Work Permit in Vietnam – Legal Support for Employers and Foreign Staff

UniLaw acts for employers and for foreign staff on work permits in Vietnam, from the first eligibility check to the temporary residence card (TRC) that follows the permit. The rules changed on 7 August 2025, when Decree 219/2025/ND-CP replaced the foreign-worker provisions of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP as amended by Decree 70/2023/ND-CP. Files prepared to the old pattern are now rejected or delayed for reasons that are easy to avoid.

What changed on 7 August 2025

Point	Before	Now (Decree 219/2025/ND-CP)
Who decides	Labour authority	The provincial People’s Committee where the employer has its head office, branch, representative office or business location. Where one employee works for the same employer in several provinces, the province of the head office decides (Article 4)
Where the file goes	Labour department	The local Public Administration Service Centre, which forwards it to the competent authority (Article 22)
Demand approval	A separate step before the application	Merged: the demand report (Form 03) is part of the permit file, and the authority approves the demand and issues the permit in the same 10 working days (Articles 18 and 22)
Permits already issued	—	Permits and exemption certificates issued under Decree 152/2020 stay valid until they expire (Article 34)

The deadlines that decide whether a hire starts on time

Step	When to file	Time the authority takes
New work permit	No more than 60 days and no fewer than 10 days before the intended start date	10 working days; a refusal must be given in writing, with reasons, within 3 working days (Article 22)
Exemption certificate	Same window: 60 to 10 days before the start date	5 working days (Article 9)
Renewal	At least 10 days, and no more than 45 days, before the permit expires	10 working days (Article 28)
Re-issue	On loss, damage, or a change of name, nationality, passport number, or employer name	3 working days (Articles 23 and 25)
Temporary residence card	After the permit is granted, filed by the sponsoring employer	5 working days (Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners, Article 37)

Two of these deadlines catch employers out. A file lodged earlier than 60 days before the start date is out of time, and so is one lodged with fewer than 10 days to go. And a work permit may be renewed once only, for a maximum of two years (Article 29) — after that the position goes through a fresh application, which needs to be planned months ahead, not weeks.

How long a permit lasts

A work permit follows the term of the underlying contract, assignment letter or licence, but never exceeds two years (Article 21). The exemption certificate follows the same ceiling (Article 10). After the permit is issued, the employer and the foreign employee must sign a written employment contract before the intended start date, and send a copy to the issuing authority on request (Article 22.4).

The file itself

Article 18 sets the documents for a new permit:

• Form 03 — the employer’s report explaining the need for a foreign worker, combined with the application
• Health certificate from a qualified facility; a foreign health certificate works only where a treaty or mutual-recognition arrangement applies, and it must be less than 12 months old
• Valid passport
• Criminal record certificate issued no more than 6 months before filing, unless the linked criminal-record and work-permit procedure applies (Article 6.3)
• Two colour photographs, 4 cm x 6 cm, white background
• Documents proving the form of employment — intra-company transfer, service contract, assignment letter, and so on
• Documents proving the position: manager, executive director, expert or technical worker (Article 19)

Foreign documents must be consularly legalised and translated as required by Article 5. In our experience this is where most files stall: not the form, but the evidence behind the job title — company charter and appointment decision for a manager, branch or representative office registration and confirmation of years of experience for an executive director, and qualification plus experience evidence for an expert or technical worker.

Work permit, then temporary residence card

The permit lets a foreign national work; the TRC lets them stay without repeat visa runs. Under the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners (consolidated text 62/VBHN-VPQH):

• LD2 is the symbol for a foreign worker who holds a work permit; LD1 for one who holds an exemption certificate
• An LD1 or LD2 card runs for a maximum of two years (Article 38.5) and must expire at least 30 days before the passport does (Article 38.1)
• The sponsoring employer files the request with the immigration authority where it is based; the decision comes within 5 working days (Article 37)

Because the TRC cannot outlast the permit, the two timetables have to be planned together. That is how we run these files: one calendar covering permit, contract, TRC and renewal.

What we do, and what stays with you

UniLaw	Employer / foreign employee	Authority
Eligibility check against Articles 2, 3 and 7 — permit, exemption, or neither	Company documents, appointment decisions, contracts	Approves the demand and issues the permit
Document checklist tailored to the position and the form of employment	Health check and passport	Issues the exemption certificate
Drafting Form 03 and the supporting set; legalisation and translation	Signing the employment contract	Issues the temporary residence card
Filing, following the file, answering queries from the authority	Paying state fees and third-party costs	Decides on revocation where grounds exist
TRC application after the permit, and the renewal calendar

We do not promise outcomes that rest with the authorities, and we do not sit the health check or sign the contract for you. Everything else in the chain is work we carry out end to end.

Problems we are asked to fix

• Position evidence rejected. An “expert” without documented experience in the same field, or a manager named in no charter or appointment decision.
• Filed too early or too late. The 60-day and 10-day boundaries are both hard limits.
• Renewal used up. The single renewal has already been taken, and the employer expects a second one.
• Staff working in several provinces. The file belongs to the head-office province, not to each site.
• Old permits. Permits issued under Decree 152/2020 remain valid, but any re-issue or renewal now runs under Decree 219/2025, sometimes under a different form of employment (Article 34.3).
• Revocation risk. Grounds in Articles 30 and 32 — including a permit that no longer matches the work actually done.

Talk to us

Send the passport, the intended position and the planned start date, by email to legal@unilaw.vn, Zalo or WhatsApp. We come back with the route (permit, exemption or neither), the document list, the timetable and a fixed fee for the file. Initial review of documents is free; work beyond that is quoted in advance.

Work permit research map

Related reading on this site: what an immigration lawyer in Vietnam actually does — work permit, then residence card; and, where a hire has already gone wrong, refusals, overstay and penalties involving foreign workers, with a decided case. Category index: Immigration & Work Permit.

Where a work permit meets another practice

Most work permit files we handle sit inside a larger matter. Where the employer is a foreign-invested company still being set up, the permit timetable has to follow the licensing timetable — see foreign investment counsel in Vietnam. Where the question is the employing entity itself, its registered office or its legal representative, see Vietnam corporate lawyers. For the employment contract and termination side, see when a labour lawyer adds real value. Where the foreign employee also has a personal matter here — a criminal allegation, a divorce, an injury claim — see legal services for foreigners in Vietnam.

Legal basis cited above: Decree 219/2025/ND-CP dated 7 August 2025 on foreign workers in Vietnam, in force 7 August 2025; Labour Code 45/2019/QH14; Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam, consolidated text 62/VBHN-VPQH.

Residence and immigration notes

• Temporary and permanent residence cards in Vietnam — which visa symbol earns a card, card terms from two to ten years, and the four routes to permanent residence.