Work Permit Exemption in Vietnam: Who Qualifies and What to File

Updated 2026-07-04

Not every foreign national working in Vietnam needs a work permit. Decree 219/2025 (effective 7 August 2025) lists a number of exemption cases — but being exempt rarely means doing nothing. In most cases you still have to obtain a written confirmation of exemption from the authority before work begins, and two similar-looking short-stay rules are easy to confuse. Here is who qualifies and what to file.

Exempt does not mean 'nothing to do'

The key idea to grasp first: an exemption removes the work permit itself, not the paperwork. For almost every exempt case, the sponsoring entity in Vietnam must still apply for and receive a written work-permit-exemption confirmation from the authority before the foreign national starts working. Only one group — the short-stay group described below — is handled by a prior notification instead of a confirmation.

So 'exempt' is best read as 'a lighter procedure', not 'no procedure'. Skipping it can expose both the worker and the employer to penalties, so it is worth confirming which track you fall under before anyone begins work.

The two short-stay rules — don't conflate them

Decree 219/2025 contains two separate short-stay exemptions that are frequently mixed up. They apply to different people and have different limits:

• Under-90-day rule (for senior/skilled roles): managers, executive directors, experts and technical workers who come to work for under 90 days in a year are exempt, with an unlimited number of entries. The old cap of '30 days at a time, no more than 3 times a year' does NOT apply to this group.
• Under-30-day / ≤3-times rule (general): a separate exemption for anyone coming to work for under 30 days at a time and no more than 3 times a year. Here the 3-times-a-year cap still exists — exceed it, or a single stay of 30 days or more, and this exemption no longer applies.

Other common exemption cases

Beyond the two short-stay rules, Decree 219/2025 exempts several other categories. Common ones include:

• Owners or capital-contributing members of a company in Vietnam whose contribution is at or above the defined threshold
• Foreigners married to a Vietnamese citizen and living in Vietnam with them (and certain relatives)
• Certain intra-corporate transferees moving within a multinational already commercially present in Vietnam
• Students and interns doing practical training or an internship in Vietnam under an agreement
• Other cases listed in the Decree, such as some accredited or official assignments

Confirmation letter vs. prior notification

Which step you take depends on your track. Most exempt cases — owners, spouses, intra-corporate transferees, the under-90-day senior/skilled group, and so on — require a written confirmation of work-permit exemption issued by the authority before work starts. This is a formal document that proves the exemption to immigration and to the temporary-residence-card process later.

The exception is the under-30-day / ≤3-times general group: instead of a confirmation, the employer files a prior notification to the authority ahead of each engagement. It is lighter, but it is not optional — and it must genuinely stay within the 30-day / 3-times limits.

Which authority, and what we do

Under Decree 219/2025, exemption confirmations and notifications go to the provincial People's Committee (Ủy ban nhân dân cấp tỉnh), which delegates intake and processing to its specialized agency — in most provinces the Department of Home Affairs (Sở Nội vụ) after the mid-2025 merger, no longer the former Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

We assess which exemption case genuinely applies to you, prepare the confirmation or notification file, lodge it and track it to the result. Costs depend mainly on the state fee (which varies by province) and on how many supporting documents need consular legalisation and translation; we give you a fixed quote up front.