Decree 70/2023/ND-CP dated 18/9/2023 of the Government amending some articles of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP (“Decree 70/2023”) has been effective since the date of issuance. There have been major improvements relating to employing foreign employees in Vietnam as follows:
- To supplement 02 additional cases that are not obliged to apply for the confirmation of the needs for foreign labor employment, including (i) Licensed foreign lawyers in Vietnam and (ii) Foreign individuals marrying Vietnamese citizens and residing in Vietnam.
- To broaden the definition of “managing director”. The “managing director” now includes 02 categories which are (i) the head of branches, representative offices, or business locations of the company and (ii) an individual who leads and directly manages at least one operation of an entity, organization, enterprise and is directly managed by the head of that entity, organization, enterprise.
- To loosen one of the requirements for experts: Instead of requirements for working experience in the trained fields, experts are only required to have 03 years of working experience suitable for the intended position in Vietnam.
- To loosen one of the requirements for technical employees: Similar to the case of experts, technical employees are now only required to have 03 years of working experience suitable for the intended position in Vietnam.
- To shorten the time to perform the confirmation procedure of the needs for foreign labor employment: from at least 30 days to at least 15 days prior to the estimated employment date of foreign employees.
- To change the approval authority of the needs for foreign labor employment: from “Ministry of Labor, Invalid or Social Affairs and Provincial People’s Committee” to “Ministry of Labor, Invalid or Social Affairs or Department of Labor, Invalid or Social Affairs“.
- To expend cases exempted from the confirmation procedure of the needs for foreign labor employment: Additionally include the following cases: (i) Licensed foreign lawyers in Vietnam and (ii) Foreign individuals marrying Vietnamese citizens and residing in Vietnam; (iii) Individual entering Vietnam to perform tasks of ODA projects; (iv) Individuals licensed in communication and journalism practice in Vietnam; (v) Unpaid volunteers recognized by international organizations or diplomatic agencies in Vietnam; (vi) Foreign employees entering Vietnam for teaching and research purpose certified by the Ministry of Education and Training.
- To request recruitment announcement for Vietnamese employees to intended positions for foreign employees to be published on www.doe.gov.vn or the website of the Job Service Centre established by the provincial People’s Committee at least 15 days before the submission date of the explanation for the demand of foreign employees. (effective from 01/01/2024).
- To request a report on employees working at multiple locations for one employer.
- To expand exemption cases for Work Permit application: 02 additional cases which will be exempted from work permit application are (i) managers, managing directors at educational institutes established in Vietnam under a proposal of a foreign diplomatic mission or intergovernmental organization or under international treaties to which Vietnam is a signatory; and (ii) individuals certified by Ministry of Education and Training to act as managers, managing directors, principal, deputy principal of an educational institution established in Vietnam under a proposal of a foreign diplomatic mission or intergovernmental organizations.
- To list explicitly required documents to prove the position of managers, managing directors, experts, and technical employees.
- To introduce the electronic Work Permit.
The changes are progressive and more user-friendly in terms of Work Permit and Work Permit Exemption processes. Employers having foreign employees in Vietnam should be prepared to comply with the new regulations.
