WORK PERMIT, VISA, AND TEMPORARY RESIDENCE CARD SERVICES FOR FOREIGN INVESTORS IN VIETNAM

Thuy Ngoc Law Company — Professional, Reliable, Dedicated

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1. Who Is a Foreign Investor?

Under Vietnamese Law on Investment, “a foreign investor is an individual holding foreign nationality or an organization established under foreign law that carries out investment and business activities in Vietnam.” In other words, any individual holding foreign nationality, or any legal entity established abroad, that commits capital to carry out business activities in Vietnam is regarded as a foreign investor.

In practice, foreign investors typically carry out their investment activities in one of the following forms:

• Establishing an economic organization (setting up a 100%-foreign-owned company, or a joint-venture company with a Vietnamese investor)
• Contributing capital to, purchasing shares in, or purchasing a capital contribution in an existing Vietnamese company
• Implementing an investment project (including establishing a branch or a representative office to serve the project)
• Investing under a business cooperation contract (BCC), or other forms of investment and economic organization as prescribed by the Government

An important point every foreign investor should note: having investor status — that is, having already contributed capital and having a company in Vietnam — does not automatically entitle you to reside, travel freely, or work in Vietnam. These are two separate areas of law — investment and enterprise law on one hand, and labor and immigration law on the other — and the remainder of this article, from Section 2 onward, explains how the two are connected.

2. What Are a Work Permit, a Labor Visa, and a Temporary Residence Card?

a) A work permit is a document issued by the competent Vietnamese labor authority that authorizes a foreign national to legally work in a specific position for a specific employer, for a fixed term (up to 2 years, renewable once for a further period of up to 2 years).

b) A labor visa (symbol LD1, LD2) is a type of visa that allows a foreign national to enter and stay in Vietnam for the purpose of employment. An LD1 visa is issued to a person who is exempt from the work permit requirement (and holds a work-permit-exemption confirmation); an LD2 visa is issued to a person who already holds a work permit. A labor visa may be granted for a term of up to 2 years.

c) A temporary residence card (TRC) is a document issued by the immigration authority that permits a foreign national to reside in Vietnam for a fixed period, in lieu of a visa. During the validity of the card, the holder may exit and re-enter Vietnam multiple times without applying for a new visa for each entry. For investors, the term of the TRC (symbol DT1–DT4) is directly linked to the actual amount of capital contributed to the company in Vietnam.

These three documents have a foundation–intermediate–long-term relationship with one another: the work permit (or investor status) is the foundation; the visa is the intermediate step enabling short-term entry and stay; and the temporary residence card is the ultimate outcome, allowing stable, long-term residence.

3. Do Foreign Investors Need To Apply for a Work Permit, Labor Visa, and Temporary Residence Card?

a) In which cases is this required?

The answer depends on whether the investor is directly working, managing, or operating the company, and on the amount of capital contributed:

• Investors contributing VND 3 billion or more, as owner or capital-contributing member of a limited liability company (or as a member of the Board of Directors of a joint-stock company): exempt from the work permit requirement, but still required to obtain a work-permit-exemption confirmation if directly working at the company (for example, holding the title of director or general director). At the same time, the investor applies for the DT visa corresponding to the capital contributed, and may apply for a TRC if eligible.
• Investors contributing less than VND 3 billion who nonetheless work or manage the company directly: generally required to obtain a work permit as an ordinary foreign manager/expert, and subsequently apply for an LD2 visa.
• Investors who are purely passive (not working directly, not holding a managerial title, and not regularly present at the company): do not need a work permit, and only need to apply for a DT visa matching their capital contribution in order to enter and stay, or to apply for a TRC if they wish to reside long term.

b) Is it a violation not to apply? What are the penalties?

Yes. If an investor falls within a category required to obtain a work permit (or a work-permit-exemption confirmation) but works in Vietnam without doing so, this constitutes a violation of labor law and may be penalized under Decree No. 283/2026/ND-CP (effective from September 10, 2026, replacing Decree No. 12/2022/ND-CP):

• For the employer (the company): a fine of VND 30,000,000 to VND 45,000,000 for employing 1 to 10 foreign workers without a work permit or a work-permit-exemption confirmation; VND 45,000,000 to VND 60,000,000 for violations involving 11 to 20 workers; and VND 60,000,000 to VND 75,000,000 for violations involving 21 workers or more.
• For the foreign worker personally (including an investor who works directly without valid documentation): a monetary fine as prescribed, and possibly the additional penalty of deportation from Vietnam.
• Beyond the monetary fine and the risk of deportation, working without a valid work permit carries a number of other consequences: the company becomes more likely to be subject to frequent inspections; its reputation with partners and banks may suffer; the investor's own future visa or TRC applications may become more difficult; and in many cases, labor contracts and transactions entered into in the investor's name during the period of non-compliance may have their validity called into question.

Therefore, although the law provides certain cases in which investors are exempt from the work permit requirement, investors still need to determine precisely whether they qualify for that exemption — and if so, they must still complete the procedure to obtain a work-permit-exemption confirmation, rather than assuming that all paperwork requirements are automatically waived.

4. Thuy Ngoc Law's Work Permit, Visa & TRC Services

To help foreign investors avoid the difficulties and penalty risks described above, Thuy Ngoc Law Company provides a full-service legal package covering work permits, visas, and temporary residence cards. The specific work Thuy Ngoc Law carries out includes:

• Providing legal advice on whether the investor is required to obtain a work permit or is exempt, based on the actual capital contributed and the investor's role at the company
• Advising on the appropriate visa type (DT1–DT4, or LD1, LD2) and the corresponding TRC term for the investor's specific situation
• Preparing and reviewing the complete dossier: documents evidencing capital contribution, corporate records, health-check certificates, judicial record certificates, degrees, and professional certifications
• Guiding and assisting with consular legalization and certified translation of documents issued abroad
• Acting as authorized representative to apply for a work-permit-exemption confirmation, or for a work permit where the investor does not yet qualify for the exemption
• Applying for the appropriate labor visa (LD1, LD2) or investor visa (DT1–DT4)
• Applying for and obtaining the temporary residence card for the investor and any accompanying family members
• Tracking and managing expiration dates, and handling renewals or reissuance whenever there are changes (a new passport, a change of title, a change in the capital-contribution ratio)
• Coordinating with Thuy Ngoc Law's corporate and investment advisory team to ensure that the investor's residence dossier remains consistent with the company's legal records

5. Documents Clients Need To Prepare

Depending on whether the investor needs a work permit, only a visa, or all three documents, the specific list of required documents will vary. Below is the document checklist Thuy Ngoc Law typically requests from clients, organized by document type:

5.1. Documents for the work permit (or work-permit-exemption confirmation)

• Valid passport (certified copy)
• Health-check certificate issued by a qualified medical facility, valid within the past 12 months
• Judicial record certificate valid within the past 6 months (issued by the competent authority of the country of residence or of Vietnam, depending on where the applicant resided before entering Vietnam)
• Degrees, professional certifications, or documents evidencing work experience appropriate to the position of manager/expert/technician (applicable to investors who work or manage the company directly and do not yet qualify for the work-permit exemption)
• For a work-permit-exemption confirmation: documents evidencing status as owner/capital-contributing member of a limited liability company, or as a member of the Board of Directors of a joint-stock company, with a capital contribution of VND 3 billion or more (Enterprise Registration Certificate, capital-contribution confirmation, capital-transfer remittance records)
• 02 passport-style photos (4x6 cm, white background, taken within the past 6 months)

Documents issued abroad (degrees, judicial record certificates, etc.) must be consularly legalized, then translated into Vietnamese and notarized

5.2. Documents for the labor visa (or investor visa)

• Original valid passport (with at least 6 months' validity remaining from the intended date of entry)
• Work permit or work-permit-exemption confirmation (original or certified copy) — for a labor visa (LD1, LD2)
• Documents evidencing the actual capital contributed to the company in Vietnam (Enterprise Registration Certificate showing the capital contribution, capital-transfer remittance records) — for an investor visa (DT1–DT4)
• 02 passport-style photos as required (4x6 cm, white background)

5.3. Documents for the temporary residence card

• Original valid passport, with a remaining validity of at least 30 days longer than the requested TRC term
• Valid work permit or work-permit-exemption confirmation — for a TRC under the labor category (symbol LD)
• Documents evidencing the actual capital contribution and the Enterprise Registration Certificate — for a TRC under the investor category (symbol DT)
• Documents evidencing lawful accommodation in Vietnam (lease agreement, property documents) and confirmation of temporary residence registration with the local police
• 02 passport-style photos as required (4x6 cm, white background)
• For accompanying family members (spouse, children): documents evidencing the family relationship (marriage certificate, birth certificate, etc.), consularly legalized and translated with notarization

Thuy Ngoc Law will review the dossier from the very first consultation to determine precisely the documents required for each specific case, avoiding situations where clients must supplement documents multiple times during the review process.

6. Process

Thuy Ngoc Law carries out this service following a 5-step process, moving from the foundation (investment registration) to the final outcome (the temporary residence card):

Step 1: The investor establishes a company in Vietnam

This is the foundational step: the investor determines the form of investment (establishing a new company, or contributing capital to/purchasing shares in an existing company), and prepares the investment registration and enterprise registration dossier. Thuy Ngoc Law provides full-service legal support for company establishment or for amending enterprise registration to record the foreign investor's participation.

Step 2: The investor contributes capital

Once the company has been established and a capital account has been opened, the investor transfers the actual capital contribution into that account in accordance with the schedule and amount committed in the Investment Registration Certificate/Enterprise Registration Certificate. This is the single most important basis for determining the investor's DT visa category and the TRC term the investor may be granted in the subsequent steps.

Step 3: The investor applies for a work permit

If the investor works or manages the company directly, Thuy Ngoc Law prepares and submits the application for a work permit (where the investor does not yet qualify for the exemption) or for a work-permit-exemption confirmation (where the investor has already contributed VND 3 billion or more). If the investor is purely a passive capital contributor and does not work at the company directly, this step may be skipped.

Step 4: The investor applies for a labor visa (or investor visa)

On the basis of the work permit/exemption confirmation obtained in Step 3 (or, for an investor who does not work directly, on the basis of the capital contribution recorded in Step 2), Thuy Ngoc Law carries out the procedure to obtain the appropriate labor visa (LD1, LD2) or investor visa (DT1–DT4) for the specific case.

Step 5: The investor applies for a temporary residence card

Once a valid visa is in place and the passport-validity and residence-dossier requirements are met, Thuy Ngoc Law carries out the procedure to obtain a TRC with the corresponding term: up to 2 years for a labor-category TRC; and up to 3, 5, or 10 years for an investor-category TRC, depending on the amount of capital contributed. Thuy Ngoc Law hands over the TRC to the investor and schedules tracking of renewal deadlines.

Note: depending on the actual circumstances (for example, where the investor needs to enter Vietnam early to survey the market or sign documents before capital contribution is finalized), Thuy Ngoc Law can also advise on a suitable temporary entry arrangement while the steps above are being completed, so as not to delay the overall progress of the investment project.

7. Processing Time and Service Fees

The time required for each step depends on the type of dossier, how complete the documents are, and the competent authority handling the application:

• Company establishment/investment registration: within the statutory time limit set by the business registration authority, typically a few working weeks if the dossier is complete.
• Work permit/exemption confirmation: typically issued within approximately 15 working days from the date a complete, valid dossier is submitted.
• Labor visa/investor visa: processed within the separate timeframe set by the immigration authority, immediately after the foundational status (work permit or capital contribution) has been established.
• Temporary residence card: processed once the visa and the residence dossier are complete and valid.

Thuy Ngoc Law's service fee is determined based on the actual scope of work — for example, whether the investor needs only a visa or the full package from company establishment through to the TRC; whether documents require consular legalization abroad; and whether accompanying family members are included. Contact Thuy Ngoc Law to have your specific situation assessed and to receive a transparent quotation suited to the scale of your investment.

8. Reasons To Choose Thuy Ngoc Law's Services

• Thuy Ngoc Law Company is a licensed legal-practice organization established and registered to operate under the Law on Lawyers, with its professional work directly overseen by its managing lawyer — not an intermediary service without clear legal standing.
• The managing lawyer, Mr. Thuy Ngoc Thu, has more than 25 years of experience in legal services, law consultancy, accounting, tax consultancy, banking, and investment, and is directly involved in guiding the firm's more complex dossiers.
• Handles investment, capital-contribution, enterprise-registration, and residence dossiers concurrently, helping to identify early on any mismatch between the capital contribution stated on paper and the capital actually contributed, before the visa or TRC application is filed — helping to avoid dossiers being returned repeatedly.
• Practical experience with foreign-invested (FDI) investors across many industries and capital scales — from a few billion to hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong.
• A full-service ecosystem under one roof: corporate and investment legal advisory, contract drafting, company establishment, work permits, visas, and temporary residence cards — investors do not need to work with multiple providers for the same project.
• Transparent service fees that qualify as deductible expenses for corporate income tax purposes; Thuy Ngoc Law issues a proper legal-service invoice for every fee.

9. Tips for Choosing a Reputable Service Provider

The market currently has many providers offering work permit, visa, and TRC services, with widely varying quality and levels of commitment. Before choosing a provider, investors should keep the following in mind:

• Check the provider's legal standing. Favor licensed legal-practice organizations or firms with a clear business license, a specific registered office address, and transparent contact information — and avoid unclear individuals or entities offering to “fast-track paperwork” with unusual promises about speed or guaranteed outcomes.
• Favor a provider experienced in handling corporate and residence dossiers together. Because an investor's capital-contribution dossier, corporate legal dossier, and visa/TRC dossier are closely interlinked, a provider that specializes only in visa services may fail to detect inconsistencies between these different dossiers.
• Insist on a clear quotation and a legal service contract. A reputable provider will quote transparently for each item of work and issue a service contract clearly setting out the scope of work, the timeline, and each party's responsibilities — rather than offering a vague lump-sum quote or demanding full payment before any work has begun.
• Assess whether the provider gives correct, complete advice from the outset. In the first consultation, an experienced provider will ask detailed questions about the capital contribution, the investor's role at the company, and whether the residence plan is long-term or short-term — in order to recommend the correct documents from the start, rather than simply accepting whatever the client requests without pushing back or reviewing it critically.
• Consider whether the provider can support you over the long term. Because work permits, visas, and temporary residence cards all require periodic renewal or reissuance as circumstances at the company change, it is preferable to choose a provider capable of a long-term relationship, rather than one that handles a single transaction and nothing more.

10. Frequently Asked Questions About This Service

Question 1. I am an investor who has contributed capital but do not work at the company directly — do I need a work permit?

No. If you are purely a passive capital contributor, do not hold a managerial title, and do not work at the company directly, you do not need a work permit. You only need an investor visa (DT1–DT4) matching your capital contribution in order to enter and stay, or to apply for a TRC.

Question 2. I have contributed VND 3 billion and serve as the company's director — what documents do I need?

You fall within the work-permit exemption, but you still need to obtain a work-permit-exemption confirmation (because you work at the company directly), and you should also apply for a DT3 visa (applicable to capital contributions from VND 3 billion up to under VND 50 billion) and may apply for a TRC with a term of up to 3 years.

Question 3. If my company employs a foreign investor who has not yet obtained a work permit, will the company be fined?

Yes. Under Decree No. 283/2026/ND-CP (effective from September 10, 2026), a company employing a foreign national without a work permit or a work-permit-exemption confirmation may be fined from VND 30,000,000 to VND 75,000,000 depending on the number of workers involved, and the foreign worker in question may also be penalized and subject to deportation.

Question 4. If my capital contribution increases later on, will my visa/TRC be adjusted accordingly?

Yes. When your capital contribution increases and crosses into a different threshold (for example, from below VND 50 billion to above VND 50 billion), you may apply for a new visa/TRC based on the updated capital level, with a correspondingly longer term.

Question 5. Where should I start if I have not yet established a company in Vietnam?

You should start with Step 1 of the process outlined in Section 6 — establishing a company or completing investment registration. Thuy Ngoc Law can provide full-service support from this step onward, so that the capital-contribution dossier needed for later visa and TRC applications is prepared consistently from the very beginning.

Question 6. Can my family (spouse, children) apply for a TRC together with me?

Yes. An investor's family members may apply for a family-visit (TT) visa and a dependent-category TRC based on your investor status, with a term of up to 3 years.

Question 7. Do documents issued abroad (degrees, judicial record certificates, corporate documents) need to be legalized?

Yes. These documents must be consularly legalized at the relevant Vietnamese diplomatic mission abroad (or the relevant foreign diplomatic mission in Vietnam, depending on the case), then translated into Vietnamese and notarized before being submitted in Vietnam.

Question 8. How is Thuy Ngoc Law's service fee calculated?

The service fee is based on the actual scope of work (whether you need one, several, or the full package of 5 steps described in Section 6), whether family members are included, and whether documents require legalization abroad. Contact Thuy Ngoc Law to have your situation assessed and to receive a specific quotation.

11. Contact Thuy Ngoc Law

Are you a foreign investor in need of advice on a work permit, visa, or temporary residence card suited to your investment plan? Contact Thuy Ngoc Law Company today for a free consultation and a quotation suited to your needs:

Thuy Ngoc Law Company

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