Foreigners who enter Vietnam to work as specialists, managers, executive officers or technical workers for less than 20 days would be exempted from work permits.
Such is one of new points of a draft decree on foreign workers in Vietnam designed by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.
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| Foreign technicians working at Dung Quat oil refinery in Quang Ngai province__Photo: Internet |
As per the draft, a foreigner wishing to be granted a work permit in Vietnam would have to satisfy a raft of conditions. Specifically, he must (i) be full 18 years of age or older and has full civil act capacity; (ii) possess suitable technical qualifications, working experience and good health; (iii) be an executive officer or a manager, specialist or technical worker; (iv) not be a person serving a penalty or not yet having his criminal records expunged or being examined for penal liability under the law of Vietnam or a foreign country; (v) have his employment approved in writing by a competent state agency; and (vi) not enter Vietnam on a tourist visa, except for some special cases permitted by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs on a case-by-case basis.
A granted work permit would be valid for at most two years and could be extended once for another two years. At least five days but no more than 45 days before the work permit of a foreign worker expires, his employer would have to submit a dossier of application for extension of the work permit to the provincial-level Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs that has granted the work permit.
After having his work permit extended, a foreigner working in Vietnam on a contractual basis and his employer would sign a new labor contract before the date the foreign worker is expected to resume working. The employer would have to send a certified copy of the signed contract to the authority that has extended the work permit.- (VLLF)
