I’m a Korean medical doctor and my wife is Vietnamese. We intend to work and live in Vietnam and I wish to find a job here. So, what are the conditions for me to practice my profession in Vietnam?
First of all, you must meet the conditions specified in Article 19 of the 2023 Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (the Law), i.e., (i) possessing a valid practicing license; (ii) having registered to practice; (iii) satisfying the requirements on language use in medical examination and treatment; and (iv) being physically fit to practice as prescribed by the Minister of Health.
In addition, you must not fall into one of the cases of being banned from practicing medical examination and treatment, including (i) being examined for penal liability for violations related to expertise; (ii) currently serving a suspended sentence or non-custodial reform sentence for violations related to expertise; (iii) being in the probation period after being sentenced to imprisonment for violations related to expertise and eligible for early conditional release; (iv) currently serving a prison sentence or being subject to the administrative handling measure of being confined to a compulsory education institution or a compulsory drug rehabilitation establishment; (v) being banned from medical examination and treatment practice under a court’s legally effective criminal judgment or restricted from performing medical examination and treatment activities under a competent agency’s decision; and (vi) having lost civil act capacity or having difficulties in cognition or behavior control or having civil act capacity restricted.
In your case, your practicing license is not granted in Vietnam but it will be recognized by the local authority if it:
- Is recognized under a treaty to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party or an international agreement to which Vietnam is a signatory; is granted by a foreign authority that has been evaluated by the Ministry of Health for recognition;
- Remains valid at the time of request for recognition; and,
- Contains information about the professional title.
Please note that the professional title stated in your practicing license must be equivalent to the professional title you are going to take in Vietnam.
To have your practicing license recognized, you will have to prepare and send a dossier of request for recognition of the practicing license to the Ministry of Health, which must comprise a request for recognition of the practicing license and a valid copy of the granted practicing license.
Within 30 days after receiving the dossier, the Ministry of Health will issue a written reply on recognition or refusal of recognition of your practicing license. In case it is necessary to verify your overseas training, the time limit for recognition of the practicing license is 30 days from the date of issuance of verification results.
Regarding practice registration, as per Article 29 of Decree 96/2023/ND-CP (Decree 96), detailing a number of articles of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, the health establishment where you work will be responsible for your practice registration.
The practice registration must contain (i) your full name and number of the practicing license; (ii) your professional title and position; (iii) place of practice, including name and address of the medical examination and treatment establishment where the practice is registered; (iv) your duration of practice; and (v) your registered language.- (VLLF)
