How to Get a Work Permit in Vietnam
Hiring or transferring a foreign national to work in Vietnam? A work permit is what makes their employment legal — and a mandatory step before applying for an employment-based temporary residence card. As of 7 August 2025, the process follows Decree 219/2025, which is simpler and faster than before. InTimeVisa handles the entire file, including the overseas document legalisation that usually causes the longest delays.
Who needs a work permit?
Most foreign nationals coming to work in Vietnam need a work permit, except for certain cases exempted under Decree 219/2025 — for example, owners or capital-contributing members above a defined threshold, or people coming to work for under 90 days in a year (the old 3-times-per-year limit no longer applies). Exempt cases still have to obtain a written confirmation of work-permit exemption.
Basic eligibility
You must fall into one of four categories: manager, executive director, expert, or technical worker. Decree 219/2025 lowered the experience thresholds compared with the previous rules:
- Expert: hold a university degree or higher and at least 2 years of relevant experience (only 1 year for certain priority fields such as finance, science and technology, and innovation)
- Technical worker: trained for at least 1 year with 2 years of relevant experience, or at least 3 years of experience
- A clean criminal record; a health certificate confirming fitness to work
- A sponsoring enterprise in Vietnam that has a genuine need to employ a foreign worker for that position
Documents & where to file
The file includes the passport, professional degrees/certificates (notarised, consularly legalised and translated into Vietnamese), proof of experience, a criminal record certificate (within 6 months), a health certificate (within 12 months) and photos.
Since mid-2025, labour management has moved to the Department of Home Affairs (Sở Nội vụ) — no longer the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs. Under Decree 219/2025, the work permit is issued by the provincial People's Committee and delegated to the Department of Home Affairs (Sở Nội vụ); files are submitted through the Public Administration Service Centre / National Public Service Portal. The step of reporting the demand for foreign labour is now merged into the work-permit application itself, rather than being a separate prior procedure.
Processing time
When the file is complete and valid, the competent authority issues the permit within 10 working days (under Decree 219/2025). A work permit is valid for a maximum of 2 years and may be renewed once.
In practice, the most time-consuming part is legalising overseas documents (degrees, criminal record) — which can take several weeks depending on the country. So it pays to start early.
Need a work permit?
Get a quote →We review your eligibility and documents BEFORE filing to avoid a rejected application, and stay with you until the permit is issued. Your documents (passport, criminal record, etc.) are kept confidential. The quote is free and no-obligation — you only pay when you agree to proceed. InTimeVisa is a private service, not a government agency, and is not affiliated with the Vietnamese government.