LATEST POLICIES OF VIETNAM VISA FOR FOREIGNER FROM JULY 2020

Monday, 02/03/20

The New Immigration Law No. 51/2019/QH14 (“New Visa Policies 2020”) has been passed by the National Assembly of Vietnam on 25 November 2019 and will take effect on 1 July 2020. In this article, key changes and updates on visa policies of Vietnam for foreigners include: Allowing the change of entry purpose (change visa purpose) without leaving and re-entering Vietnam; Implementing new visa types and longer visa validity for foreign investors based on the value of their contributed investment; Foreign nationals who enter Vietnam under unilateral visa waiver status will no longer be subjected to the 30-day cooling-off period between the last exit date and the next entry date as before; Additional changes to the types Vietnam visa as ĐT1, ĐT2, ĐT3, ĐT4, LĐ1, LĐ2, EV and LS Visa, etc.

We have summarized and highlighted the new updates and changes on Vietnam Visa Policy for foreigner individuals based on the New Immigration Law No. 51/2019/QH14 as below:

[1]- NEW POLICIES ON THE ISSUANCE OF E-VISA

The law has officially categorized e-visa as EV with a term of no more than 30 days. The law also provides the procedure and requirements on the issuance of e-visa for foreign nationals.

[2]- CONVERTING VISA CATEGORIES WITHOUT LEAVING AND RE-ENTERING VIETNAM

With the old regulations, in order to change the type of their visa, foreigners must exit Vietnam and re-enter the country with the new visa. However, when the new law comes into effect, foreign nationals can change their current visa category into another one without going anywhere provided that they can prove one of the following:

Foreigner is the investors or representatives of international organizations investing in Vietnam;
Foreigner is the parent, spouse or child of Vietnamese citizen who invite, sponsor him/her to Vietnam;
Foreigner holds a e-visa and a work permit/ exemption from work permit certificate according to the Labour Code;
Foreigner is invited or sponsored by a Vietnamese entity or organization to Vietnam for working and holding a work permit/ exemption from work permit certificate according to the Labour Code.

[3]- CHANGES ON VISA TYPES OF VIETNAM AND VALIDITY TERMS

Some types of visa have been added (such as LS and EV) and some are amended (mainly the visa categorized as ĐT and LĐ). The detail of new visa and their validity period is as below:

LS – issued to foreign lawyers practicing their professional in Vietnam – valid for no more than 05 years.
ĐT1 – issued to foreign investors and representatives of international organizations investing in Vietnam whose contributed capital is 100 billion VND upwards or who are investing in sectors, professions or geographical regions of investment priorities regulated by the Government – valid for no more than 05 years.
ĐT2 – issued to foreign investors and representatives of international organizations investing in Vietnam whose contributed capital is from 50 to less than 100 billion VND or who are investing in sectors, professions entitled to investment incentives regulated by the Government - valid for no more than 05 years.
ĐT3 – issued to foreign investors and representatives of international organizations investing in Vietnam whose contributed capital is from 03 billion to less than 50 billion VND - valid for no more than 03 years.
ĐT4 – issued to foreign investors and representatives of international organizations investing in Vietnam whose contributed capital is less than 03 billion VND - valid for no more than 12 months.
DN1 – issued to foreign nationals working for legal entities as regulated by Vietnamese law – valid for no more than 12 months.
DN2 – issued to foreign nationals entering Vietnam for service offering, establishing commercial presence or performing other activities as regulated by international treaties to which Vietnam is a signing party – valid for no more than 12 months.
LĐ1 – issued to foreign nationals working in Vietnam with an exemption from work permit certificate, unless otherwise is regulated by international treaties to which Vietnam is a signing party – valid for no more than 02 years.
LĐ2 – issued to foreign nationals working in Vietnam with a work permit - valid for no more than 02 years.
EV – E-visa is valid for no more than 30 days.

[4]- CHANGES ON TEMPORARY RESIDENT CARD (TRC) TYPES AND VALIDITY TERMS

Foreign nationals holding visa with category of LS, ĐT1, ĐT2, ĐT3, LĐ1 or LĐ2 are entitled to temporary resident card issuance. The categories of TRC shall be the same as the visa, namely:

LS – valid for no more than 05 years.
ĐT1 – valid for no more than 10 years.
ĐT2 – valid for no more than 05 years.
ĐT3 – valid for no more than 03 years.
LĐ1, LĐ2 – valid for no more than 02 years.

OTHER ARTCLES OF VIETNAM'S VISAS AND TEMPORARY RESIDENCE CARD

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LATEST POLICIES OF VIETNAM VISA FOR FOREIGNER FROM JULY 2020

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