New Regulation On Work Permit Issuance Under Decree No. 219/2025/ND-CP

Decree No. 219/2025/ND-CP of the Government, dated 07 August 2025, introduces a number of new provisions and significant amendments concerning foreign employees working in Vietnam, replacing previous decrees such as Decree No. 152/2020/ND-CP and Decree No. 70/2023/ND-CP.

The purpose of this Decree is to specify the timeframe and application dossier for the issuance of work permits, while adopting more flexible policies to meet enterprises’ production and business needs, particularly in the context of Vietnam’s efforts to attract investors, experts, and highly skilled workers in emerging sectors such as the semiconductor industry, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation.

The key new provisions are as follows:

1.     Amendment to the Work Permit Application Dossier

Decree 219/2025/ND-CP revises regulations by integrating the procedure for reporting the demand for foreign employees into the procedure for submitting a work permit application. Under the new regulations, the work permit application dossier comprises the following documents:

a.    Written request by the employer reporting the demand for foreign employees and requesting the issuance of a work permit, using Form No. 03 in the Appendix issued together with this Decree.

b.     Health certificate: Issued by a qualified medical examination and treatment establishment. Where the health examination results have been connected and shared on the Health Examination and Treatment Management Information System or the national health database, submission of a physical copy is not required. For health certificates issued by competent foreign medical establishments, such documents may be used if Vietnam and the issuing country or territory have a treaty or mutual recognition agreement, and provided that the health certificate remains valid for no more than 12 months from the date of issuance.

c.     Valid passport.

d.    Criminal Record Certificate or written confirmation that the foreign employee is not serving a criminal sentence, has not had their criminal record expunged, or is not under criminal prosecution in the foreign country or in Vietnam. This document must be issued no more than 06 months prior to the date of application submission, except where an integrated administrative procedure for the issuance of both the criminal record certificate and the work permit has been carried out in accordance with the law.

e.     Two (02) color photographs (size 4 cm x 6 cm), white background, full-face, bareheaded, without glasses.

f.      Document(s) proving the form of employment of the foreign employee, being one of the following:

·     Written assignment by the foreign employer sending the foreign employee to work on a temporary basis at a commercial presence in Vietnam, confirming that the employee has been employed by the foreign employer for at least 12 consecutive months immediately prior to working in Vietnam (for the case specified at Point b, Clause 1, Article 2 of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP).

·          Written assignment by the employer together with the contract or agreement entered into (for cases where the foreign employee works in Vietnam under contracts or agreements on economic or social matters and participates in implementing packages or projects in Vietnam).

·          Service contract between the Vietnamese and foreign partners, together with proof that the foreign employee has worked for the foreign enterprise without a commercial presence in Vietnam for at least 24 months (for cases where the foreign employee works in Vietnam as a contractual service provider).

·          Written assignment from the service provider sending the foreign employee to Vietnam to negotiate the provision of services (for cases where the foreign employee comes to Vietnam to market services).

·          Written assignment from the foreign employer sending the foreign employee to work in Vietnam in accordance with the intended position (for cases where the employee is transferred from an overseas entity to work in Vietnam, excluding intra-corporate transferees).

·          Documentary evidence proving that the foreign employee is a manager as prescribed (for cases where the foreign employee works in Vietnam as the Chairman or a member of the Board of Directors of a joint-stock company, or as the owner or a member of a limited liability company with contributed capital valued at less than VND 3 billion).

g.     Document(s) proving that the foreign employee is a manager, executive director, expert, or technical worker as prescribed.

2.      Timeframe for Issuance of Work Permits

Under Decree 219/2025/ND-CP:

·      Within 10 working days from the date of receipt of a complete application dossier, the competent authority shall review and approve the demand for foreign employees and issue the work permit.

·        Where the demand for foreign employees is not approved or the work permit is not issued, the competent authority must provide a written response stating the reasons within 03 working days from the date of receipt of a complete dossier.

Compared to the previous provision under Decree 70/2023/ND-CP, in which the timeframe for issuing work permits was 05 working days, the new       Decree explicitly sets the processing time at 10 working days. Although the stated aim is to expedite the process to meet business needs, the             prescribed timeframe is, in fact, longer than before.

3.      Competence to Issue Work Permits

• • The Provincial People’s Committee shall have competence to issue, re-issue, extend, and revoke work permits and certifications of exemption from work permit requirements for foreign employees working for employers having their headquarters, branches, representative offices, or business locations within the province where the foreign employee is expected to work.

• • Where the foreign employee works for one employer in multiple centrally-run provinces or cities, the Provincial People’s Committee where the employer’s head office is located shall have competence to issue, re-issue, extend, and revoke work permits and certifications of exemption from work permit requirements.

• • The Provincial People’s Committee may delegate the competence to issue, re-issue, extend, and revoke work permits and certifications of exemption from work permit requirements to a competent agency in accordance with the law.

4.      Additional Cases Eligible for Certification of Exemption from Work Permit Requirements

Decree 219/2025/ND-CP supplements cases where foreign employees are certified by ministries, ministerial-level agencies, or Provincial People’s Committees as working in Vietnam in the following sectors: finance, science, technology, innovation, national digital transformation, and other priority socio-economic development sectors, who shall be exempt from work permit requirements.

The cases of exemption include:

a.      Those falling under Clauses 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of Article 154 of the Labor Code.

b.      Owners or capital-contributing members of a limited liability company with contributed capital of VND 3 billion or more.

c.       Chairmen or members of the Board of Directors of a joint-stock company with contributed capital of VND 3 billion or more.

d.   Persons entering Vietnam to provide professional or technical consultancy services or to perform other tasks serving the research, development, appraisal, monitoring, evaluation, management, and implementation of programs or projects using official development assistance (ODA) in accordance with treaties or agreements on ODA signed between Vietnam and foreign competent authorities.

e.      Foreign journalists engaged in press activities in Vietnam and certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

f.     Persons assigned by foreign competent authorities to teach or to serve as managers or executive directors at educational institutions established in Vietnam at the request of foreign diplomatic missions or intergovernmental organizations, or at institutions established under international treaties to which Vietnam is a party.

g.     Foreign students, trainees, or interns studying at educational institutions in Vietnam or abroad who have an internship agreement or invitation to work for a Vietnamese employer; trainees or interns on Vietnamese ships.

h.     Dependents of members of foreign diplomatic missions in Vietnam who are permitted to work in Vietnam under international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party.

i.      Holders of official passports working for state agencies, political organizations, or socio-political organizations.

j.     Persons responsible for establishing a commercial presence.

k.    Volunteers working in Vietnam on a non-paid basis under international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party and certified by a foreign diplomatic mission or international organization in Vietnam.

l.    Persons entering Vietnam to implement international agreements signed between central or provincial-level agencies/organizations in accordance with the law.

m.    Foreign employees who are managers, executive directors, experts, or technical workers falling under one of the following:

·      Working in Vietnam for a total period of less than 90 days in a calendar year.

·    Intra-corporate transferees: temporarily transferred within a foreign enterprise that has established a commercial presence in Vietnam, in one of the 11 service sectors under Vietnam’s Schedule of Specific Commitments in Services with the WTO, and who have been employed by the foreign enterprise for at least 12 consecutive months prior to such transfer.

n.      Persons certified by the Ministry of Education and Training to enter Vietnam to:

·       Teach, conduct research, or transfer international education programs;

·       Serve as managers, executive directors, principals, or vice principals of educational institutions established in Vietnam at the request of foreign diplomatic missions or intergovernmental organizations.

o.     Persons certified by ministries, ministerial-level agencies, or Provincial People’s Committees to enter Vietnam to work in the fields of finance, science, technology, innovation, national digital transformation, and other priority socio-economic development sectors.

These new provisions take effect on 07 August 2025. The promulgation of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP is expected to facilitate the attraction and management of foreign employees in Vietnam, thereby contributing to socio-economic development.