Vietnam: Authority to Act on Certain Administrative Matters to be Delegated to Ho Chi Minh City's People's Committee

The Vietnamese government announced that it is delegating authority to the Ho Chi Minh City's (HCMC) People's Committee and its affiliated agencies to act on selected administrative matters, including labor management. When this new policy takes effect, the HCMC Department of Labour (DOLISA) will have the authority to receive, assess, and approve job position approval, work permit exemption, new work permit, work permit re-issuance, work permit renewal, and work permit de-registration application for sponsoring entities that hold an establishment license in HCMC issued by the Prime Minister, ministries, ministerial-level agencies and other agencies. Once the legislative process is complete, HCMC DOLISA will be able to manage these applications at the provincial level. Currently, the Ministry of Labour (MOLISA) still handles these applications regardless of the location where the entities are registered.  While this delegated authority took effect on July 10, 2024, HCMC DOLISA will only start accepting applications after it has received formal instructions from the HCMC People’s Committee, which could take two to four weeks. Assuming no additional requirements arise from these changes, this could be a positive development, as the filing process with DOLISA tends to be more streamlined compared to applications submitted to MOLISA. Fragomen will report on further updates.