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Obtaining Work Permits For Foreign Employees/Experts In 2024
On September 18th, 2023, the Government promulgated Degree No. 70/2023/ND-CP on amendments and additions to provisions of Decree No. 152/2020/ND-CP dated December 12, 2020, of the Government on foreign employees employed in Vietnam and the recruitment and management of Vietnamese employees working for foreign individuals and organizations sited in Vietnam.
Accordingly, from January 1, 2024, onward, employers must publish their recruitment notices, for which foreign employees are expected, to Vietnamese employees on specified websites prior to recruiting any foreign employees. Hence, employers may only recruit foreign employees when there are no eligible Vietnamese applicants available.
In this article, we provide guidance on the procedures to obtain work permits for foreign experts in 2024 according to Decree No. 70/2023/ND-CP.
What Are Foreign Experts?
Foreign experts or foreign employees are those who satisfy one of the following conditions:
- In possession of bachelor’s degree or equivalent and having at least 3 years of work experience corresponding to the anticipated or expected work in Vietnam
- Having at least 5 years of work experience corresponding to the anticipated or expected work in Vietnam
- Special cases are subject to the decision of the Prime Minister according to the request of the Ministry of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs.
Accordingly, foreign employees who fall within one of the above categories may be employed as foreign experts within the enterprise.
How To Obtain Work Permits For Foreign Experts?
Enterprises that employ foreign employees are responsible for the acquisition of work permits for foreign enterprises by taking the following steps:
Step 1: Announcement of recruitment notice to Vietnamese employees
Within at least 15 days of the expected date of the submission of clarification for demand for foreign experts, the enterprise shall announce its recruitment notice to Vietnamese employees for positions that are expected to be taken by foreign experts.
The recruitment notice shall be announced on the website of the Ministry of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs (Department of Employment) or the website of the Ho Chi Minh City Job Center established by the Chairman of the People’s Committee of provinces, direct-controlled municipality.
The content of the recruitment notice shall include:
- Position/job title
- Experience requirements
- Number of positions
- Work schedule
- Qualification requirements
- Job description
- Emuneration
- Place of work
If there are no eligible Vietnamese applicants for the positions in which foreign experts are expected, enterprises shall undertake the clarification of demand for foreign employees in accordance with the law (Step 2).
Step 2: Report on the demand for foreign experts
Within at least 15 days of the expected date of foreign experts’ employment, employers (aside from contractors) are obligated to clarify the demand for foreign employees for each position for which Vietnamese employees are ineligible and submit the clarification to the Department of Labor Invalids and Social Affairs situated at the foreign employees’ expected place of work.
Dossier components:
- Clarification on demand for foreign employees (Form No. 01/PLI)
- Letter of Introduction/Authorization
If amendments pertaining to positions, titles, work mode, number of employees, and place of work are made to the demand for foreign employees, the employers must report to the Department of Labor Invalids and Social Affairs situated at the foreign employee’s expected place of work.
The report shall follow Form No. 02/PLI and must be made at least 15 days prior to the expected date of foreign employees’ employment.
Duration: within 10 working days from the date of receipt of the clarification or the report on the amendments made to the demand for foreign employees, the Department of Labor Invalids and Social Affairs shall approve or disapprove of the employment of foreign experts in writing.
Attention: whenever work permits are not required of foreign employees, employers are not required to clarify the demand for foreign employees.
Step 3: Submission of application for work permits for foreign employees
After obtaining the approval in Step 2, employers shall apply for work permits, the application must be made at least 15 days prior to the date of employment of foreign experts,
Dossier components:
- 1) Application for work permit (Form No. 11/PLI)
Whenever foreign experts are employed under an employer and have multiple places of work, the application must specify all places of work.
- 2) Health certificate or confirmation of the foreign employee’s health condition
Health certificate/health diagnosis must be issued by either a foreign or Vietnam competent authorities, or medical organization. Such documents shall be valid from the date of issue to the date of application, being 12 months or less.
- 3) Judicial record or confirmation that foreign employees are not currently serving a sentence, under prosecution for criminal liability, or have yet to have their criminal record erased, issued by either a competent foreign authority or Vietnamese authority
The foregoing shall be deemed valid for the duration from the date of issue to the date of application, being 6 months or less.
- 4) Proof of expertise
- Decree, diploma, or certificate
- Confirmation of foreign agencies, organizations, enterprises on the years of experience of foreign experts or previously issued work permits, or issued confirmation on non-requirement of work permits.
- 5) 2 color photos (size 4cm x 6m, white background, face forward, no headgear, no tinted glasses), pictures must be taken within 6 months prior to the application.
- 6) Approval of demand for foreign employees, except for cases where the clarification of demand for foreign employees is not required (result of Step 2)
- 7) Notarized copies of passport or copies of passport with confirmation from employers
- 8) ERC
Attention: For documents 2, 3, 4, and 6, an original or notarized copy shall be provided, these documents shall also be legalized if such documents are issued in foreign countries, unless they are exempted from legalization in accordance with international convention to which Vietnam and concerned countries are members or principles of reciprocity or law provisions; moreover, these documents shall also be translated into Vietnamese and notarized or authenticated in accordance with the laws of Vietnam.
Place of submission: Ministry of Labor Invalids and Social Affairs or Department of Labor Invalids and Social Affairs situated at the foreign employees’ expected place of work.
Duration: Within 5 business days, from the date of full receipt of the application for work permit, the Ministry of Labor Invalids and Social Affairs or Department of Labor Invalids and Social Affairs shall issue work permits to foreign experts.
If no work permit is issued, a response specifying the reason shall be issued.
Benefits Associated With Work Permits
It is mandatory that foreign experts must have work permits prior to the conclusion of the employment contract with Vietnamese enterprises. This mandatory requirement of work permits would not only provide protection to foreign experts in disputes, but also ensure the benefits of employees.
Foreign experts are protected under the labor law of Vietnam
Foreign experts employed by Vietnamese enterprises are entitled to employee benefits similar to those of Vietnamese citizens, such as:
- Foreign experts employed by Vietnamese enterprises are entitled to employee benefits similar to those of Vietnamese citizens, such as:
- Labor protection, safe and hygienic working environment
- Leave policy, annual paid leave
- Other benefits.
Foreign experts may apply for long-term temporary residence cards in Vietnam
In certain situations, work permits are the mandatory prerequisite to obtain temporary residence cards.
Foreign experts upon acquiring temporary residence cards may take-up long-term residence in Vietnam. Foreign experts are also allowed multiple entry to Vietnam without visas, access to business activities, as well as marriage registration in Vietnam
Foreign experts may sponsor relatives to Vietnam
Spouses and children under 18 years of age of foreign experts working in Vietnam, qualify for visitor visas obtainable through marriage/parent-child relationships with foreign experts.
Attention:
In certain situations, employment contracts concluded by foreign experts and enterprises may be annulled if a work permit HAS NOT been obtained for foreign experts.
Disputes between foreign experts and enterprises may emerge from annulled contracts, resulting in great adversity against foreign experts.
Above are the procedures for obtaining work permits for foreign experts in 2024. For further support or clarification on the content of this article, please contact us via the information below.
Thele.blog
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Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
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