entered Vietnam and registered for temporary residence or temporary absence, you can apply for a criminal record at the Department of Justice. France Province, City where the person registers temporary residence or has a criminal record abroad.

Work permit processing time: Within 21 days from the date the competent authority receives the complete application for a work permit and a report explaining the need to employ foreign workers, you will receive results by email. In case the profile is missing or invalid, a request for correction and supplementation will be received. This time is much faster than manually preparing documents and procedures for work permits.

What factors create a prestigious work permit service in Vietnam?

In Vietnam, there are many support services for making work permits. In order to choose the best address, businesses and employees should pay attention to some key factors that we mention below.

Solve the procedure quickly, save time

Choosing the service of making work permits, employees' records will be accessed immediately, processed quickly and more timely than businesses directly with state agencies.

With the application being delayed due to objective reasons such as professionals going to school,... customers cannot do it quickly if there is an urgent need for a work permit. Therefore, the legal support service needs to be completed according to the customer's desired timeline.

Features of a reputable work permit service

Provide good legal capital to handle administrative procedures

With a team of highly qualified and deeply knowledgeable staff, the Services will be the first to receive the adjustments in the legal system to convey to the work permit applicants. At the same time, with many years of experience in the profession, we will easily process your application, consider the missing records, which types of documents are not valid and need to be supplemented, authenticated, ...

Consulting a variety of services for customers

Work permits for foreigners to work in Vietnam in the form of labor contracts.

• Work permits for foreigners entering Vietnam to work in the form of intra-corporate transfer of commercial nature.

• Work permits for foreigners in the form of commerce, economy, finance, insurance, banking, science and technology, culture, sports, health, education, contracts. ..

• Work permits for foreigners to work in Vietnam in the form of representatives of foreign non-governmental organizations are allowed to operate in Vietnam according to the provisions of Vietnamese law. The more diverse the field of work permit service, the more convenience customers will receive in the working process.

The service of making work permits in Vietnam, in addition to providing reliable and accurate work permit services, also ensures adequate advice to help businesses comply with the provisions of the law on foreign workers.