Temporary Residence Card in Vietnam

If a foreigner have been sponsored work permit in Vietnam to work or he/she decides to set up a company in Vietnam, he/she could be granted temporary residence card in Vietnam to live in Vietnam instead of applying and re-newing business or travel visas every three months.

Procedures to prepare for temporary residence card in Vietnam

Subjects to be granted temporary residence card in Vietnam:

1.Members of foreign representative agencies and their accompanying relatives (father, mother, wife, husband, children under 18 years old).

2.Foreigners who work with the Institute of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the Supreme People’s Court, the ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies attached to the Government and People’s Committees of provinces and cities directly under the Central Government and the Central offices of mass organizations, mass organizations.

3.Foreigners who work in projects already approved by competent state agencies licensed in Vietnam.

4.Foreigners who work with businesses in Vietnam has the work permit valued more than 01 year.

5.Persons on the payroll of foreign representative offices and branches of economic organization, culture and other professional organizations of foreign non-governmental organizations based in Vietnam.

6.Foreigners staying in Vietnam for other purposes.

The dossiers for application of temporary residence card in Vietnam:

1.A written request of agencies, organizations and individuals offering, guarantee and propose for temporary residence card;

2.01 declaration of information of foreigners who apply for temporary residence, with photos and sealed by the agency or organization: A written request for temporary residence card (Form N7A); a declaration about Foreigners applying for temporary resident card (Form N7B)

3.02 3 x4 cm size photographs;

4.01 copies of passport, valid visa, immigration cards (bring original for comparison);

5.01 copies or photo (bring the original for comparison) proof of purpose to stay in Vietnam.

As the case requires appropriate documents: investment licenses, permits the establishment of enterprises, work permit in Vietnam, certificate of board members and permits the establishment of representative offices, marriage/birth registration.

Implementing agencies for temporary residence card in Vietnam:

Immigration management Department, Police provinces and cities directly under the Central Government.

Implementation time for temporary residence card in Vietnam:

05 to 07 days;

How immigration and employment lawyers in Vietnam could help?

It takes time to prepare the documents in the correct ways. We help the client saves time and cost by providing professional advice and representation. ANT Lawyers law firm is a law firm in Vietnam with offices in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh city. Our immigration and employment lawyers in Vietnam help the client comply with the laws while doing business in Vietnam.

Cre:https://antlawyers.vn/library/temporary-residence-card.html

The Government Continues to Exempt Visas for Western European Countries

It has been announced on May 3rd, 2018 that visa exemption policy for 5 Western European countries has been extended as part of the Vietnam immigration policy to attract tourists to Vietnam. At the same time, the Government has decided to increase the exemption period from one year to three years.

Accordingly, the Government has a high consensus and the Prime Minister has decided to continue the visa exemption for five Western European countries, including England, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. As previous regulation, the visa exemption will be expired at the end of June 2018. The exemption period has also increased from one year to three years.

Visa policy is considered to be an extension of the tourism industry because Vietnam is a country has strict visa policies, with only visa exemption for citizens of 24 countries, much less than other countries in the region.

For example, Indonesia exempts visas from 168 countries, Malaysia 162 countries, Singapore or the Philippines 159 countries, Thailand 57 countries. Besides that, these countries apply the policy of issuing visas at the border and electronic visas.

Western Europe is considered a high-paying group. Statistics show that the first visa exemption year (2015) has 720 thousand guests. In 2016, the number of visitors increased 16%, turnover reached 202 million.

In 2017, Western European visitors reached 1.5 million people, contributing to the record of the first-time Vietnam reaching 12.9 million international visitors.

According to many experts, if visas for these countries are not renewed, tourism industry of Vietnam will lose 20% of its visitors from large markets with a loss of several hundred million USD. However, losses will not stop there, as guests may form a habit of not coming to Vietnam.

This new immigration regulation will start from July 1st, 2018.

Cre:https://antlawyers.vn/library/the-government-continues-to-exempt-visas-for-western-european-countries.html

Renew expired visas for foreigners during the Covid-19 period

Visa is a certificate issued by a competent Vietnamese state agency, allowing foreigners to enter Vietnam for immigration for a certain period of time depending on specific case. To be granted a visa, a foreigner must meet the conditions specified in the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam 2014, such as: having a passport or valid international travel document, being invited or sponsored by agencies, organizations and individuals in Vietnam unless otherwise provided for by law and not in the cases where entry is not allowed. In some special cases, to be granted a visa, foreigners will have to present documents proving the purpose of entry. When the visa is about to expire, foreigners can apply for a new visa for immigration into Vietnam.

In order to be issued a new visa, the foreigners need to prepare the following documents: application form for visa issuance; papers on the foreigners need to fully guarantee (if any); valid passport, other necessary proofs related to the purpose of entry and residence. After fully preparing the above documents, the foreigner shall submit the application at working offices of the Immigration Department – the Ministry of Public Security. The immigration officer receiving the dossier will check the dossier. If it is complete and valid, then he or she will receive the application and hand over the receipt, schedule a date to return the results. If the dossier is not valid, the dossier-receiving officer shall guide the submitter to supplement the dossier for completeness.

The result would be available within 05 days from the date of receipt of complete dossiers. The person who comes to receive the result shall present the receipt, identity card or passport to the officer to check and compare, pay the fee and sign for receipt.

However, during the period of complicated developments of the Covid-19 epidemic, the Prime Minister and leaders of the Ministry of Public Security issued instructions on the implementation of “automatic extension of temporary residence” for foreigners affected by the Covid-19 epidemic. Accordingly, foreigners entering under the visa exemption category, entering with an electronic visa or a tourist visa from March 1, 2020 until now, will continue to have their temporary residence extended until the end of August 31, 2021 and can leave the country within the above time limit without having to carry out procedures for extension of temporary residence.

In case a foreigner who entered the country before March 1, 2020 if he/she can prove that he is trapped due to Covid-19, being certified by the diplomatic mission or has a written confirmation from the competent authority of Vietnam about the isolation and treatment of Covid-19 or other force majeure reasons, is also considered to apply “automatic extension of temporary residence” until the end of August 31, 2021.

Cre:https://antlawyers.vn/library/renew-expired-visas-for-foreigners-during-the-covid-19-period.html

How Foreigners Can Extend Visa in Vietnam During Covid-19?

Since the beginning of 2020, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, many foreign nationals entering Vietnam on a visa-free basis, entering with an e-visa or a tourist visa have been “stuck” in Viet Nam. In addition, Vietnam is restricting the issuance of new visas to foreign citizens to focus on the prevention of the Covid-19 epidemic, hence many foreign citizens in Vietnam cannot apply for a new visa, even though their visas have expired. Many foreigners have been concerning whether they can extend visa in Vietnam and seek help from immigration lawyers in Vietnam for such queries.

To ensure the legal residence of these foreign citizens during the time when the world is facing the Covid-19 epidemic, Vietnam has “automatically extended temporary residence” status for foreign citizens in the above categories from March 01st, 2020 to the end of December 31, 2021. Foreign nationals who are automatically extended temporary residence do not need to apply for a new visa, however, they will renew their temporary residence every month to legally reside in Vietnam.

The automatic extension of temporary residence is also applied to cases of entry before March 01st, 2020 if they can be proven to be stranded due to the Covid-19 epidemic, certification of the Diplomatic missions by Diplomatic note (with Vietnamese translation) or a written certification from a Vietnamese competent authority about being isolated, treated for Covid-19 or other force majeure reasons.

In addition, to be automatically extended temporary residence, foreign citizens eligible for automatic extension of temporary residence must make temporary residence declaration and medical declaration according to regulations. In addition, foreign citizens need to comply with and not violate the law in Vietnam.

Automatic extension of temporary residence will help foreign citizens save time, cost, and travel restrictions during the outbreak of the pandemic as complex as it is today. However, the extended period of temporary residence is normally 30 days, hence the foreigners need to carry out the procedure to extend their temporary residence every month according to the notice of the Immigration Department.

In cases of extension of temporary residence, foreign citizens are allowed to temporarily reside in Vietnam for the permitted period and exit without declaration. After exiting the country, if they wish to return to Vietnam, foreign citizens must apply for a new visa in accordance with the law.

Cre:https://antlawyers.vn/library/how-foreigners-can-extend-visa-in-vietnam-during-covid-19.html

Vietnam exempts visas for citizens of 13 countries

In order to encourage international tourists to return Vietnam after a long pause due to the pandemic and quickly adapt to the new situation of recovering the tourism industry, gradually bringing the tourism industry back to life, Vietnam Government has issued Resolution No. 32/NQ-CP visa exemption for citizens of 13 countries. This policy is an appropriate solution to bring international tourists to travel to Vietnam and also an opportunity for Vietnam’s tourism to recover.

Subjects exempt from visas are citizens of the following countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK, Northern Ireland, Russian Federation, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Belarus. Accordingly, citizens of these countries will be exempted from visas for 15 days from the date of entry, regardless of passport type, entry purpose, on the basis of meeting all conditions as prescribed by Vietnam immigration law.

Regarding the application period of the visa exemption policy, the visa exemption on entry to Vietnam for citizens of the above countries will be implemented for a period of 3 years, from March 15th, 2022 to the end of March 14th, 2025. Besides, this policy may be considered for extension in accordance with Vietnamese law.

In addition, to enter Vietnam, visitors need to comply with the requirements on epidemic prevention and control for people on entry. Specifically, visitors must have a negative test result for SARS-CoV-2, must make a medical declaration before entry and monitor their health and apply Covid-19 prevention measures.

Therefore, it can be seen that Vietnam has created favorable conditions for tourism to gradually approach international tourists in an effective and safe manner. These would gradually improve the economic environment, and bring more potential investors to Vietnam to set up company and make investment.

Cre:http://www.antconsult.vn/news/vietnam-exempts-visas-for-citizens-of-13-countries.html