VIETNAM BUSINESS, LABOUR, WORKING AND INVESTMENT VISA - YOU SHOULD KNOW

During the last few years, more and more foreign investments pouring into the country, promise to bring more opportunities and wealth. The number of foreigners coming here for investing, working, or business trip also increases. Therefore, visa service for these expats is indeed. It is easy to get a Vietnam Visa but the problem is if your visa does not match with your purposes of entry, the application for later documents supporting your long-term stay in Vietnam such as the Temporary Resident Card (TRC) will be extremely difficult. Therefore, it is very important that you obtain for the right visa in the first place. In this article, we would like to give you a summary of basic visa types for foreign businessmen and labour in Vietnam, including Business, Labour, Working and Investment Visa.

OVERVIEW OF BUSINESS, LABOUR, WORK AND INVESTMENT VISA IN VIETNAM

For businessmen and workers from overseas, there are 4 different types of visa depending on their entry purposes:

Business visa (DN): for foreigners entering to work or do business with Vietnamese enterprises for a short period of time. This is the most popular Vietnam visa and is often applied first before foreigners can obtain the other visa types.
Labour visa (LĐ): for foreigners entering to work for a company in Vietnam. To obtain this visa, foreigners must provide a Work permit or a Work permit exemption certificate in their application dossier.
Working visa (LV): for foreigners entering to work for governmental agencies and organizations; social-political organizations; social organizations; and Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Similar to the Labour visa, foreigners must show evidence that they are working in those organizations to get this visa type.
Investment visa (ĐT): for foreign investors entering to invest in Vietnamese companies. The requirements for this visa may comprise of Investment Registration Certificate, Enterprise Registration Certificate, or other relevant documents.

The general rule is that foreigners, especially who enter Vietnam for the first time, can only be granted a business visa of 3 months in maximum. After that, when they have obtained enough required documents as mentioned above, foreigners have to apply again for the visa that match with their true purposes to stay in Vietnam.

According to the new law of Vietnam, there are several sub-types of those visas. If you need further information about Vietnam visa types and their usage, please click here.

WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR VIETNAM BUSINESS, LABOUR, WORK AND INVESTMENT VISA?

Basic requirements for all types of visa:

Documents proving the legal operation of companies/organizations in which the foreigners working or investing. Examples of these are Enterprise registration certificate, or investment registration certificate, Representative Office Establishment certificate, etc.)
The Seal Registration Certificate of the companies/organizations
The Introduction letter of the companies/organizations’ seal and signature of legal representative.
Application form for a visa.
Applicant’s passport.
Temporary Resident Confirmation by the local police.

Extra requirements for each type of visa:

Labour visa (LĐ): foreigners must have a Work permit. In case they are exempted from Work permit, they must submit Work permit exemption certificate along with their application.
Working visa (LV): foreigners must have the confirmation from the governmental agencies and organizations; social-political organizations; social organizations; and Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry to prove that they are working in those organizations.
Investment visa (ĐT): the requirements for this visa may comprise of Investment Registration Certificate, Enterprise Registration Certificate, or other relevant documents to prove the foreigner is a foreign investor required by Vietnam laws.

HOW TO PROCESS A BUSINESS, LABOUR, WORK AND INVESTMENT VISA IN VIETNAM?

The process to apply a Vietnam Business, Labour, Work or Investment visa normally undergoes three main steps:

Step 1: Obtain the business visa

It is quite easy to get a business visa for foreigners. The company/organization where the foreigners work or invest in must sponsor them and send the visa requesting forms to the Immigration Department. Then, when the visa is approved, foreigners can enter and get the business visa at the land border gate or airport as a visa on arrival.

Step 2: Apply for the requirements documents

It depends on whether the foreigners go to Vietnam for working or investing that they must apply for the appropriate certificate from the Vietnamese government. In particular:

For foreign labour or workers or experts: They must obtain the Work permit or Work permit exemption certificate. These two documents are issued the local department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs where the company (the employer of foreign labour) registers to operate.
For foreign investor: They must obtain the Investment Register Certificate, or have their names on the Enterprise Register Certificate as an investor of a company in Vietnam.

Step 3: Obtain a Labor, Work or Investment Visa and a TRC (if needed)

After successfully getting the above papers, foreigners can submit application for the equivalent visa that they desire. Please note that if foreigners want to get a Temporary Resident Card (TRC) to stay long term in Vietnam, it is imperial that the type of visa and TRC must be the same. In short, they must get a LĐ or ĐT visa first in order to get a TRC marked as LĐ or ĐT, respectively.

HOW LONG IS A BUSINESS, LABOR WORK AND INVESTMENT VISA IN VIETNAM?

Normally, the process time for visa application varies from 4 to 10 business days. This is merely the time for processing the visa approval, and it excludes the time to prepare for the required documents.

OTHER ARTCLES OF VIETNAM'S VISAS AND TEMPORARY RESIDENCE CARD