As many foreigners in Vietnam have experienced, the Government recently became firmer with the applications and extensions of business visas. In fact, foreigners in Vietnam have been required to a have a work permit and a business visa for quite some time, but before it has not been enforced and most expats in Vietnam have been using business visas only. The best solution to the problem is to get a Vietnamese work permit, and luckily the rules for how to obtain a work permit has become a bit easier. Earlier you needed a university degree AND 5 years experience within your current field. As of now, you only need to have either University degree or 5 years experience working within your field. For some fields you can also use a professional skills certificate, ex. accountant certificate. 

SO WHAT DO YOU NEED TO GET THE WORK PERMIT?

In order to get a work permit, an expat in Vietnam need to have 3 things:

1. Work contract.

2. Support to from your employer to get the work permit.

3. University degree, higher degree, professional skills certificate OR 5- year experiences working in the same major. The 5-year experiences working might not be applied for some cases such as: Teacher, doctor, engineer etc.

PAPER WORK REQUIRED TO APPLY WORK PERMIT FROM EMPLOYEE:

1. Work permit application form (following a provided template)

2. Work permission application letter (following a provided template)

3. Criminal record: If you have stayed in Vietnam for more than 6 months, you will have to get the criminal record that is issued by the Judiciary Department of the city where you are living. In case you are not in Vietnam or you have stayed here for less than 6 months, you will have to get that criminal record from your Authority Government.

4. A copy of your certificate or degree. This can be: university degree, higher degree. In case you do not have a degree, but you have 5 years experience working within the same field, you will need to get a confirmation letter from your old employers or any paper work to prove that you have 5 years experiences within your field in Vietnam from another country. This paper work will then be translated into Vietnamese and certified by a Vietnamese Government agency to prove that this translated version has the same meaning as the original one and can be used legally in Vietnam.

5. Health check from the hospital. There is a list of hospitals that has the authority to give you a health check in Vietnam and only the hospitals on this list are qualified to prove your health for the work permit application. You will get this list with the first 2 templates for paper work; the Work permit application form and Work permission application form. In case, you are not in Vietnam, you can get a health check from any hospital in the country that you are staying. This health check is valid for 6 months.

6. Curriculum vitae with passport photo

7. 3 new passport photos.

FROM EMPLOYER:

1. A valid labor contract.

2. The company license (copy certified by Government authority office)

3. Work permit application form

4. The approval from the Government to use foreign labor.

After you got all of these papers ready, you will send it to the Labour and Social Welfare Service of the province/city where you are working. They will have to inform if they approve your work permit application or any changes needed within 15 days.