I started figuring out the Vietnam work permit on my third year here, when my business visa ran out and I had a contract sitting on the table. Without this document, working for a Vietnamese company is technically illegal — and the fines land on your employer, not just you. Processing takes about 20 working days, the government fee is 600,000 VND, and the whole thing runs under Decree 152/2020/NĐ-CP. Here’s the real walkthrough — what actually matters, where people get stuck, and how to avoid submitting everything twice.
Who Actually Needs a Work Permit
A work permit (giấy phép lao động) is mandatory for any foreigner working for a Vietnamese company for more than 30 consecutive days or 90 days per year. If your employer skips it, they face a fine of 30–75 million VND per employee. You face deportation.
That said, there are real exemptions:
- You’re married to a Vietnamese citizen and hold a family-based TRC
- You own a stake of 3 billion VND or more in a registered Vietnamese company
- You’ve been sent for an internal transfer or short-term expert role lasting under 30 days
- You work fully remotely for a foreign employer — that’s a different visa category (DTV), not a work permit situation
For everyone else — IT contractors, English teachers, marketing managers, operations staff at local companies — there’s no workaround.
Documents to Prepare Before You Land
This is where most people get tripped up. The document list isn’t long, but the legalization requirements are strict:
- Passport — scans of all pages including current visa
- University diploma — with apostille stamp and a notarized Vietnamese translation
- Criminal background check — issued within the last 6 months, with apostille and Vietnamese translation
- Medical certificate — from a licensed Vietnamese clinic only (your home-country certificate won’t be accepted). Takes one day, costs 800,000–1,500,000 VND in Da Nang or Hanoi
- Signed employment contract with your Vietnamese employer
- 2–4 passport photos, 4×6 cm, white background
The apostille on your diploma and background check must be done in your home country — Vietnam cannot apostille foreign documents. If you arrive without it, you’re either flying back or waiting 2–3 weeks for a courier service through your embassy, which adds another $150+ to the bill.
Qualification: What Vietnam Actually Checks
Vietnam doesn’t grant work permits across the board. Under Decree 152/2020, you need to fit one of four categories:
- Manager/Director — degree plus 3 years in an equivalent management role
- Expert/Specialist — bachelor’s degree plus 3 years of relevant experience in the same field
- Technical worker — vocational training of at least 1 year plus 3 years of hands-on practice
- Skilled worker — certified qualification in a recognized trade
The field match matters. If your degree is in Economics and you’re being hired as a software engineer, the application will be rejected for mismatch. The workaround is demonstrating field-relevant experience through course certificates, past employer references, or a portfolio — but this is case-by-case, not guaranteed.
The Application Process, Step by Step
Once documents are in order, the process has two phases:
- Job Approval — your employer submits a request to the Department of Labor (DOLISA) confirming the position needs a foreign worker. This takes up to 15 working days.
- Work Permit Application — after approval, the full document package is submitted. Decision within 5 working days.
Total: roughly 20 working days in Da Nang, slightly faster in Ho Chi Minh City, slower in smaller provinces. If anything is wrong with your documents, the package comes back without a set deadline — meaning you restart the clock.
Government fee: 600,000 VND (~$24) for first issuance, 450,000 VND for renewal. If your employer isn’t handling this in-house, agencies in Da Nang charge 8–15 million VND for the full service — translation, legalization coordination, DOLISA liaison, and submission. Budget 10 million VND upward if you’re doing it without employer support.
Work Permit and TRC: They Go Together
The work permit gives you the right to work in Vietnam. It does not give you the right to stay. To avoid quarterly visa runs, you apply for a Temporary Residence Card (TRC) on the basis of your work permit. The TRC is issued for the same duration — typically 2 years — and lets you enter and exit Vietnam without a visa.
TRC application goes through the Immigration Department, takes 5–7 working days after you have the work permit in hand, and costs 145,000 VND. One critical detail: the TRC is tied to your employer. If you resign, the card becomes void. You have 10 days to either sign with a new employer or leave the country.
If Your Application Gets Rejected
The most common rejection reasons in 2025: degree field doesn’t match the job title, background check expired (over 6 months old), medical certificate from a non-Vietnamese clinic, missing apostille on the diploma. The rejection letter comes in Vietnamese with a specific reference to the violated article of Decree 152 — you’ll need a translator or a savvy HR contact.
You can appeal within 30 days, but resubmitting with corrected documents is usually faster. A second rejection creates a flag in the system that makes future applications harder. First submission should be clean — either through an agency that has done this 50+ times or through an employer HR team with proven track record.
If you’re preparing a contract in Vietnam and want to get the document sequence right the first time, our team at Vietnam Samurai answers DMs — write test and I’ll point you to the right starting step. For visa questions specifically — the Telegram bot covers e-visa, renewals, and work permit paths. ← Back to Blog