DUANE MORRIS VIETNAM | STRATEGIC LEGAL ALERT | OCTOBER 2026
Executive Alert: Foreign Investors Must Prepare Before 5 December 2026
Vietnam is fundamentally reshaping the rules governing foreign professionals, international executives and multinational workforce mobility. For foreign investors, the changes create important opportunities – but also significant new compliance responsibilities.
On 20 October 2026, the Vietnamese Government issued Decree No. 393/2026/ND-CP, introducing a revised legal framework for foreign nationals working in Vietnam.
Effective 5 December 2026, the new decree replaces Decree No. 219/2025/ND-CP and supersedes specified provisions of Resolution No. 24/2026/NQ-CP.
The reform sends a clear message: Vietnam wants to attract international expertise, particularly in strategic technologies, artificial intelligence, research, education and innovation.
At the same time, the Government is introducing more precise eligibility requirements, revised application procedures and additional notification obligations.
The commercial consequences are immediate: multinational companies must reassess who can work in Vietnam without a permit, who requires new documentation and which existing employment or secondment arrangements may become non-compliant.
The new framework is not simply an administrative adjustment. It directly affects international investment projects, management appointments, technical assignments, corporate restructuring and the deployment of foreign personnel.
- Major Opportunity: Vietnam Expands Work Permit Exemptions
One of the most significant developments is the expansion of work permit exemption categories from 15 to 18.
The new framework provides additional pathways for international talent, including:
- Foreign experts working in designated strategic technologies and strategic technology products, together with qualifying relatives.
- Foreign professionals recruited under Vietnam’s national AI human resources development programme.
- Qualified foreign academics, professors, researchers and STEM specialists.
- Certain master’s degree and PhD holders undertaking teaching or research activities.
- Foreign nationals holding qualifying special visa-exemption cards.
These exemptions are particularly relevant to international technology companies, research institutions, universities, engineering businesses and investors establishing high-value operations in Vietnam.
Strategic opportunity: Foreign investors should no longer assume that every international specialist requires a conventional work permit.
Properly identifying an applicable exemption could reduce administrative burdens and facilitate the timely deployment of essential personnel.
However, exemption from the work permit requirement does not automatically eliminate every applicable certification, notification, immigration or employment obligation.
- Important Warning: Intra-Company Transfers Become More Restrictive
For multinational companies, one of the most consequential changes concerns intra-company transferees.
Under the previous framework, managers, executives, experts and technical workers could qualify under the relevant intra-company transfer exemption.
Decree 393 narrows this category to managers, executives and experts who have been employed by the overseas enterprise for at least 12 consecutive months.
Technical workers are no longer included in that exemption category.
Existing permits and exemption certificates issued under the previous framework remain valid until expiry, subject to the transitional provisions.
However, affected technical workers seeking to continue under the relevant expert classification will need to satisfy the applicable qualification requirements, including the specified five-year experience route where required.
Why this matters: International manufacturing, engineering, energy, infrastructure and industrial companies frequently rely on technical personnel transferred from overseas affiliates.
Companies should urgently review whether their existing technical assignments remain viable after the transitional period.
A previously compliant assignment should not be assumed to qualify automatically for renewal.
- Vietnam Creates New Opportunities for Highly Qualified Experts
Decree 393 also introduces more flexible routes for recognizing foreign experts.
Depending on the applicable category, qualifications may be established through:
- A university degree and at least two years of relevant professional experience.
- Degrees in designated strategic technologies or qualifying Government cooperation programmes.
- Certain high-performing science or technology graduates from internationally ranked universities, together with relevant experience.
- Recognized academic, research, cultural or specialist qualifications.
- At least five years of relevant professional experience under the applicable alternative route.
The experience requirement for certain executive-director classifications is also reduced from three years to two years.
These changes could benefit foreign-invested enterprises recruiting international specialists whose professional expertise does not fit traditional degree-and-experience requirements.
Strategic implication: Companies should reconsider previously difficult recruitment cases rather than relying on outdated assessments of foreign-worker eligibility.
For technology-intensive investments, the revised definitions could materially improve workforce planning.
- The 90-Day Rule: Short-Term Assignments Require Particular Attention
Decree 393 clarifies the treatment of short-term foreign assignments.
Qualifying managers, executive directors, experts and technical workers may fall within the short-term exemption where their cumulative work in Vietnam does not exceed 90 days during a calendar year.
Importantly, the calculation covers work for one or more Vietnamese employers.
The decree also establishes an important limitation: where a local employment, hiring or wage relationship arises, the short-term exemption cannot simply be relied upon in place of the applicable work permit requirements.
This creates particular risks for multinational groups that frequently send foreign specialists to Vietnam for technical support, commissioning, inspections, project management or temporary operational assignments.
Recommended action: Employers should maintain centralized records of workdays, contractual arrangements, remuneration and the identity of the Vietnamese entities receiving services.
A short assignment is not necessarily a low-risk assignment.
- New Compliance Deadlines: Employers Must Update Their Internal Procedures
The decree introduces several important procedural changes.
Recruitment advertising: For specified initial work permit applications, employers must advertise the position to Vietnamese workers at least five working days before filing. Relevant exceptions apply.
Location changes: Where a foreign worker changes work location under the same employer, notifications may be required to both the new-location authority and the original issuing authority at least three working days before the change.
Re-issuance: Changes involving relevant employer offices or operating locations can trigger re-issuance requirements for work permits or exemption certificates.
Permit extensions: Applications must be submitted within the revised window of 10 to 90 days before expiry.
New applications following extension: Where a previously extended permit is approaching expiry, a fresh application may be required within the applicable 10-to-60-working-day window.
Revocation: The decree revises revocation grounds and shortens the employer’s return deadline to 10 working days in relevant circumstances.
Digital procedures: Employers may benefit from database-linked verification of criminal records and other supporting information where the competent authorities can retrieve the relevant data.
These changes make internal coordination between HR, legal, immigration and operational departments increasingly important.
A missed notification, an incorrect worker classification or an overlooked renewal deadline can create avoidable disruption to business operations.
- Existing Permits: Transitional Protection Does Not Remove Future Risk
The new decree provides transitional arrangements for existing permits and exemption certificates.
Documents validly issued under the previous framework generally remain usable until expiry, subject to the relevant transitional rules.
Applications submitted before 5 December 2026 are generally processed under the preceding regime.
This provides welcome continuity.
However, employers should distinguish carefully between the continued validity of an existing authorization and eligibility for its subsequent extension, re-issuance or replacement.
The immediate risk is not necessarily that existing foreign employees must stop working on 5 December. The greater risk is that companies fail to prepare for the next renewal, reassignment or change of position.
- What Foreign Investors and International Employers Should Do Now
Duane Morris Vietnam recommends that companies undertake a targeted foreign-workforce compliance review before the new decree takes effect.
First – Review existing personnel. Identify every foreign employee, secondee, executive, technical specialist and short-term assignee currently working in Vietnam.
Second – Reassess exemptions. Determine whether new exemption categories create opportunities to simplify future assignments or whether previously available exemptions have narrowed.
Third – Protect technical assignments. Review intra-company transferees, especially technical workers whose existing authorizations may not qualify for renewal on the same basis.
Fourth – Revisit recruitment strategies. Assess whether the revised expert definitions create new opportunities for attracting international specialists.
Fifth – Update compliance calendars. Incorporate the new advertising, notification, re-issuance, extension and application deadlines into internal HR procedures.
Sixth – Coordinate corporate and immigration planning. Changes in company locations, branches, investment projects and operating structures should be assessed for their potential effects on foreign-worker authorizations.
Seventh – Prepare before implementation. Employers should identify documentation gaps and resolve classification issues before they become urgent operational problems.
CONCLUSION: VIETNAM IS OPENING THE DOOR TO GLOBAL TALENT – BUT FOREIGN INVESTORS MUST GET THE LEGAL STRUCTURE RIGHT
Decree 393 marks an important evolution in Vietnam’s approach to international talent and foreign investment.
The Government is making it easier for strategically important experts, researchers, technology specialists and highly qualified professionals to contribute to Vietnam’s economic development.
That is positive news for international investors seeking to establish or expand sophisticated operations in Vietnam.
But the reform also creates a critical distinction between companies that actively manage their international workforce and those that continue relying on outdated immigration and employment practices.
For foreign investors, the challenge is no longer simply obtaining a work permit. It is designing a legally sustainable workforce strategy that supports international recruitment, cross-border assignments, investment expansion and uninterrupted business operations.
The new rules should therefore be viewed not merely as a compliance obligation, but as an opportunity to reassess how international talent can most effectively be deployed in Vietnam.
Our recommendation is clear: Do not wait until a work permit expires, an international assignment is delayed or a regulatory problem arises. Review your foreign workforce arrangements now, identify the opportunities created by Decree 393 and resolve potential compliance risks before 5 December 2026.
In Vietnam’s increasingly competitive investment environment, the ability to deploy international expertise quickly, lawfully and without disruption is becoming a strategic business advantage.
About the Author
Dr. Oliver Massmann – Partner and General Director, Duane Morris Vietnam LLC
Dr. Oliver Massmann is a German attorney-at-law and international investment lawyer who has advised foreign investors and multinational corporations in Vietnam for nearly three decades.
His practice focuses on foreign direct investment, market access, corporate and M&A transactions, employment and regulatory compliance, energy, infrastructure and international business law.
He regularly advises international companies on establishing, expanding and protecting their investments in Vietnam, including complex regulatory matters affecting foreign-invested enterprises.
For further information, strategic advice or assistance with Vietnam’s new foreign-worker regulations, please contact:
Dr. Oliver Massmann – Partner and General Director – Duane Morris Vietnam LLC
Email: [email protected]
This article provides general legal information and does not constitute legal advice for any particular situation.