What You Need To Know Bout Vietnam Long Term Stay Permits

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What You Need To Know Bout Vietnam Long Term Stay Permits

Vietnam long term stay permits

In Vietnam, there are 4 kinds of long-term stay permits, corresponding to 4 types of staying purposes: Investment, Work, Study and Family relationship. To obtain these long-term stay permits, you will need to prove your purpose accordingly:

Investment: Be a business owner or co-owners
Work: Have a job in Vietnam, be hired by a company in Vietnam and obtain a Work Permit.
Study: Go to a school in Vietnam (university)
Family relationship: Spouse or kid of a Vietnamese or a TRC holder.

All of these stay permits can be applied when you are in Vietnam. If you are not in the country right now, you need to come to Vietnam with a short-term visa first (Business visa – DN Visa) then switch to a proper stay permit corresponding to your purpose.

VISA Vs. TRC in Vietnam

There are two terms that usually come across when an ex-pat applies for a long-term stay permit in Vietnam: Visa and Temporary Resident Card (TRC). Let’s clarify the similarities and differences between these two.

Similarities: Both Visa and Temporary Resident Card (TRC) are permits that allow you to live in Vietnam legally. Vietnam Visa and TRC both are granted to people with different staying purposes and validity terms (such as Work, Investment, Study and Marriage, ect.)
Differences:

Vietnam Visa usually has shorter validity than a Vietnam TRC.

Visa can have validity from 3-6 months to a maximum of 1 year, whilst TRC has a minimum validity of 2 years and can go up to 3 years or 5 years for the large-capital investors (business owners).

TRC can help the ex-pat sponsor family members, but Visa can’t.

This is important if an expat wants to bring family over, they can apply for Dependent (TT) TRC to the expat’s TRC. A Visa holder cannot do this for other dependants.

The conditions for Visa is easier than the conditions for a TRC (for some cases).

This difference can be seen clearly for the Investor/Investment purpose. For small capital business owners, specifically whose capital is under 3 billion VND (or roughly at USD 130,000), they are not qualified for a TRC but a DT4 Visa (which is valid for a maximum of 1 year).
If the capital is between 3Billion – 50 billion VND, the person can apply for 2 years TRC. If the capital is between 50-100 billion VND, the TRC validity is 3 years. Above 100billion VND capital can help the investor obtain a TRC with 5 years of validity.

For those who stay in Vietnam for jobs, they must obtain a Work Permit before applying for either a Work Visa (valid for 1 year) or a work TRC (valid for 2 years). There are some restrictions for a number of nationalities on Visa/TRC issuance as well.

How to apply for a Vietnam long term stay permit

1. How to get a Visa or TRC as an investor

Visa and TRC for investors are called DT Visa/TRC numbered from 1 to 4. DT1, DT2, DT3 and DT4 corresponding to the size of capital investment contributed by the investor. If the capital investment is below 3 billion VND, the investor is qualify for DT4 Visa (not the DT TRC).

Requirements for DT Visa or DT TRC: To be qualified for a DT Visa or DT TRC, the person must be an owner or co-owner of a company established in Vietnam. The name of the person will be printed on the business license, which will be used to submit for DT Visa and DT TRC issuance (within 2 weeks).

Opening a foreign-owned company in Vietnam takes roughly 4-6 weeks, it can be done remotely (if the person is not in Vietnam), however, the DT Visa and DT TRC can be obtained only when the person is in Vietnam. Therefore, in this case, the investor must come to Vietnam first (with Business Visa).

2. How to Get a Work Visa or Work TRC in Vietnam

Work Visa and Work TRC in Vietnam are granted to those who are under an employment contract with an entity in Vietnam. To be qualified for this stay permit, you need to get a Vietnam Work Permit and have a company or organization in Vietnam being your work sponsor.

The Work Permit in Vietnam is actually obtained by the entity itself for the employees. Upon the success of the Work Permit, the application for Work Visa or Work TRC will start. The Visa and TRC will be given correspondingly to the validity of the Work Permit and the passport.
If you do not have a full-time job in Vietnam, you can consider using an EOR company (Employer of Record) as a sponsor.

At VNBG, we help provide solutions from business incorporation at the lowest cost possible, entry permission, stay permit, and EOR service. Contact our consultant today to place your inquiry and book a free consultation.