On August 7, 2025, the Government issued Decree No. 219/2025/ND-CP Regulating the Employment of Foreign Workers in Vietnam (“Decree 219”), which replaces the previous provisions of Decree No. 152/2020/ND-CP and the amending Decree No. 70/2023/ND-CP. In general, Decree 219 contains relevant provisions to attract highly qualified professionals in priority sectors and provide clear guidance to both employers and employees. The key provisions are as follows:
- Simplified Work Permit Application Procedure: Decree 219 consolidates the two-step process of (i) applying for a permit to require foreign workers and (ii) applying for a work permit into a single, consolidated procedure. This significantly reduces administrative burdens. The total statutory processing time for a work permit application is now 10 working days, a significant reduction compared to the statutory period of approximately 20 working days for the two steps prior to reunification.
- Expanded cases for exemption from the work permit requirement: The new decree expands the list of cases in which foreign workers do not require a work permit. The following are the nominal cases:
- High-income investors: Owners or shareholders of limited liability companies, as well as chairmen or members of the board of directors of joint-stock companies with a capital contribution of at least three billion VND.
- Priority Sector Professionals: Foreign experts and workers who have been certified by the relevant ministries or people’s committees of the respective province as working in strategic areas such as finance, science and technology, innovation, and national digital transformation.
- Short-term assignments: Foreign executives, managers, experts, or technicians entering Vietnam for short-term assignments of less than 90 days per calendar year may now be eligible for exemption from the work permit requirement.
- Relaxation of requirements for “experts” and “technicians”: The conditions for qualifying as The requirements for qualifying as an “expert” or “technician” have been relaxed as follows:
- Experts: A bachelor’s degree (or higher) and at least two years of relevant work experience are now required (previously three years). Only one year of work experience is required for employees in priority development areas.
- Technicians: The required relevant work experience has been reduced from five years to three years.
- Decentralization of Responsibility: Responsibility for issuing, reissuing, renewing, and revoking work permits and work permit exemption certificates is now transferred to the provincial people’s committees.
- New Regulations for Work Permit Exemption Certificates: The decree introduces clear procedures for reissuing, renewing, and revoking work permit exemption certificates.
- An exemption permit may be renewed once for a maximum of two years.
- Clear reasons for revocation have been agreed upon, including conducting activities outside the approved scope or termination of the work assignment.
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For questions or further information regarding the above points, please contact Dr. Oliver Massmann at [email protected]. Dr. Oliver Massmann is the General Director of Duane Morris Vietnam LLC.
