Work Permit Exemption Cases in Vietnam

General Principles on Work Permits

The foundational principle is that foreign workers working in Vietnam must hold a work permit, except cases not subject to work permit issuance as prescribed by law. The work permit is issued by the competent Vietnamese authority and is the basis for a foreign worker to work legally. Using foreign workers without a work permit where one is mandatory is a serious administrative violation, which can lead to deportation of the worker and penalties on the company.

On jurisdiction, Decree 219/2025/ND-CP assigns provincial People’s Committees to issue, re-issue, extend and revoke work permits and certificates of non-eligibility (may be delegated to subordinate agencies), replacing the Department of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs as before. Companies should update their filing contact at the locality where the foreign worker is expected to work.

Cases Not Subject to Issuance under the Labor Code

Article 154 of the Labor Code 2019 lists cases not subject to work permit issuance, the common ones for businesses including: owners or capital-contributing members of limited liability companies; members of the Board of Directors of joint stock companies; heads of representative offices, projects or persons mainly responsible for activities of international organizations or foreign NGOs in Vietnam; persons entering Vietnam for under 03 months to offer services or handle complex technical incidents that domestic experts cannot handle; foreign lawyers licensed to practice in Vietnam; cases under international treaties to which Vietnam is a party; foreign students studying in Vietnam working in Vietnam; and other cases as prescribed by the Government.

The “other cases as prescribed by the Government” clause is the gateway for Decree 219/2025/ND-CP to expand and detail the exemption list to 15 cases. In practice, most exemption dossiers of FDI companies fall into the Government-detailed group rather than the Article 154 list. So when comparing, companies should read Article 154 together with Article 7 of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP as one unified whole.

The 15 Cases under Decree 219/2025/ND-CP

Article 7 of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP provides 15 cases not subject to work permit issuance, up from 14 previously. A standout new point is the case of persons working in finance, science, technology, innovation, national digital transformation and priority socio-economic development sectors confirmed by the competent authority — a policy signal attracting high-quality human resources; companies in these sectors should proactively work with the competent authority for confirmation.

Another practical new point: expert conditions are relaxed — only a university degree or higher and at least 02 years of relevant experience (previously 03 years), or at least 01 year for special sectors such as science, technology, innovation, national digital transformation. The Decree also allows simultaneous online filing of work permit applications and criminal record requests through interlinked online forms.

Experts and Technical Workers Working under 90 Days in a Year

The most used exemption by companies is point a, clause 13, Article 7: managers, executive directors, experts and technical workers entering Vietnam with total working time under 90 days in 01 year, counted from January 1 to the last day of the year. Compared with the old rule (under 30 days and no more than 03 times in 01 year), the new threshold is more open: no limit on the number of entries.

The key is how “total working time” is counted: all working periods in the calendar year must be accumulated, including interleaved short business trips. Beyond the 90-day threshold, the worker is no longer exempt and the company must switch to the work permit issuance procedure. HR should keep a separate tracking sheet for each short-term expert, updated after each entry.

Intra-Corporate Transferees

Point b, clause 13, Article 7 provides exemption for employees moving within the enterprise for a definite term, with two simultaneous conditions: the foreign enterprise has established a commercial presence in Vietnam within the scope of 11 service sectors under Vietnam’s WTO service commitments schedule, and the employee was previously recruited by the foreign enterprise for at least 12 consecutive months. Commercial presence includes foreign-invested economic organizations, representative offices and branches of foreign traders in Vietnam.

In practice, the “12 consecutive months” condition is the easiest to trip on: transferees are often newly recruited to expand into Vietnam and lack tenure at the parent company. In that case the intra-corporate route cannot be invoked and another exemption ground or the ordinary work permit procedure must be considered. Proof of tenure — employment contracts with the parent company, payroll records, assignment confirmations — should be prepared early.

When a Certificate Is Needed vs. When Only Notification Is Required

This is the point companies confuse most. “Not subject to work permit issuance” does not mean no procedure. Under Article 9 of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP: some cases require a certificate of non-eligibility for work permit issuance; others need no certificate but must notify the competent authority. Specifically, cases under clauses 4, 5, 6, 8 of Article 154 of the Labor Code and clauses 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, point a of clause 13 of Article 7 of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP need no certificate but must notify the competent authority where the worker is expected to work at least 03 working days in advance.

Notification contents include: full name, date of birth, nationality, passport number, name of the foreign employer, working place and duration. For cases requiring the certificate, the employer files within 60 days and no less than 10 days before the worker’s expected working date; the competent authority issues the certificate within 05 working days of receiving a complete dossier, and if not issued must reply in writing stating reasons within 03 working days. Applying the wrong mechanism — e.g. only notifying when a certificate is actually required — means the worker works without valid legal basis.

Processing Times, Extensions and Information Management Responsibilities

For non-exempt cases, Article 22 of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP sets the work permit review period at 10 working days from receipt of a complete dossier — longer than the previous 05 days, so recruitment schedules need appropriate calculation. A work permit may be extended only once, for no more than 02 years; after the extension expires, if continued use is desired, the company must carry out new issuance procedures.

The Decree also imposes information management responsibilities: the employer manages foreign worker information in paper or electronic form, reports when requested by the competent state authority, and must not lease out foreign workers. The periodic reporting obligation on foreign worker use remains — see details at foreign labor use reporting.

Common Mistakes When Applying Exemptions

The costliest mistake is a company correctly identifying the exemption case but assuming “work permit exemption” means no procedure at all — obtaining neither the certificate nor filing the notification. When inspected, the company cannot produce any document proving the worker’s legal working status, and the argument “our case is exempt” is not accepted without the corresponding procedure.

Another mistake is applying the 90-day threshold to all subjects: that threshold only applies to managers, executive directors, experts and technical workers under point a, clause 13, Article 7. Each exemption case has its own conditions and procedures; the safe approach is to compare each specific dossier against the legal text. Overview of the labor compliance framework at our labor law advisory page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Useful Links

• Labor Law Advisory – our dedicated labor law page for businesses.
• Foreign Labor Use Reporting – periodic reporting obligations accompanying foreign worker use.
• Social Insurance and Payroll Compliance for FDI Companies – insurance obligations for foreign workers.
• Labor Outsourcing in Vietnam – the legal framework on labor outsourcing generally.