Work permits for foreigners in Vietnam are considered the highest legal basis to ensure legal conditions for foreign nationals to work legally in Vietnam. Therefore, after being granted a work permit in Vietnam, a foreigner who continues to work at the licensed unit when it expires can be renewed the work permit. Nowadays, renewal of work permits for foreigners is a matter of concern for many businesses and foreign workers in Vietnam, especially when there are many changes in regulations on renewal of Vietnamese work permits acording to Decree 152/2020/ND-CP of the Government, effective from February 15, 2021.

 

How long is the work permit renewed?

The term of a work permit is granted according to the term of one of the following cases but must not exceed 02 years:

1. Validity period of the employment contract to be signed.
2. Duration of the foreign worker’s assignment in Vietnam.
3. Duration of the contract or agreement concluded between Vietnamese and foreign partners.
4. Duration of the service contract or agreement concluded between Vietnamese and foreign partners.
5. Duration determined in the document issued by the service provider to send the foreign worker to Vietnam to negotiate the service provision.
6. Validity period in the operation license of the agency, organization or enterprise.
7. Duration determined in the document issued by the service provider to send the foreign worker to Vietnam to establish a commercial presence.
8. Duration stated in a document proving the foreign worker’s eligibility to participate in the operation of a foreign company that has established its commercial presence in Vietnam.
9. Duration stated in the acceptance of employment of foreign worker unless a report on demand for foreign workers as specified in point b clause 1 Article 4 hereof is not required.

According to Article 19 of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP, the term of a work permit may be renewed according to the term of one of the above cases, but it can only be renewed once for a maximum period of 2 years. If an employee wants to continue working at an enterprise at the same position after having expired once, he/she must apply for a new work permit.

Conditions for renewal of a work permit  

Pursuant to Article 16 of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP, in order to renew the work permit for foreigners, the following conditions must be met:

1. The remaining validity period of the work permit is at least 5 days but not exceeding 45 days.

+ 5 days is the time to process new work permit procedures.

+ 45 days is the guarantee period in case the two parties terminate the labor contract according to the Labor Code.

Note: In case if do not renew within this limit, the foreigner must apply for a new work permit according to a complicated process from the beginning. Normally, the term of the work permit will always coincide with the duration of the visa or temporary residence card that the foreigner is using. Therefore, the overdue work permit will partly cause difficulties for workers.

2. The competent authority grants an acceptance of demand for foreign workers as prescribed in Article 4 or 5 of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP.

It is necessary to apply for a letter of approval to use the employer in advance.

3. A document explaining that the foreign worker will continue in employment with the employer as specified in the concerned old work permit.

Specifically: Having documents proving that the foreign worker continues to work according to the information on the old work permit.

Renewing is a renewal of a term. Therefore, make sure that the information on the new license is the same as the information on the old license.

 

 

Dossier of application for renewal of work permit

• An application form for renewal of work permit made by the employer (No. 11/PLI)
• 02 color photos (4cm x 6cm, white background, front view, bare head, no color glasses), taken within 6 months before the submission date of application.
• The unexpired work permit: original or certified true copy.
• An acceptance of demand for foreign workers, unless it is not required: original or certified true copy.
• Certified copy of valid passport as prescribed by law.
• A fitness to work certificate in accordance with clause 2 Article 9 Decree 152/2020/ND-CP: original or certified true copy.
• Any document specified in clause 8 Article 9 Decree 152/2020/ND-CP to support that the foreign worker will continues in employment with the employer as specified in the concerned work permit.

Procedures for renewal of work permits

Similar to the procedure for applying for a new work permit, the procedure for applying for renewing of work permit for foreigners also includes two main steps as follows:

Step 1: Apply for approval of the need to use Foreign Workers

1. The employer will need to prepare the “Written explanations about changing in demand for foreign workers” (Form 02/PLI).
2. Then, at least 30 days before the expiry date of the current work permit, the employer must submit this written explanations to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs or Provincial People’s Committee that has approved the request to employ foreign workers before.
3. Within 10 working days, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs or the Provincial People’s Committee will issue a written approval of the need to employ foreign workers (Form 03/PLI).

Step 2: Medical examination for foreigners who need to renew work permits.

Step 3: Submit application for renewal of work permit

The employer submits a dossier for renewal of a work permit to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs or the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs that issued the work permit.

Step 4: Pay the work permit renewal fee: 450,000 VND

Step 5: Get a work permit from the one-stop department.

After 05 working days, the employer will receive the renewed work permit.

(*Form 11/PLI; 12/PLI; 13/PLI issued together with Decree 152/2020/ND-CP)

Legal basic

• Labor Code 2019 takes effect from November 1, 2021;
• Decree 152/2020 ND-CP detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Labor Code on foreign workers working in Vietnam.

 

It can be seen that the documents and procedures for applying for renewal a work permit renewal for foreigners are quite complicated. Therefore, if you do not know the current Vietnamese law, it will take you a lot of time to complete the entire procedure for applying for a work permit renewal. Accordingly, if the renewal procedure is not done in time, it may cause problems for employees, make it difficult to extend visas to continue to reside in Vietnam, and may be sanctioned by the labor-management agency according to regulations..

 

With a team of professional consultants and many years of experience working with domestic and foreign partners, PHAM CONSULT commits to providing high-quality services at a reasonable fee. You can rest assured and accompany PHAM CONSULT in applying for renewal of work permit for foreigners. With our effective support, the success rate of your profile is always the best.

 

To understand more about the procedure for applying for a work permit renewal for foreigners as well as related issues, please contact PHAM CONSULT – a unit specializing in providing tax consulting services, financial consulting, accounting services, preparing and paying salaries. Customers can contact us via hotline: (84-28) 3930 2487 or Facebook communication channel: http://bit.ly/phamconsult if you need support.