Vietnam Work Permit, Done for You

A Vietnam work permit is the document that legally authorises a foreigner to work for an employer in the country. Without it, you are working on the wrong status, your employer is exposed, and the temporary residence card that lets you settle long-term has nothing to stand on. It is the first domino in the chain, so getting it right matters more than getting it fast.

Crucially, you cannot sponsor your own work permit. The application is built around a Vietnamese employer who needs to demonstrate it is hiring you for a genuine role. We sit between you and the process: confirming the route, preparing the file, and coordinating with your employer so the paperwork holds together the first time you submit.

Who actually needs a work permit

Most foreign professionals taking up paid employment with a company in Vietnam need a work permit. A handful of narrow exemption categories exist, and people who qualify for an exemption still usually need a formal certificate confirming it rather than simply skipping the step.

The honest answer for almost everyone moving to Hanoi for a job is: assume you need one until your specific situation is checked. We assess your role, your contract, and your employer up front so you know which path applies before any document is collected or any fee is spent.

• Foreigners on a local employment contract with a Vietnamese company
• Intra-company transferees and seconded staff from an overseas head office
• Specialists, managers, and technical experts assigned to a Vietnamese entity
• People who may qualify for an exemption but still need a confirmation certificate

What the Vietnam work permit requirements really involve

The work permit requirements are document-heavy, and this is where most applications stall. You generally need proof of your qualifications, evidence of relevant experience, a criminal record check, and a Vietnam-recognised health check, all tied to a defined job position the employer has justified.

Foreign documents almost never travel as-is. Your degree and police check typically need to be notarised, legalised or apostilled in their country of origin, then consular-legalised and officially translated into Vietnamese. A document that was perfectly valid back home can be rejected here purely because the legalisation chain was skipped. We map exactly which of your documents need which treatment, in what order, so nothing has to be re-done from scratch.

• Qualifications proving you match the role (degree, professional certificates)
• Evidence of relevant work experience for specialist and manager roles
• A clean criminal record / police check, suitably legalised
• A health check accepted by Vietnamese authorities
• Notarised, consular-legalised, and Vietnamese-translated copies throughout

How the process runs, step by step

Behind the scenes the application moves through a sequence with the labour authority rather than a single counter visit. The employer first registers the need to use foreign labour for the position, then the full application is filed, reviewed, and, if everything is in order, the work permit is issued. Each stage has its own paperwork and its own way of going wrong.

We project-manage that sequence end to end. We tell you in plain language what each step needs from you, chase the pieces that depend on your employer, and keep the file moving so it does not lapse halfway through. You are not left guessing whether something has been submitted, accepted, or quietly stalled.

• Registering the foreign-labour-use position with the authority
• Assembling and legalising the full document file
• Filing the application and responding to any queries
• Collecting the issued work permit and confirming its validity dates

Why work permit applications get refused

Refusals are rarely about you personally and almost always about the file. The common culprits are documents that were never properly legalised, translations that do not match the source, a job title or qualification that does not line up with the registered position, or an expired health or police check by the time the application is reviewed.

Because we catch these before submission, the application that goes in is the one designed to be approved, not a draft you find out is wrong weeks later. Where a genuine gap exists, we flag it early so it can be fixed rather than discovered at the worst possible moment.

From work permit to residence card

A work permit is also your gateway to settling here. Once it is issued, it becomes the basis for a temporary residence card (TRC): the multi-year document that ends the cycle of short visas and border runs. Treating the two as one chain, rather than two separate errands, saves duplicated paperwork and lost time.

We run the work-permit and TRC steps together so the second application is ready to move the moment the first is approved, and so the version of your story that the authorities see stays consistent across both.