Vietnam rewrote its work permit rules on August 7, 2025, when Decree 219/2025/ND-CP took effect. The headline change: processing time for a complete application dropped from roughly 36 days to 10 working days, the tax-free short-term exemption became a clean 90-days-a-year rule, and the old agency that used to issue permits - DOLISA - no longer exists in its old form. If you’re an employer or a foreigner planning to work in Vietnam in 2026, the process is faster but the paperwork and the office you file it with both changed.
I’ve lived in Da Nang for years and help people through the visa and long-stay side of moving to Vietnam, so I read the decree the week it dropped and cross-checked it against what employers here were actually filing. Here’s what changed, what didn’t, and where people are getting tripped up.
What Did Decree 219/2025 Actually Change for Vietnam Work Permits?
Decree 219/2025/ND-CP replaced Decree 152/2020 (as amended by Decree 70/2023) on August 7, 2025. The single biggest structural change: the old two-step process - get labor demand approval first, then apply for the permit - is now one combined filing (Form No. 03). That’s what took the timeline from around 36 calendar days down to 10 working days.
If you filed before August 7, 2025, your application is still processed under the old rules even if the decision lands after that date, and permits already issued stay valid until their original expiry - nobody needs to re-file just because the law changed.
| Before Decree 219/2025 | After Decree 219/2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Steps | Labor demand approval, then permit application | One combined filing (Form 03) |
| Processing time | ~36 calendar days total | 10 working days |
| Exemption categories | 9 | Expanded to include intra-company transfers, finance/tech roles, journalists, students, and more |
| Short-term exemption | Under 30 days per visit, max 3 visits/year | Under 90 cumulative days/year, any number of entries |
| Expert experience requirement | Degree + 3 years’ experience | Degree + 2 years’ experience |
| Issuing authority | Provincial DOLISA | Provincial People’s Committee |
How Long Does It Take to Get a Vietnam Work Permit in 2026?
A complete work permit dossier is processed in 10 working days from the date the provincial authority receives it. If the application gets rejected, the authority now has to respond in writing within 3 working days instead of leaving you guessing.
That 10-day figure only applies once your paperwork is complete. Health certificates, criminal record checks, and any foreign-issued documents that need consular legalization and Vietnamese translation still take their own time to gather beforehand - budget 2-4 weeks for document prep on top of the 10 working days if any of your paperwork is coming from overseas, and keep your own visa status covered through that stretch with our Vietnam visa and long-stay services.
Who Is Exempt From Needing a Work Permit in 2026?
Foreigners working in Vietnam for a cumulative total under 90 days in a calendar year (January 1 to December 31) don’t need a work permit, regardless of how many separate trips that adds up to. That replaces the old rule of under 30 days per visit with a hard cap of 3 visits a year - the new version counts total days, not trips.
There’s a catch: your employer has to notify the provincial authority at least 3 working days before you start working, even under the exemption. Decree 219 also expanded the exemption list from 9 to 15 categories, adding intra-company transfers within 11 WTO-committed service sectors (12+ months with the parent company required), roles in finance, science-technology, and national digital transformation priority fields, plus journalists, students, and capital-contributing company owners. If you’re not sure which category you fall into, that’s worth checking before you assume you’re covered - a wrong assumption here is the fastest way to end up working illegally without realizing it.
What Changed for “Experts” Applying for a Work Permit?
The experience requirement for the “expert” (chuyên gia) classification dropped from a university degree plus 3 years of relevant work experience to a degree plus 2 years. That one change opens the expert category to a noticeably younger pool of applicants - mid-career professionals who previously fell just short on the years-of-experience line.
Manager, executive, and technical-worker categories weren’t touched by this change; the experience cut applies specifically to the expert tier, which is also the category most remote-adjacent hires and specialists get classified under.
Who Issues Work Permits Now That DOLISA Is Gone?
Provincial People’s Committees now issue, renew, and revoke work permits, based on where the employing company, branch, or representative office is headquartered. The old issuing body, DOLISA (the provincial labor department), was dissolved on March 1, 2025, when Vietnam merged the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) into the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA).
That’s separate from - but overlapped with - Vietnam’s bigger administrative shake-up: on July 1, 2025, the country abolished district-level government and merged its 63 provinces and cities into 34. If your employer’s registered address sat in a province that got merged or renamed, the office that used to handle your paperwork may not be the one handling it now. Employers relocating a permit-holder to work in a different province also have to notify the new local authority at least 3 working days ahead of the move.
How Do You Apply for a Vietnam Work Permit? (Step by Step)
- Confirm you actually need one - check the 90-day exemption and the 15 exemption categories first.
- Gather your documents: health certificate (issued within 12 months), criminal record certificate (issued within 6 months), two 4x6cm photos, proof of employment, and qualification documents proving your manager/expert/technical-worker status.
- Get foreign-issued documents consular-legalized and translated into Vietnamese - this step alone can take longer than the permit processing itself.
- Submit the combined Form No. 03 dossier to the Provincial People’s Committee where your employer is registered.
- Wait for the 10-working-day processing window (3 working days for a rejection notice, if it comes to that).
- Once approved, use the work permit to apply for your Temporary Residence Card (TRC) - it can’t exceed the work permit’s validity, and it needs to expire at least 30 days before your passport does.
What Happens If You Work Without a Valid Permit?
A foreigner caught working without a valid work permit faces a fine of 15-25 million VND (roughly $625-1,040) plus deportation as a supplementary penalty. An expired permit is treated exactly the same as never having had one - there’s no grace period.
Employers face their own scale of fines based on headcount: 30-45 million VND for 1-10 workers without valid permits, 45-60 million for 11-20, and 60-75 million for 21 or more, doubled again if the employer is a company rather than an individual. This is where I usually get pulled in indirectly - someone’s work permit stalls, their existing visa is about to expire, and they need a legal way to stay in the country while the paperwork clears. I handle visa runs and e-visa renewals out of Da Nang, same-day border crossing included, so if you’re stuck bridging a gap while HR sorts out the permit side, message me on Telegram and I’ll walk you through the options.
What Mistakes Do People Make Applying Under the New Rules?
The most common one I’ve seen: assuming the process is identical to pre-August 2025 and mailing paperwork to the old DOLISA office, which no longer exists under that name in most provinces. The second: treating the 90-day exemption as automatic and skipping the 3-working-day advance notification, which technically puts the employer out of compliance even though the worker never needed a permit.
A third: waiting until the work permit clears before starting the TRC application. Since the TRC’s validity is capped by the work permit’s remaining validity, starting late just shortens your card for no reason - file for both back to back.
Vietnam’s long-stay maze doesn’t stop at the work permit. If you’re weighing a work permit against a Temporary Residence Card path or an investor visa, I broke down all three routes here, and once your permit clears, here’s the TRC application walkthrough. If you’re setting up a company to sponsor your own permit, company registration costs in 2026 are here, and Vietnam’s 183-day tax residency rule is worth reading before your first payroll cycle.
I’m not the person who files your work permit paperwork - that’s an immigration lawyer or your employer’s HR - but if the visa side gets messy while you wait (permit stuck, visa expiring, need a bridge), that’s exactly what I do, and it’s usually a same-day fix rather than a week of waiting. Check the current process on danangvisarun.com, message me on Telegram with your dates, or reach out on WhatsApp if that’s easier - either way I’ll tell you honestly whether a visa run or a straight extension makes more sense for your situation.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a work permit if I only work in Vietnam a few weeks a year? Not if your total time working in Vietnam stays under 90 cumulative days in the calendar year - but your employer still has to notify the provincial authority 3 working days before you start, even under the exemption.
Is DOLISA still the agency that issues Vietnam work permits? No. DOLISA was dissolved into the Ministry of Home Affairs on March 1, 2025. Provincial People’s Committees now issue, renew, and revoke work permits and exemption certificates.
Can I renew a Vietnam work permit more than once? No - a work permit is valid for up to 2 years and can be renewed only once, for up to another 2 years. After that, you need a fresh application rather than a renewal.
Does my Temporary Residence Card expire when my work permit does? Your TRC can’t run longer than your work permit’s validity, and it must also expire at least 30 days before your passport does - whichever cap is shorter wins.
Did the July 2025 province mergers change where I file a work permit application? Possibly. Vietnam abolished districts and merged 63 provinces into 34 on July 1, 2025. If your employer’s registered address was in a province that got merged, check with the new Provincial People’s Committee before assuming the old office still handles filings.
What happens if my work permit expires while I’m still employed in Vietnam? You’re treated as if you never had a permit - a 15-25 million VND fine plus deportation risk applies with no grace period, so renewal paperwork needs to start well before the 2-year clock runs out.