All Work Permit Processing in Ho Chi Minh City Suspended Pending Release of Government Guidance

Without prior notice, Vietnam’s Labor Department in Ho Chi Minh City has announced that as of November 4, it will not accept new or renewal work permit applications or adjudicate pending applications until the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) publishes a circular with guidance on changes to work permit rules that took effect on November 1. MOLISA has not indicated when it intends to publish such guidance. In other locations in Vietnam, work permit applications are being processed as usual.

Under the new rules, the Labor Department cannot adjudicate a work permit application until after the local People’s Committee approves the sponsor’s foreign worker demand reports. These reports detail the company’s foreign workforce and upcoming plans to hire foreign nationals. Although the changes went into effect on November 1, MOLISA has yet to provide guidance on requirements for the People’s Committee approvals.

It is not yet known when work permit processing will resume in Ho Chi Minh City. Foreign nationals will likely experience long processing delays once it does, because of application backlogs developing during the suspension.

Fragomen worked closely with Resident Vietnam to prepare this alert. It is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen Global or send an email to [email protected].