HOW TO GET A WORK PERMIT FOR TEACHING IN VIETNAM

Under Vietnam labor law, any foreigner must obtain a Work Permit to work legally in Vietnam. There are various types of Work Permit including Work Permit for teachers, workers, legal representatives, directors,… In this article, we will provide the A to Z procedure to help foreign teachers (teaching English, French, Japanese, Chinese,…) apply for and obtain their Work Permit in Vietnam. While other kinds of Work Permit just require University degree as a proof for education background, a professional certificate in teaching is also a must for teaching cases. The government of Vietnam will deport any foreigner who is working in Vietnam without a work permit, or on an expired one. As for employers, an administrative penalty ranging from VND5 million to VND10 million will apply if they fail to, or insufficiently report, any employment of foreigners to the authorized agencies.

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2 STEPS TO OBTAIN VIETNAM WORK PERMIT

Step 1: Applying Business Visa

Step 2: Applying Vietnam Work Permit

PERSONAL DOCUMENTS TEACHERS MUST HAVE FOR WORK PERMIT

Basically, following are documents you must prepare and submit to your provider:

A university or college degree;
A teaching certificate, for example:
- Certificate in TESOL, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
- Certificate in TFSOL, Teaching French to Speakers of Other Languages.
- Certificate in TCSOL, Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages.
- Certificate in TJSOL, Teaching Japanese to Speakers of Other Languages.
- Certificate in TKSOL, Teaching Korean to Speakers of Other Languages.
- Certificate in TRSOL, Teaching Russian to Speakers of Other Languages.
A letter of working experience confirmation from former employers at least 3 years in the relevant position
Foreign Police Clearance Certificate or Vietnam Criminal Record

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS FOR APPLYING WORK PERMIT IN VIETNAM

Before at least 30 days since the day foreign labors anticipated to work for employer units (companies, contractors, representative offices,..), these units shall submit documents as requested to grant work permit to Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Welfares at where foreign labor expected to work.

Request for issuance of a work permit from the employer in accordance with regulations of the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs;
Health certificate or medical certificate issued by a competent foreign or Vietnamese health care agency or organization valid for 12 months from the date of signing to the application date;
Foreign Police Clearance Certificate or Vietnam Criminal Record confirming the foreign worker is not an offender or being prosecuted for criminal liability, this document must be issued within 06 months from the issuance date to the application date.
The written approval of Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Welfare.
2 recent color photos with size 4x6cm (white background, front, bareheaded, without sunglasses), taken within 06 months prior to the application date.
2 notarized copies with full pages (the notarization procedure can be made in Vietnam by public notary office within 3 months before the submission date)
A university or college degree
A professional certificate in teaching
A letter of working experience confirmation from former employers at least 3 years in the relevant position

The foreign documents including the Foreign Police Clearance Certificate, health certificates, and certificate of working experiences in foreign languages must be legalized and translated into Vietnamese and certified in accordance with regulations of Vietnam.

HOW TO LEGALIZE THE FOREIGN DOCUMENTS FOR USE IN VIETNAM

A lot of documents are required during a lengthy process. You may get your documents notarized and legalized in the wrong way or you may forget to prepare some documents which result in work permit rejection. These documents must be legalized via 2 options below:

Option 1: Legalized by native Ministry Foreign Affair and Vietnamese embassy or consulate overseas of the country where the expat is a resident “RECOMMEND”

Option 2: Certified by home country embassy or consulate in Vietnam then legalized by Ministry of Foreign Affair in Vietnam

WORK PERMIT – EXEMPTED CASES FOR FOREIGNERS

Foreigners enter Vietnam to work are required a work permit, except these following cases:

Foreigners work in Vietnam shorter than 03 months;
Foreigners are the members of a limited liability company with two members or more;
Foreigner who owned a limited liability company with a member (except an authorized representative);
Foreigners who are the Board of Directors members of the joint-stock company;
Foreign workers entering Viet Nam to provide services;
Foreigners enter Vietnam for 03 months to handle emergency problems such as incidents, technical situations, arising complex technologies that affect or likely to affect production, business that Vietnamese experts or foreign experts currently in Vietnam cannot handle. If the time for the said matters is more than 03 months, they have to apply for a work permit.

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