Vietnam’s Industrial Parks Part 10: Work Permits for Foreigners

Part 10: Work Permits for Foreigners

Foreigners need a work permit to work in Vietnam. Most Japanese are required to obtain this work permit, but in recent years, there have been an increasing number of cases where they are unable to obtain one due to the strictness of the necessary conditions. In this article, we would like to introduce the overview of work permits and how to obtain them.

Work Permit
For Japanese people to obtain a work permit, the following documents must be submitted. Applications must be made to the Labor Department of the city or province’s People’s Committee that has jurisdiction over the company’s location listed on each company’s Enterprise Registration Certificate (ERC).

1) Work history
2) University graduation certificate (even for colleges and universities)
3) Certificate of no criminal record
4) Secondment order
5) Medical certificate (preferably obtained in Vietnam)
6) Notarized version of passport

In addition to the above, depending on the type of work permit, additional documents may be required. In the case of manufacturing companies located in industrial parks, applications must be made to the Industrial Park Management Committee. The application period takes an average of two months, and the application fee to the authorities is 400,000 VND (approximately 2,500 yen) for a new issue. However, there are cases where you are exempt from obtaining a work permit when working in Vietnam. For example, people who have a Vietnamese spouse are exempt from obtaining a work permit. If you are planning to obtain a work permit, it is important to check whether you are exempt or not.

Three types of work permits
There are three types of work permits that Japanese people can obtain.

1. Expert: This is the most common of the three types. The conditions are that you graduated from a four-year university majoring in the content related to the work you will be doing after taking up your post, have more than three years of work experience in that field, or have a certificate as an expert issued by a foreign institution, company, or organization.

2. Manager: The head of an institution or organization whose name is listed on the Enterprise Registration Certificate (ERC) or a person delegated by it. In addition, people who participate in the general meeting of shareholders according to the articles of incorporation can also obtain one. However, in either case, it is difficult to obtain one without more than one year of experience as a manager.
3. Engineers: You will need more than three years of technical experience in the relevant field and a certificate of having attended a university or junior college for more than three years. It is important to check, as having a specialized qualification may be a substitute for a university or junior college graduation certificate.

Recent circumstances of obtaining a work permit
Compared to before the spread of the new coronavirus, it has become much more difficult for Japanese people to obtain a work permit in Vietnam. There are two main reasons for this difficulty.
① Stricter employment of foreigners
In order to increase employment for its own citizens, the Vietnamese government no longer allows the recruitment of personnel from countries other than Vietnam from the beginning. First, they must post job openings to Vietnamese people, and then, if there are no candidates, they must hire foreigners. For job openings, companies must show evidence of recruitment activities, such as posting notices, posters, and registration on job sites.
② Mismatch between department and job duties
In Vietnam, the review of whether the university department and job content match is extremely strict. According to a consultant who supports Japanese people moving into Vietnam, there is an example of a man who graduated from the Faculty of Law at Waseda University and worked at a bank, but was unable to obtain a work permit when he was seconded to Vietnam because his faculty did not match his job description. It is relatively easy to obtain a work permit for a wide range of applicable occupations, such as economics, but it is not easy to obtain a work permit for literature. In Vietnam, there is a strong belief that what you learn at university should be directly reflected in your job. These cultural differences make it difficult for foreigners to obtain a work permit.

How to obtain a work permit
The most appropriate solution is to give yourself a job title that is related to the faculty you graduated from when working in Vietnam. For example, if you majored in English and American literature at the Faculty of Letters at a university, you could be the person in charge of European companies. This will prevent any problems from occurring. If you are an employee seconded from the head office to Vietnam, you should meet with the company in advance. Sometimes your title may be changed. However, in large companies, it may be difficult to change your job title, so you should consult carefully in advance.

First, you must prepare to make the application go smoothly by collecting the necessary documents and checking whether you are exempt. In the past, commissions to the person in charge were common, but now this has completely disappeared and strict screening and procedures must be followed. It usually takes two months from application, and just under three months if you take into account the procedures for recruiting Vietnamese before applying, and the procedures have become complicated. For this reason, it is not easy to carry out all the procedures in-house, so many companies outsource the process to application agents.