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Vietnam · Relocation guide

Moving to Vietnam: work permits, residence cards and first-month setup

Vietnam’s e-visa is an entry route, not a general right to live and work. Long-term movers normally need a sponsor-backed status chain and must coordinate accommodation reporting, work permission, insurance, tax and local documents.

Content updated 11 September 2026. Individual source-check dates are listed below.

Separate entry, work and residence documents

Start with the activity rather than an e-visa duration. The national Immigration portal provides e-visa, sponsor and temporary-residence declaration services, but an e-visa does not itself authorise local employment or become a temporary residence card. For employment, determine whether the employer must obtain a work permit or a formal exemption under the rules in force, then match the immigration document to that work basis.

Investors, students and qualifying family members use different sponsorship evidence and residence categories. A temporary residence card depends on an eligible underlying status and sponsor; it is not a generic card available after renting a home. Ask the employer, school or family sponsor to map the sequence and identify which authority owns each step.

Separate entry, work and residence documents
PurposeRoute to investigateDo not confuse it with
Short visit or scoutingE-visaA work permit or long-term residence card
Employment for a Vietnam-based organisationWork Visa (LD) and Work PermitThe entry visa or employer invitation alone
Qualifying investment activityInvestor Visa (DT1-DT4)Permission for any unrelated paid work
Joining an eligible sponsorFamily / Dependent Visa (TT)Independent work permission for the dependant
Eligible multi-year stayTemporary Residence Card (TRC)Permanent residence or citizenship

Make the employer own the current work-permit workflow

Vietnam’s National Public Service Portal now describes the work-permit procedure under Decree 219/2025. The employer or authorised filer submits the current application to the competent local authority for the place of work. Qualifications, experience, health, criminal-record and employer-need evidence depend on the worker category, and foreign documents may need the prescribed legalisation and Vietnamese translation.

Obtain a copy of the issued permit or exemption before starting work and compare the employer, job, location and validity with the real assignment. A title change, transfer, second workplace or employer change can require action. Keep lawful immigration status running while an employment filing is pending; the filing itself is not an extension of stay.

Verify temporary-residence declaration at every address

Vietnam requires the accommodation side to declare a foreign guest’s temporary residence through the police or the Immigration Department’s online system. Hotels normally do this from the passport details; in a private rental, confirm with the landlord or manager that the declaration has actually been submitted. Keep evidence because the address record can be needed in later immigration and administrative work.

When moving, do not assume the former declaration follows you. Give the new accommodation provider the required passport and stay information promptly and verify the new record. Use temporary accommodation while inspecting access, flooding or drainage, noise, power, internet and the commute. The lease, landlord’s authority, inventory, utility meters, deposit terms and residence-declaration cooperation should all be written down.

Determine whether employment insurance covers you

Vietnam Social Security says a foreign employee working for a Vietnam-based employer under a fixed-term labour contract of at least twelve months falls within compulsory social insurance and compulsory health insurance. Its separate explanation of the 2024 Social Insurance Law lists exceptions from compulsory social insurance, including qualifying intracorporate transferees, people who had reached retirement age when signing and cases governed differently by treaty. Do not carry those social-insurance exceptions across to health insurance without a separate health-coverage decision. Ask payroll to confirm each scheme, its start date, contribution record and benefit-use instructions.

Until entitlement is confirmed, maintain suitable medical cover. Check inpatient limits, direct billing, pre-existing conditions, maternity, outpatient medicines and evacuation. Bring vaccination and clinical summaries plus prescription details, identify a suitable local clinic and hospital, and confirm how ongoing medicines can lawfully be obtained. Public social insurance and an international policy can serve different risks.

Build a tax and banking evidence trail

Vietnamese tax residence is not identical to immigration residence. The Ministry of Finance’s foreign-investment portal explains that presence, a registered permanent residence or a qualifying leased home can be relevant, and that the first tax year may use a twelve-month period from arrival in specified circumstances. Keep a day count, leases, payroll, foreign income and home-country residence evidence, then obtain advice on resident scope, Vietnam-source income and treaty relief.

Banks apply their own onboarding checks. Ask the chosen branch which passport, visa or residence card, employment contract, tax information, local address and Vietnamese phone number it requires. Do not transfer the full relocation reserve until the account, card, app, international transfer and recipient-name format work. Keep rent deposits and tax money separately identifiable.

Convert the correct licence, not an international permit

The National Public Service Portal says a foreign resident, worker or student with a valid foreign national licence and qualifying Vietnamese residence document may be considered for exchange to the corresponding Vietnamese licence. It specifically distinguishes a domestic foreign licence from an international permit, which is not itself converted. The Vietnamese licence validity is limited by the underlying residence and foreign-licence validity.

Use the procedure for the province where residence is registered and prepare the required translated or certified licence material, passport and residence evidence. Confirm the vehicle class, insurance and helmet or equipment rules before driving. Do not rely on a scooter rental business to decide whether your documents authorise driving.

Plan dependants, school and renewal around the sponsor

Build a row for each family member showing passport, relationship document, entry visa, sponsor, residence-card eligibility, work rights, insurance and expiry. Legalise and translate civil records according to the receiving authority’s instructions. A spouse’s family status should not be presented to an employer as work permission without checking the separate employment rules.

Ask schools for admissions authority, curriculum, teaching language, prior records, vaccination documents, transport, learning support, deposits and withdrawal notice. Before renewal, reconcile the family’s passports, sponsor status, work permit or exemption, residence cards, address declarations and insurance. Plan action before the earliest dependency expires rather than treating each card as independent.

Your moving checklist

Tick off the tasks that apply to you. The timing is a planning order, not a substitute for the deadlines on your permission or an official instruction.

0 of 13 tasks completed

Before you move
On arrival
Your first month
Later and before renewal

Sources and checks

The linked authorities set the rules. VisaAtlas explains how the steps fit together; planning suggestions are not a decision on your immigration status, tax residence or entitlement to services.

Plan your next step