Who Needs a Work Permit in Vietnam? (2026 Rules)

A foreigner working in Vietnam as a manager, executive director, expert or technical worker needs a work permit, unless exempt under Article 154 of the Labour Code and Article 7 of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP. Permits are issued by the provincial People’s Committee, last up to 2 years and can be renewed once. Exempt workers still need either a notification or an exemption certificate.

Updated October 2026 under Decree 219/2025/ND-CP (effective 7 August 2025), which replaced Decrees 152/2020/ND-CP and 70/2023/ND-CP.

Contents

The four eligible positions

Position	Requirement (Art. 3, Decree 219/2025)
Manager	Company manager under the Law on Enterprises, or head/deputy head of an agency or organisation
Executive director	Head of a branch or representative office, or head directly running a field, with at least 3 years of experience
Expert	University degree and at least 2 years of relevant experience; 1 year is enough in finance, science, technology, innovation, digital transformation or priority sectors
Technical worker	At least 1 year of training plus 2 years of experience, or 3 years of relevant experience

Workers must also be 18 or older, have full legal capacity, be in good health and not be serving a criminal sentence or under prosecution.

Who does not need one

There are 15 exempt groups, including investors with at least 3 billion VND capital, spouses of Vietnamese citizens, people working under 90 days a year and intra-corporate transferees. Full list: work permit exemption cases.

Working without a permit

Foreign workers without a permit or exemption can be fined and deported, and employers are fined per worker. Get the permit first, then the LD visa and a residence card.