Vietnam: Stricter Immigration Rules Implemented for Ho Chi Minh City Work Permit Applications
January 11, 2023
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At a Glance
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Labour (DOLISA) announced that it will revert to stricter immigration rules for work permit applications, including:
- Removal of working location reports that previously allowed current work permit holders to work in another province or region in Vietnam for up to six months;
- Previously-issued work permits will no longer be accepted to prove the applicant’s work experience for a new work permit application filed under Decree 152;
- Higher scrutiny and implementation of educational qualification requirements related to job positions; and
- Implementation of the requirement to notarize or legalize passport copies that are submitted with work permit applications.
These rule changes, among others, are expected to increase the mobility-related administrative hurdles in Vietnam that were previously eased by a pandemic-era government resolution.
The situation
The Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) Department of Labor (DOLISA) announced that it is ceasing to apply the relaxed rules and flexible requirements for Work Permit applications that were put in place with a pandemic-era government resolution, which sought to mitigate the more onerous impacts of Decree 152 (the Labor Decree that had overhauled the work permit process in early 2021).
A closer look
| CHANGE | DETAILS | IMPACT |
| Removal of transferability of work |
|
|
| Stricter proof of work experience requirements |
|
|
| Stricter proof of educational qualifications |
|
|
| Implementation of requirement to notarize or legalize passport |
|
|
Background
In September 2021, the Vietnam government introduced Resolution 105, which aimed to help businesses impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown measures by easing onerous restrictions associated with Decree 152 and streamlining the work permit application process.
With the changes introduced by the HCMC Labor Department, however, it appears that the government had only intended for a temporary suspension of the strict requirements set by Decree 152, and not to overturn it altogether. Indeed, this formal announcement of the reversion to Decree 152 by the HCMC DOLISA was not unexpected, as the DOLISA has already been implementing these changes (on an ad hoc basis) over the last few months.
Looking ahead
It is very likely that the Vietnam government will start implementing the stricter rules to work permit applications in other provinces of Vietnam as well and fully overturn the easing of requirements provided by Resolution 105 (and therefore revert to the more stringent requirements set during the implementation of Decree 152). Fragomen will report on relevant developments.
We worked closely with Resident Vietnam in Vietnam to prepare this alert. This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].
