Mar. 29 – Foreigners working in the country will be given until July to apply for a work permit or risk being deported based on a new draft regulation from the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

Foreign nationals who have been working in Vietnam for more than three months without a work permit will not have their visas or their temporary residence cards extended reports Thanh Nien News. The new regulation is effective beginning this July and all foreign employees with no work permit six months after the implementation of the rule will be deported back to their home countries.

The new draft regulation has made changes on foreign employment rules by adding a penalty for those found to be in violation. Foreign employees tasked to manage or operate production lines must prove they have at least five years management experience and companies violating foreign employee requirements will be meted a US$268 to US$535 fine.

Aside from the previous rule that requires foreign employees to have no criminal record, local employers (specifically construction firms and project investors) must inform local authorities of their foreign worker statistics.

Foreigners are exempted from obtaining a work permit on the following conditions: if they are members of limited firms that have two or more members; owners of one-member limited firms; board members of joint stock firms; promoters of specific services, or lawyers certified to work in the country by the Ministry of Justice.

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Obtaining a Work Permit in Vietnam