A company rename or head office move is a business registration matter — but for employers of foreign staff, every such change “touches” the work permit, because the company name and the work location are two items printed on the permit’s face. Correct handling starts with classifying your change precisely.
Rename with the same enterprise ID → reissuance
Article 11 of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP places “enterprise changes its name without changing its identification number” in the work permit reissuance group, alongside: lost permits; damaged permits; changes to the employee’s surname/name, nationality, passport number or work location. Features of this group:
- Processing time of only 3 working days;
- The dossier is a reissuance request plus documents evidencing the change (the new enterprise registration certificate);
- The reissued permit keeps the remaining term of the old one — it does not “reset” into a new 2-year cycle.
Head office relocation: look at the work location, not the office
The permit records the employee’s work location, not the company’s legal head office address. Therefore:
- Head office moves but the expert’s workplace does not (common when a company changes its legal office while the operating plant/branch stays): the permit remains fully valid; the company should notify the issuing authority in writing so management records stay in sync;
- The expert’s workplace moves with it (office relocation within the province): a work location change → permit reissuance under Article 11, processed in 3 working days;
- Move to another province: licensing authority follows the new work location — see below.
Inter-provincial moves: no permit “handover” mechanism
The labor licensing system is organized by province, and a permit issued by one province’s People’s Committee is managed by that province. When a company relocates its entire operation, common practice is: close/recall in the old province and apply in the new province, reusing still-valid personal documents (legalized degree, criminal record, health check within 12 months) to shorten the timeline. As this is an interface between two issuing authorities, employers should obtain advance written confirmation from the destination province’s labor authority on the procedure form applicable to their case.
Common mistakes
- Leaving permits in the old company name for months after a rename — on inspection this is “using a worker outside the permit’s content”, fined VND 5–10 million per person under Decree 283/2026/ND-CP;
- Confusing a rename (reissuance, 3 days) with incorporating a new enterprise/changing the identification number (full new issuance) — the dividing line is whether the enterprise identification number changes.
Frequently Asked Questions
If the company renames, must foreign employees’ work permits be redone?
They must be reissued, but the procedure is light. Under Article 11 of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP, an enterprise changing its name without changing its enterprise identification number falls into the work permit reissuance group (together with loss, damage, changes to name/nationality/passport number/work location), processed in 3 working days. This is reissuance — not new issuance — so no fresh demand justification is needed if nothing else changes.
What if the head office moves within the same province?
Distinguish the company’s “head office address” from the “work location” printed on the permit. If the expert keeps working at exactly the same location (e.g. the operating branch does not move), the permit is not directly affected; the company should simply notify/update with the issuing authority. If the employee’s actual work location moves with the new head office, that is a work location change — within the reissuance scope of Article 11 of Decree 219/2025.
How are permits handled when the head office moves to another province?
When the head office and the employee’s work location move to another province, licensing authority also moves to that province’s People’s Committee. Practice in many localities is that the company must carry out the permit procedure in the destination province (reusing still-valid documents), while completing the recall/closure of the permit in the old province. Because there is no automatic handover mechanism between provinces for the “reissuance vs new issuance” boundary, employers should seek written guidance from the destination province’s labor authority before relocating staff.
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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.
