A GUIDELINE TO GET A WORKING VISA IN VIETNAM

Saturday, 11/05/19

In order to get a work visa in Vietnam, a foreign worker must has a Vietnam Work Permit or a Vietnam Work Permit Waiver. The Vietnam work visa is denoted as Labor (LĐ) with a term of not more than 2 years and its validity based on the duration of their Vietnam Work Permit. The procedure for foreigners to get a Vietnam work visa is that they must obtain a short-term Vietnamese business visa which is valid for 1 to 3 months and sponsored by organizations or companies registered and operated in Vietnam. The whole procedure for the working visa must go through 2 steps: 1- The first step, have a visa Approval Letter (Pre-Visa) sponsored by a company in Vietnam, issued by the Ministry of Public Security in advance; 2- The second step, the applicant pick up the business visa by themselves at the Vietnam’s international airports include: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang or Nha Trang.

STEP 1 - OBTAINING THE BUSINESS APPROVAL LETTER

For the purposes of business, work or investment, the applicants are required a Visa Approval Letter from the Ministry of Public Security in advance obtained by a company in Vietnam. The Visa Approval Letter is the legal document approved by the Vietnam Immigration Department to allow foreigners enter into Vietnam and pick up visa at all Vietnam’s international airports upon arrival: the international airports include Noi Bai International Airport (Hanoi); Tan Son Nhat International Airport (Ho Chi Minh City); Da Nang International Airport (Da Nang); Cam Ranh International Airport (Nha Trang); Phu Quoc International Airport (Kien Giang)

The required documents need to provide both the applicant and Vietnam’s sponsor company

A notary certified copy of sponsor company’s business or investment or representative license in Vietnam, tax and stamp registration certificate;
Visa application forms must be signed and sealed by a legal representative of the company;
Scanning the applicant’s passport;
Providing the proposed date of arrival (this is the date you want your visa to start from. The start date of the visa itself will be the day you arrive - you can enter Vietnam at a later date (up to your exit date) but not before that date, so be sure to take time zone differences into account);
The place of picking up the visa at any Vietnam international airports: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Cam Ranh, or Phu Quoc

* The visa duration is from 1 to 12 months with single or multiple entries

* Normal processing time: 7 working days

STEP 2 - PICKING UP THE WORKING VISA

You are able to get your visa stamped at the embassy or the airport or border crossing, to do this you must submit the following documents:

Applicant’s original passport must be valid for six months from your intended arrival date, and must have at least one blank visa page;
2 passport sized photographs (4x6 cm);
The copy of visa approval letter;
Complete the entry and exit application form;
Visa stamping fee depending on the visa single or multiple entry and visa validity ($25 for 1 and 3 month single, $50 for 1 and 3 month multiple, $95 for 6 month multiple and $135 for 1 year multiple entry) must be paid in cash at the place of visa picking up

WHERE TO PICK UP THE VISA

There are three options to obtain Working Visa:

Obtain the visa at Vietnamese Embassies/ Consulates in your own or another country or
Obtain the visa at Vietnam’ international airports including Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City, Noi Bai airport in Ha Noi City, Cam Ranh airport in Nha Trang, Da Nang airport in Da Nang City or Phu Quoc airport in Kien Giang Province or
Obtain the visa at Vietnam’ international border crossings, Vietnam has over a dozen international overland border crossings. These allow overland travel to Cambodia (via five crossings), Laos (via six crossing) and China (at least two crossings)

THREE WAYS TO APPLY FOR WORKING VISA IN VIETNAM
All foreigners coming to Vietnam whether for short-term business, meeting or working purpose are highly recommend to apply for a business visa under sponsored by a registered company in Vietnam. There are three ways of obtaining such a visa:

Apply in person or by post through your nearest Vietnamese Embassy or Consulate
Apply for a Visa on Arrival (VOA) or
Apply for an e-visa online

While there are advantages and disadvantages associated with each of these, we recommend the Visa on Arrival as the best option to obtain businesses visa for Vietnam.

Option 1: Via Vietnamese Embassy or Consulate
Key Features:

Traditional approach to getting a visa
Can be done in person or by post
Can be used to apply for any type of visa
The fee is uncertain as it depends on the consulate/ embassy
Can be used for any entrance point, whether by land, air, or sea
Takes about 5 working days to process, but can be sped up to 1- 2 days for urgent service.
Visa is stamped before departure.

You can apply for a visa through the local Vietnamese Embassy or Consulate either in person or by mail. To do this, you need to fill out and sign an application form, sending it along with your passport and a passport photo.

The advantage of this way is that you already have the visa stamped in your passport before leaving for Vietnam, which means you do not need to queue on arrival for your passport to get stamped.

The application process is not the most convenient, especially for people who do not live near a Vietnamese Embassy or Consulate.

Option 2: Visa on Arrival
Key Features:

Convenient, as it can be done by completing an online application form
Can be used to apply for any type of visa (1- 3, or 6 months, or 1 year multiple-entry visa)
You will need to pay two fees: 1. Service fee for Visa approval letter, 2. Stamping fee.
The service fee is paid online to the service provider. The amount depends on the visa type (number of months and number of entries) and service provider.
The stamping fee is paid at the arrival airport when the visa is stamped. The fee starts at $25 for 1 month and 3 month single entry, $50 for 1 and 3 month multiple-entry visas. The stamping fee must be paid in cash (USD or VND).
Can only be obtained at Vietnam’s international airports in Hanoi, Danang, Ho Chi Minh, Cam Ranh or Phu Quoc Airport. Hence it is only an option for air passengers.
The business approval letter takes 7 working days to process

Visa on Arrival is a viable option with various advantages. With Visa on Arrival, you can apply for longer-term and multiple-entry visas, and you do not need to go in person to the Embassy, or apply by post. You just need to submit an online application and get a pre-approval letter.

Option 3: E-Visa

Key Features:

Was launched on 1 February 2017
Convenient, as it can be done by completing an online application form
Only costs $25, which is non-refundable if the visa is declined
Can be used for any entrance point, whether by land, air, or sea. (There are 28 entrance points, including 8 international airports, 13 international border gates, and 7 seaports.)
Only for 1 month single-entry
Takes about 3 working days to process, and you’ll know quickly whether the application was accepted or not
The visa does not need to be stamped on your passport; hence there is no stamping fee and no need to queue for your passport to be stamped on arrival
Only available to citizens of 46 countries (including the UK and the USA)

Applying for an e-visa is our recommended option for tourists as it is most convenient and cost-effective. However, please note that this visa is only for visitors visiting for less than 30 days. Longer-term visitors will need to consider the other two options.

Please note that the arrival port must be the same on the documents issued by Immigration Department. If you are to change the arrival port after receiving your E-visa, you should contact them to amend the information on the documents to avoid any problem on the ground.

As this kind of visa is very new, we suggest that visitors should contact Vietnamese Immigration Department via electronic system before processing the visa application.

OTHER INFORMATION RELATED TO VIETNAM'S WORK PERMIT, VISAS AND TEMPORARY RESIDENCE CARD

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A GUIDELINE TO GET A WORKING VISA IN VIETNAM

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