Conditions for using foreign workers in Vietnam

Article overview

Employing foreign workers in Vietnam requires businesses to comply with relevant legal regulations, especially the conditions specified in the Labor Code. To ensure legality, businesses need to meet recruitment and licensing requirements. This article will analyze in detail the conditions for using foreign workers, exceptions, and related consulting services.

Foreign workers in Vietnam
Foreign workers in Vietnam

Conditions for using foreign workers in Vietnam

Conditions for foreign workers working in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 151 of the Labor Code 2019, foreign workers working in Vietnam must have foreign nationality and meet the following conditions:

  • Be 18 years old or older and have full civil capacity;
  • Have professional qualifications, techniques, skills, and work experience; Have good health according to regulations of the Minister of Health;
  • Not a person who is serving a sentence or has not had a criminal record erased or is being prosecuted for criminal liability according to foreign or Vietnamese law;
  • Have a work permit, except in cases where the work permit is exempted according to regulations.

Conditions for recruiting and using foreign workers working in Vietnam

According to the provisions of Article 152 of the Labor Code 2019, employers need to meet the conditions for recruiting and using foreign workers including:

  • Only foreign workers can be recruited to fill management, executive, expert and technical positions that cannot be met by Vietnamese workers according to production and business needs.
  • Before recruiting foreign workers to work in Vietnam, they must explain their need for labor and obtain written approval from a competent state agency.
  • Contractors, before recruiting and using foreign workers to work in Vietnam, must specifically declare the job positions, professional and technical qualifications, work experience, and working time for which they need to employ workers abroad to carry out the bidding package and receive written approval from a competent state agency.
Conditions for using foreign workers in Vietnam today
Conditions for using foreign workers in Vietnam today

Cases where foreign workers are exempt from work permit issuance

Although a work permit is a mandatory requirement for most cases, according to Article 154 of the Labor Code 2019, there are exceptional cases where foreign workers do not need to apply for a permit. This is to create favorable conditions for business activities, investment and international cooperation. License exemption cases include:

  • Be an owner or capital contributing member of a limited liability company with a capital contribution value of 3 billion VND or more.
  • Be the Chairman of the Board of Directors or member of the Board of Directors of a joint stock company with a capital contribution value of 3 billion VND or more.
  • Moving within an enterprise within the scope of 11 service sectors in Vietnam’s service commitment schedule with the World Trade Organization, including: business, information, construction, distribution, education, environment, finance, healthcare, tourism, culture, entertainment and transportation.
  • Entering Vietnam to provide professional and technical consulting services or perform other tasks serving research, development, appraisal, monitoring, evaluation, management, and program implementation, projects use official development assistance (ODA) or agreements in international treaties.
  • Licensed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to operate information and press activities in Vietnam according to the provisions of the law.
  • Be sent to Vietnam by a competent foreign agency or organization to teach and research at an international school under the management of a foreign diplomatic representative agency or the United Nations; establishments and organizations established under agreements that Vietnam has signed and participated in.
  • Be the Head of a representative office, project or be primarily responsible for the activities of an international organization or foreign non-governmental organization in Vietnam.
  • Enter Vietnam for less than 03 months to offer services.
  • Be a foreign lawyer who has been granted a license to practice law in Vietnam.
  • Foreigners marry Vietnamese people and live in Vietnamese territory.
When do foreign workers working in Vietnam have to apply for a permit?
When do foreign workers working in Vietnam have to apply for a permit?

Consulting services for using foreign workers in Vietnam

Long Phan provides customers with consulting services on using foreign workers in Vietnam including:

  • Consulting on conditions for foreign workers to work in Vietnam
  • Consulting on recruitment conditions and use of foreign workers working in Vietnam
  • Consulting and guidance on preparing documents and procedures for applying for work permits for foreigners
  • Consulting on building an effective foreign worker management mechanism
  • Consulting to support businesses in preparing other documents related to employees.

Using professional legal consulting services helps businesses save time, while ensuring compliance with legal regulations, thereby avoiding unnecessary risks. If you need consulting support, please contact the hotline: 0906735386 to receive our detailed consultation.