New law that impact Work permit in Vietnam for foreigners

 Vietnam has recently issued a new law that put a stricter control on foreigners working in Vietnam. With the changes being implemented from early November of 2013, the process to apply forwork permit in Vietnamwill take longer and would cost extra fees.

The work permit for foreigners in Vietnam will now require the approval from head of People’s Committee and that once it is issued, it will only be good for two years as max in compared with three years as regulated earlier.labour lawyers in Vietnam keep track of the changes in the employment and labour law in Vietnam and assist our client to cope with changes. The Government has issued Decree 102/2013/ND-CP elaborating some articles of the new Vienam Labour Code 2012 on foreign workers in Vietnam. Accordingly, the employer applying for work permits of foreign employees must comply with the following procedure: step 1) make a report stating clearly the demand of employee in their companies, then send to the President of People’s Committee in order to apply for the permission of foreign worker employment; step 2) prepare documents and submit for work permits at Department of Labor and Social Welfare before 15 days at least of the date employees start work. The work permits shall be valid with maximum term of 2 years.

The new Decree also allows four group of others to work in Vietnam, including: i) Volunteers who work voluntarily without salary or wage; ii) The persons who are responsible to establish the commerce presences in Vietnam; iii) Managers, CEOs, specialists, technical workers who are trained in technology major at least 1 year and used to work at least 3 years in trained major; iv) The persons who are engaging in bidding projects and other projects in Vietnam.

General Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Vietnamese laws change often, so please check the current regulations before relying on it.