The 2023 visa reform turned the 45-day exemption into the strongest short-business-trip tool for experts of the 12 nationalities on the current unilateral exemption list: no prior file, no sponsor, immediate entry. But that very convenience hides two limits every business trip must respect: it is a residence basis, not a work right, and the 45-day clock has no pause button.
The correct scope of the 45-day exemption on a business trip
- Meetings, negotiations, signings, market/factory surveys, conferences and industry events;
- Working alongside partners at the level of coordination and professional exchange that does not constitute an employment relationship in Vietnam;
- Activities in a work permit exemption case or a notification-only case where the substance is working at a Vietnamese enterprise (e.g. service-selling under 3 months — notified at least 3 working days in advance under Decree 219/2025/ND-CP);
- Conversely: holding a position at a Vietnamese enterprise in a permit category (a Vietnamese employer, Vietnam-paid salary, recurring work cycle) still requires a work permit before starting — a visa exemption never replaces a work permit.
Planning the trip around the 45-day clock
- Day 0: entry — record day 45 as a hard milestone in both the expert’s and the host company’s calendars;
- Week 1: if the trip has a labor-notification element, complete the notification on time; assess early whether the need will exceed the short-trip scope;
- Day 30: the decision milestone — how to stay longer (exit/re-entry, category conversion, or ending the trip as planned); every conversion filing must be submitted before day 45 with a safety margin;
- Day 45: either exited, or holding a new residence basis — there is no other lawful waiting state.
Common misunderstandings
- “45 working days” — wrong: 45 calendar days from the entry date, including weekends and holidays;
- “Visa exemption = free to work” — wrong: see the labor analysis above;
- “Just exit and re-enter for endless new 45 days” — current policy allows re-entry and a new exemption stay, but a dense in-out history serving de facto long-term residence is a factor immigration assesses; a company needing long-term presence must use the sponsored visa/card route instead of chaining exemptions;
- “Colleagues of other nationalities also get 45 days” — the unilateral list is closed by nationality: the 12 countries under Resolution 44/NQ-CP are exempt for any entry purpose, while the 12 European countries under Resolution 229/NQ-CP are exempt for tourism only and cannot be used for a business trip; nationalities outside both lists must use different channels (bilateral-agreement exemptions with their own terms — e.g. Belarus at 30 days per entry under the bilateral agreement, the 90-day e-visa…).
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the conditions for an expert to use the 45-day visa exemption?
The framework has two layers: clause 1, Article 12 of the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam (amended by Law 23/2023/QH15, effective 15 August 2023) sets the 45-day temporary stay for the unilateral visa exemption, while the country list is decided by the Government by resolution — Article 12 does not itself enumerate countries. The current list is Resolution 44/NQ-CP dated 7 March 2025: citizens of 12 countries — Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland — receive a unilateral visa exemption when entering Vietnam with a temporary stay of 45 days from the entry date, applying from 15 March 2025 to 14 March 2028, regardless of passport type and entry purpose (business trips are within this scope). Two changes from the former list under Resolution 128/NQ-CP (expired 15 March 2025) matter in practice: Belarus is no longer on the unilateral list — Belarusian citizens enter under the bilateral agreement (effective 30 January 2025) at 30 days per entry, with total stays not exceeding 90 days in a year; and Resolution 229/NQ-CP dated 8 August 2025 adds 12 European countries for tourism purposes only, so it does not cover business trips. Conditions: meeting the entry conditions in Article 20 — a valid passport, and not falling in the no-entry cases of Article 21 (unexpired deportation, forged documents, security/defense grounds…). An expert holding two nationalities must present the passport of the listed nationality at the checkpoint.
How long must the passport be valid for the 45-day exemption?
The Entry-Exit Law requires a valid passport as an entry condition; in immigration control and air carriage practice, the standard commonly applied is a passport valid for at least 6 months from the entry date — many airlines refuse carriage to passengers failing this standard at the departure airport, before ever reaching a Vietnamese checkpoint. Practical recommendation: check the passport validity when booking; if it has under 6 months left, renew it before the trip rather than counting on checkpoint flexibility — and remember that later residence/labor documents (including residence cards) are all limited by the passport term.
After 45 days, what can the expert do to stay longer?
Three lawful routes: (1) exit before expiry — then re-enter and enjoy a new exemption stay under current policy if still eligible; this serves consecutive business trips, but is not a way to “live long-term” through endless chained stays; (2) convert in-country to a sponsored category: if the employer has completed a work permit/confirmation for the expert, convert the purpose to the labor category (point c, clause 4, Article 7 of the Entry-Exit Law) and apply for a residence card — all while the 45 days are still running; (3) temporary residence extension under Article 35 only where there is a legitimate reason and an individual/organization sponsor — file-based discretion, not a default right of the exemption category. The route that does not exist: staying past day 45 with no document at all — that is overstay, fined under Decree 282/2025/ND-CP.
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FLAT Law Firm advises FDI companies and foreign employees on work permits, visas and temporary residence cards in Vietnam. Contact us for advice on your specific case.
This content is general information only and is not a substitute for legal advice on a specific case.