OUR INSTRUCTION

NEW REGULATION ON CHANGING VIETNAM VISA TYPE WITHOUT LEAVING VIETNAM

Saturday, 07/03/20

Due to the growth of tourism and economy, Vietnamese government is improving their administration system and visa policy to encourage foreigners coming to Vietnam, especially foreign investors. One of the most outstanding changes in the new regulation of immigration policies is to allow foreigners to change their Vietnam visa category. This indicates that foreigners who have already arrived in Vietnam are now entitled to change their visa type without leaving the country. The new regulation is supposed to take its effect from July 2020.

The differences between the current immigration policies and the new one on changing Vietnam visa category

The current law: Subsection 1 - Article 7 of Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners 2014 (current law) stated that both single entry visa and multiple entries visa are not allowed to change their category. Therefore, if foreigners want to change their visa type, they must exit leave the country with the old visa and then re-enter Vietnam with the new one.
The new law: Taking effect from July 2020, the new regulation allows foreigners to change their Vietnam visas category without leaving the country.

When can visa be changed entry purpose?

The new regulation on changing visa type is applied under some particular circumstances, including:

Having evidence of being an investor or a representative of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam legally according to Vietnam Law;
Having evidence of being a parent, spouse or child of the person inviting or sponsoring for foreigner coming to Vietnam;
Being invited or sponsored by agencies or organizations and having work permits or certifications of not being subject to work permits issuance under the labor laws;
Entering to Vietnam by Vietnam e-visa and having work permit or certification of not being subject to Work permit issuance.

What are the benefits of this new change?

The permission of repurpose visa type in the new law has been welcomed widely because it removes a lot of inconvenience arising by the current law.

Firstly, this new law can reduce a great deal of time and money due to the exit and re-entry to Vietnam for changing visa type.
Secondly, this regulation is expected to encourage new investors to Vietnam regardless of their initial purposes to Vietnam.
Lastly, it helps to maintain a continuous flow of work for foreign employees in enterprises since they do not have to exit and re-enter the country for repurposing their visa anymore.

OTHER ARTCLES OF VIETNAM'S VISAS AND TEMPORARY RESIDENCE CARD

OUR INSTRUCTION

NEW REGULATION ON CHANGING VIETNAM VISA TYPE WITHOUT LEAVING VIETNAM

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