Pls excuse my dodgy keyboard, ' BeTTer '.
Here is the LATEST update on work permits, changed yet AGAIN.
December 2013, but affective from June 2014 and again in Jul 2014
New Work Permit (Re)Issuance Requirements in Vietnam
By Giles T. Cooper, Manfred Otto, Nhan T. Le, Duane Morris Vietnam
Work permits for foreign employees can no longer be extended; reissuance is required since November 2013. Reissuance requires almost the same amount of paperwork as an initial application, except for a criminal record and certain supporting documents. New regulations now also require approval from the Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee regarding the annual demand for foreign employees. The Peoples Committee approval must be submitted with the work permit application. However, compared to extensions in the past, a reissuance does not require a training contract with a Vietnamese national.
Work permit application according to Decree 102/2013/ND-CP
Work permit First time Reissuance
Filing period At least 15 business days before commencing work in Vietnam 5 to 15 days before current permit expires
Issuance time 10 business days 3 business days
Term Maximum 2 years Maximum 2 years
Documents - Issuance request form
- 2 photos
- Health Certificate
- People's Committee approval
- Appointment letter
- Passport
- Criminal record
- Documents certifying that the foreigner is a manager, director, technician or specialist
- Other supporting documents depending on the form of employment - Reissuance request form
- 2 photos
- Health Certificate
- People's Committee approval
- Appointment letter
- (Passport only in case of material changes or if previous permit is lost)
Labor contract To be submitted after the work permit is issued and within 5 business days after signing To be submitted after the work permit is issued and within 5 business days after signing
Work permit applications are submitted to the local Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (DOLISA). There is a tight window of only 10 days to apply for reissuance. Employers and foreigners working in Vietnam are advised to be aware of the number of days remaining on their work permits.
The maximum term of a work permit is now two years (previously three years) depending, among other factors, on the length of the labor contract, letter of appointment, and validity of the passport. The question is how the authorities view a labor contract with a foreign employee that is longer than two years. Our view is that a fixed-term expat labor contract with a term of more than 24 months and up to 36 months is not in breach of the law and therefore enforceable between the parties. However, if the work permit is not renewed after the two-year term (or less if, e.g., the employee's passport was due to expire earlier) the employee would be working illegally in Vietnam.
In addition, employers should note that labor contracts must be converted to indefinite-term contracts after two consecutive fixed-term contracts. The Labor Code does not differentiate between Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese employees in this regard, and options to evade indefinite-term contracts after this period are limited.
The new Immigration Law scheduled to take effect June 2014 is likely to expressly provide for the first time that work permits must be issued before the foreigner obtains a visa and enters Vietnam.
For further information, please contact Giles T. Cooper or Manfred Otto.
Disclaimer: This post has been prepared and published for informational purposes only and is not offered, nor should be construed, as legal advice. For more information, please see the firm's full disclaimer.
Posted by Manfred Otto @ December 16, 2013 06:40 PM ICT
11 Jul Fri 2014
Vietnam Work Permit Update: Experience Requirements to be Optional for Experts, Technicians and Teachers
Foreign experts, technicians and teachers will only have to show that they meet professional qualifications to apply for work permits, instead of also having to prove many years of working experience.
The Vietnamese Government issued Resolution No. 47/NQ-CP on 8 July 2014 (Resolution 47) to improve conditions for doing business in Vietnam. Among other changes, Resolution 47 addresses foreigners working in Vietnam. Concerned government agencies will have to amend current labor regulations, before the changes become law. However, legislative action is expected by the end of 2014.[1]
High working experience requirements under current regulations are deterring businesses from hiring qualified international personnel. Generally, under current regulations, foreign experts and teachers must have both at least a college-level degree and at least 5 years of working experience. Likewise, technicians must have at least 3 years of work experience.
Alternatively, experts can be exempted from the experience requirement, if they can produce a document to confirm that they are experts from a competent agency, organization or enterprise. (However, this requirement is ambiguous and leaves room for the authorities to arbitrarily refuse work permit applications.)
Resolution 47 provides that experts and technicians can either show that they meet specialist training qualifications or have at least 5 years of working experience. Foreign teachers can qualify with college-level degrees and must be professional teachers, but do not need any experience. ( they must joking????, but then that's probably 90% of the English teachers in VN anyway? how many ' Teachers ' do you know , who have an actual Teaching Degree?, ( that isn't 30 yrs old ).
Of course, the work permit issuing authorities will still have discretion in deciding what qualifies as professional qualification or who is a professional teacher, but Resolution 47 appears more reasonable with regard to working experience requirements. This should be good news for international businesses in Vietnam.
For further information, please contact Giles T. Cooper or Manfred Otto.
Disclaimer: This post has been prepared and published for informational purposes only and is not offered, nor should be construed, as legal advice. For more information, please see the firm's full disclaimer.
[1] With regard to work permits, Resolution 47 affects Circular No. 03/2014/TT-BLÐTBXH dated 20 January 2014 (work permit application documents); Decree No. 102/2013/NÐ-CP dated 5 September 2013 (definitions of expert and technician); Decree No. 73/2012/ND-CP dated September 26, 2012 (foreign teachers).
Posted by Manfred Otto @ July 11, 2014 04:50 PM ICT
11 Jul 2014 | Permalink | Tags: qualifications work_permit_requirement working_experience work_permit_eligibility
" English Teachers ":, beter start packing your bags soon.
Hi chris,
Wb to Expat.com.
I think it is not so serious. Many rules have been ignored for years.
TP HCM being a city with provincial powers +++ often varies national regulations as does Ha Noi. Other cities such as Hai Phong, Da Nang or Can Tho have fewer opportunities to vary the regulations.
You can't beat marrying a VNese - makes paperwork so much easier.
Hi guys,
Could you please update me on this? With regard to the 5-year experience rule, how do I actually prove this? I mean I've worked for various employers within that 5 years period back in Australia. Also, What is I'm in a management position in an English Center, would the fact that I have a bachelor degree plus TESOL certificate circumvent this 5-year experience rule?
Please advise and many thanks in advance.
Regards
Just A Guy wrote:Hi guys,
Could you please update me on this? With regard to the 5-year experience rule, how do I actually prove this? I mean I've worked for various employers within that 5 years period back in Australia. Also, What is I'm in a management position in an English Center, would the fact that I have a bachelor degree plus TESOL certificate circumvent this 5-year experience rule?
Please advise and many thanks in advance.
Regards
Until everyone around you is hurry for that, you should think about it. I don't think government knows how many expats are English teachers in VN.
I don't quite understand you there.
Just A Guy wrote:I don't quite understand you there.
I meant when many expats of this site become hurry to apply for this new rule, you should pay attention at this rule at that time. There is a new rule launched at the beginning of the year which made many expats of this site worried. I knew someone who is also an expat in hcm. His gf announced him that rule and he kept on asking me to help him for weeks but now I think he forgets it since the government forgot it too. They can be busy with this new rule and in some months they will launch another and forget this rule,..
So what is your suggestion? Should i wait out? Can i go without a work permiy for this long?
My suggestion is being patient and wait.
Vietnam looks to slacken work permit rules for foreigners
By An Dien, Thanh Nien News
HO CHI MINH CITY - Thursday, July 17, 2014 13:20 The Vietnamese government has instructed several ministries to ease their grip on foreign labor management in a gesture apparently aimed at assuaging a disgruntled corporate sector that is crying foul over a dire shortage of skilled workers.
On July 8, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung issued a resolution which, among other things, asked various ministers to alter Vietnam's new and unpopular work permit requirements.
A new decree on foreign labor that took effect last November forced employers to prove that they needed to hire foreign workers. The decree also reduced the validity of work permits for a broad category of foreign workers from three to two years--a provision that could exacerbate the shortage of skilled workers plaguing both foreign and local companies, executives and analysts say.
The decree mandated that work permit applicants have both a four-year university degree with a major in their precise employment field and five years of experience in said field. Critics have argued that this requirement ruled out a large number of foreign workers who could make valuable contributions to Vietnam's economic development.
For instance, many qualified English teachers are recent graduates of four-year university programs who do not necessarily have five years of experience teaching English, experts say.
The government eventually heeded the criticism and issued a resolution last week asking concerned ministries to amend the rules on foreign investment in the education sector to make life easier for foreign workers to obtain permits.
The most welcome change was the reversion to the prior rule of five years of related professional experience or a four year university degree, as opposed to the recent, controversial rule requiring both, Fred Burke, managing director of the Ho Chi Minh City-based law firm Baker & McKenzie (Vietnam) Ltd, told Thanh Nien News.
During a meeting between Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and the business community last month, Burke pointed out that Vietnam's existing laws would bar Bill Gates and Steve Jobs from getting work permits--drawing wide applause from the room.
New draft changes to the law would enable Bill Gates and Steve Jobs to get work permits to work for employers in Vietnam, provided they stuck to their respective areas of expertise, Burke said.
Phan Thi Hoang Hoa, CEO of Apollo Vietnam (a fully foreign-owned English language training company), said the changes are indicative of the government acknowledging the legitimate concerns of the corporate sector.
We understand that the government has to keep more jobs for locals but still, such changes are needed to allow greater mobility for skilled foreign workers, particularly in the education sector, Hoa said.
Multinationals say they invest in Vietnam due to the large labor market, low costs, and access to local and foreign markets, and some of their investments need specially-trained staff with a level of skill not immediately available in Vietnam.
Singapore and Malaysia also apply strict regulations on foreign labor, though industrial and office workers in both neighboring countries apply for specific work permits that distinguish between "workers," "technicians, "managers and "professionals."
Vietnam applies almost the same requirements across the board.
But despite the positive changes set forward in the draft laws, insiders are concerned that it may take some time for them to materialize.
Under the resolution, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked the labor and education ministries to work with each other to amend decrees on work permits and foreign investment in the education sector and send them back to him for approval.
One of our concerns is that some local authorities may not apply these adjustmentsimmediately but will wait for official amendments to the above decrees, which may take time, Burke said.
http://www.thanhniennews.com/business/v … 28715.html
There is no need to panic at all. This set of rules has almost not changed at all - just results of the English teaching are very poor.
Despite Nha Thrang possible is roamed by some 100 English teachers since several years, the students level seem to be stuck at the level of "Hi", even for those those working along he tourist mile with "advanced" English knowledge.
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