On 20 October 2026, the Government issued Decree No. 393/2026/ND-CP on foreign employees working in Vietnam, effective 5 December 2026 and replacing Decree 219/2025/ND-CP. At the time of writing in October 2026, the framework governing every work permit file is still Decree 219/2025/ND-CP. This article is therefore a preparation map: it shows what employers will have to change from 5 December 2026 and, just as importantly, which files keep running under the old rules thanks to the transitional provisions.
Where Decree 393/2026 sits in the Labour Code framework
Decree 393/2026 details the issuance, reissuance, extension and revocation of work permits and of confirmations of work permit exemption, built on Article 157 of the 2019 Labour Code, and it concretises the exemption cases connected with clauses 1, 2 and 9 of Article 154 of the Code. In other words, the Labour Code remains the framework layer on the conditions for foreigners to work in Vietnam; the new decree changes the procedural layer and the exemption catalogue rather than rewriting the underlying principle. Article 36 of the decree fixes effectiveness from 5 December 2026, with Decree 219/2025/ND-CP expiring on the same date, creating a clean temporal boundary: before it, the old rules; after it, the new rules, with transition for files already in progress.
First change: 18 cases outside the work permit regime
The change with the largest staffing impact is the catalogue of eighteen cases in which a foreign employee is not subject to work permit requirements. The catalogue includes the cases long present in clauses 3 to 8 of Article 154 of the Labour Code, such as heads of representative offices or projects or persons principally responsible for an international organisation or foreign non-governmental organisation in Vietnam; persons entering for under three months to offer services or handle complex technical incidents; foreign lawyers already licensed to practise in Vietnam; treaty cases; and foreigners married to a Vietnamese citizen and living in Vietnam. The decree also fixes the capital threshold for the investor group: owners or capital-contributing members of a limited liability company, and chairpersons or board members of a joint stock company, with contributed capital of at least VND 3 billion, and it significantly widens the groups for strategic technology talent, artificial intelligence personnel and higher education staff, alongside cases serving ODA and aid programmes and projects. Wider exemption comes with a heavier proof burden: employers must proactively keep a file evidencing the exemption conditions for each individual, because when inspectors arrive, the burden of proving the exemption sits with the employer.
Second change: demand approval and permit issuance merged in Article 23
On the issuance procedure, Article 23 of Decree 393/2026 restructures the flow into a single beat: at least ten working days but no more than sixty days before the foreign employee’s expected start date, the employer files the work permit application; within ten working days of receiving a complete file, the competent authority considers demand approval and issues the work permit, and must reply in writing with reasons if it refuses. Merging approval of the demand for foreign labour into the same processing window as issuance shortens the file’s path considerably compared with the previous two sequential gates. Authority to issue, reissue, extend and revoke permits and exemption confirmations rests with the provincial People’s Committee under Article 5, which may decentralise or delegate the work to a specialised agency.
Third change: permit duration and the internal-transfer technician position
Article 22 keeps the work permit duration cap at no more than two years, set by the term of the expected labour contract, the assignment document or the contract or agreement between the Vietnamese and foreign partners; Article 30 applies the same cap of no more than two years to extensions. One highly technical transitional clause deserves attention: work permit exemption confirmations and permits issued under Decree 219/2025 for the technical worker position under intra-corporate transfer remain usable until they expire, and on reissuance or extension the position converts to expert, provided the conditions in point e of clause 3 of Article 4 of the new decree are met. Employers with staff in this category should audit each person’s degrees and experience records now, because relabelling the position is no longer a purely administrative act but is tied to concrete expert conditions.
Transition, and what employers should do before 5 December 2026
The transitional provisions of Decree 393/2026 state that an employer who filed for issuance, reissuance, extension or revocation of a work permit or exemption confirmation before the effective date continues to be processed under Decree 219/2025/ND-CP; agencies decentralised or delegated by the provincial People’s Committee under the old framework keep working until the province issues new rules; and extension files filed under Resolution 24/2026/NQ-CP continue under that resolution. A practical preparation path for employers is: sorting all current foreign staff into three groups, those inside the eighteen new exemption cases, those keeping permits under transition, and those needing new permits after 5 December 2026; checking the VND 3 billion capital threshold for the investor and governance group; building an evidence file of exemption conditions for each individual; and timing filings around the effective date so no file falls into the gap between the two procedural frameworks.
Employers with foreign specialist teams who need a conversion plan before the 5 December 2026 date can contact FLAT Law Firm through the contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Decree 393/2026/ND-CP take effect and which decree does it replace?
Under Article 36 of Decree 393/2026/ND-CP, the decree takes effect on 5 December 2026, and Decree 219/2025/ND-CP of 7 August 2025 on foreign employees working in Vietnam expires on that date. Before 5 December 2026, Decree 219/2025 remains the framework applied to every work permit file.
What is new about work permits for foreigners under Decree 393/2026?
Three main changes: (1) a catalogue of 18 cases not subject to work permits, widened for strategic technology talent, artificial intelligence personnel and higher education staff, with a capital threshold of VND 3 billion for owners, capital-contributing members, chairpersons and board members; (2) Article 23 merges approval of the demand for foreign labour and permit issuance into a single ten-working-day processing window, with filing at least ten working days and no more than sixty days before the expected start date; and (3) Articles 22 and 30 keep the permit term and extension term capped at two years, with authority resting with the provincial People’s Committee under Article 5.
What should businesses prepare before 5 December 2026?
Sort current foreign staff into three groups: those within the 18 exemption cases under the new framework; those holding permits that continue under transition; and those who must apply fresh after 5 December 2026. Check the VND 3 billion capital threshold for the investor and governance group. Prepare evidence files proving exemption conditions for each exempt individual, especially internal-transfer technical workers who must convert to expert conditions on reissuance or extension. Finally, time filings around the effective date so the correct procedural framework applies.
Under which rules are work permit applications filed before 5 December 2026 processed?
Under the transitional provisions of Decree 393/2026/ND-CP, an employer who filed for issuance, reissuance, extension or revocation of a work permit or exemption confirmation before the decree’s effective date continues to be processed under Decree 219/2025/ND-CP. Permits and confirmations already issued under the old framework remain usable until they expire; for the internal-transfer technical worker position, reissuance or extension converts the position to expert if point e of clause 3 of Article 4 of the new decree is satisfied.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council