June 3, 2025
HANOI – The Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) plans to reduce the time to issue work permits to foreigners in Việt Nam from 36 days to 10 days and to promote receiving and processing permit applications online.
The regulation is defined in the draft decree regulating foreign workers in Việt Nam, compiled by the MoHA and being reviewed by the Ministry of Justice.
Priority
According to the MoHA, in the context of the fourth industrial revolution, innovation, digital transformation, industrialisation and modernisation, Việt Nam has been promoting many new industries with high knowledge content.
The country has also been building and implementing many key national projects including the North-South high-speed railway, nuclear power plants, while expanding work in new fields such as green energy.
Specific industries and occupations are requiring amendments to regulations on expert certification to attract external human resources to meet the needs of these key sectors.
In reality, many foreign professionals working in emerging fields such as the semiconductor industry, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, or those coming from countries with strong diplomatic ties to Việt Nam, possess university degrees but lack practical experience.
The MoHA draft decree introduces a regulation allowing university graduates to work in Việt Nam without prior experience, provided they are employed in sectors such as finance, science, technology, innovation, national digital transformation, or other priority fields for development. Additionally, graduates may qualify under cooperation agreements with the Vietnamese Government.
Additionally, the MoHA has expanded the list of cases that do not require work permits. This includes experts in specialised fields such as finance, science, technology, innovation, national digital transformation, and other priority development areas. It also covers lecturers recognised as experts by specialised ministries, including the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education and Training.
Furthermore, the MoHA defines “special cases decided by the Government upon the MoHA’s proposal” as a mechanism to promptly evaluate and address emerging issues in the country’s socio-economic development.
Promoting decentralisation
The draft clearly outlines the decentralisation of authority in granting work permits to foreign workers.
Under this framework, the MoHA will issue permits only in specific cases. These include employees working for organisations and enterprises established by the Government, the Prime Minister, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, or international organisations; individuals employed across multiple provinces and cities; and enterprises with headquarters in one locality but branches in another.
Notably, the draft offers employers the flexibility to choose whether to complete procedures at the MoHA or through competent provincial authorities, ensuring greater convenience in the application process.
Regarding administrative procedures carried out by localities, the draft stipulates that provincial people’s committee is the main handling agency, and is also authorised to delegate to specialised agencies such as departments of home affairs or other administrative organisations depending on actual conditions.
The rule aims to ensure that the document handling is rapid, but is in accordance with the laws.
The draft decree also clearly states promoting work permit application reception and processing via the electronic network, and at the same time build a unified database of foreign workers working in Việt Nam.
This database will be connected to foreign citizen management systems, making management and look-up more convenient and accurate.
As for health certificates, the draft decree amendments will accept both certificates issued by foreign or Vietnamese medical facilities, as long as they are valid for 12 months from the date of application submission.
In the case of using Vietnamese health certificates, it is necessary to ensure that the worker does not have any infectious diseases according to the instructions of the Ministry of Health.
Especially, it supplements administrative procedures for re-issuing, extending or revoking certificates in accordance with actual occurrences such as loss, damage or expiration.
According to MoHA statistics, by the end of last year, approximately 161,992 foreign workers were employed in Việt Nam. Of these, 12,797 are exempt from work permit requirements, while the remaining 149,195 must obtain permits.
Among those requiring permits, 108,932 were newly issued, 18,779 were extended, 11,936 were re-granted, and 9,548 individuals are currently in the process of completing their applications.
Việt Nam’s international workforce represents about 110 nationalities. Among them, Chinese workers make up the largest share at 30.9 per cent, followed by South Korean nationals at 18.3 per cent and Japanese nationals at 9.5 per cent.