TEMPORARY RESIDENCE CARD FOR FOREIGNERS IN VIETNAM

With the outstanding development of the economy and open regulations on market entry, Vietnam is gradually becoming an ideal place for investors and foreign workers to choose as a place to live and work. TEMPORARY RESIDENCE CARD FOR FOREIGNERS IN VIETNAM

Foreigners living and working in Vietnam are required to comply with regulations on residence and must have documents such as Visas, Temporary Residence Cards suitable for the purpose of entry.

Temporary residence card (TRC) is a document issued by an immigration management agency or a competent agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to a foreigner who is permitted to reside in Vietnam for a certain time and has the same validity as a visa. However, depending on each case and each object, the required documents as well as the duration of the Temporary Residence Card will be different.

With many years of experience in consulting for investors, employees, and foreign experts in Vietnam. LawPlus would like to review the regulations on Temporary Residence Cards for foreigners in Vietnam for customers to have a basis for reference and application.

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1. Subjects granted TRC and duration:

Pursuant to Article 36 of the Consolidated document of the Law on foreigners’ Entry into, Exit from, Transit through and in Vietnam effective from July 1, 2020, those who are foreigners are granted temporary residence cards consisting of:

• Foreigners who are members of diplomatic missions, consular offices, representative offices of international organizations affiliated to the United Nations or intergovernmental organizations in Vietnam, their spouses, under-18 children and housemaid who live with them during their terms of office may be granted temporary residence cards with the symbol NG3.
• Foreigners entry into Vietnam by visas with symbol LV1, LV2, LS, ĐT1, ĐT2, ĐT3, NN1, NN2, DH, PV1, LĐ1, LĐ2, TT.

In which: TEMPORARY RESIDENCE CARD FOR FOREIGNERS IN VIETNAM

NO.	Subjects	Symbols	Duration
1	Members of diplomatic missions, consular offices, representative offices of international organizations affiliated to the UN, representative offices of intergovernmental organizations and their spouses, children under 18 years of age, and housemaids during their term of office.	NG3	Up to 5 years
2	Foreigners working with units affiliated to Vietnam’s Communist Party; the National Assembly, the government, Central Committee of Vietnamese Fatherland Front, the People’s Supreme Court, the People’s Supreme Procuracy, State Audit Agency, Ministries, ministerial agencies, Governmental agencies, the People’s Councils, the People’s Committees of provinces.	LV1	Up to 5 years
3	Foreigners working with socio-political organizations, social organizations, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.	LV2	Up to 5 years
4	Foreign lawyers practicing in Vietnam.	LS	Up to 5 years
5	Foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam and contributing capital of at least VND 100 billion, or investing in the business fields and areas of investment incentives decided by the Vietnam Government	ĐT1	Up to 10 years
6	Foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam and contributing capital of VND 50 to less than VND 100 billion, or investing in the business fields of investment encouragement decided by the Vietnam Government	ĐT2	Up to 5 years
7	Foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam and contributing capital of VND 3 to less than VND 50 billion	ĐT3	Up to 3 years
8	Managers of representative offices or projects of international organizations and foreign non-governmental organizations in Vietnam	NN1	Up to 3 years
9	Heads of representative offices, branches of foreign traders, representative offices of other foreign economic, cultural, professional organizations in Vietnam	NN2	Up to 3 years
10	Student/Internship	DH	Up to 5 years
11	Issued to journalists who have permanent residences in Vietnam	PV1	Up to 2 years
12	Foreigners working in Vietnam and certified of eligibility for work permit exemption, unless otherwise specified by international treaties to which Vietnam is a signatory	LĐ1	Up to 2 years
13	Foreigners working in Vietnam that are required to have work permit	LĐ2	Up to 2 years
14	Issued to foreigners that are parents, spouse, and children under 18 years of age of the foreigners issued with LV1, LV2, ĐT, NN1, NN2, UNIVERSITY, PV1, LĐ visas, or foreigners that are parents, spouse, children of Vietnamese citizens.	TT	Up to 3 years

2. Conditions for applying for a TRC for foreigners in Vietnam

a. General conditions to apply for a TRC:

– Foreigners’ passports must have a minimum validity of 13 months (In case the passport is valid for 13 months, the Immigration Office will issue a temporary residence card with a maximum validity of 12 months).

– Foreigners must complete procedures for temporary residence registration at the commune or ward police station or register online according to regulations. TEMPORARY RESIDENCE CARD FOR FOREIGNERS IN VIETNAM

 b. Separate conditions for each type of TRC.

– For employees who apply for a Temporary Residence Card with symbols LD 1 and LD 2, a work permit/work permit exemption certificate is required for a minimum period of 1 year (12 months).

– In case investors apply for a Temporary Residence Card with the symbols of DT 1, DT 2, and DT 3, they must make an investment in Vietnam and must have documents proving their capital contribution and investment in enterprises in Vietnam. (It can be a business registration certificate, investment license or other document showing the capital contribution, or investment in accordance with the law)

– For the case of applying for a Temporary Residence Card to visit relatives, which is sponsored by an individual who is a relative, that individual must be a Vietnamese citizen and have documents proving the legal relationship (Birth certificate, Marriage registration certificate, Family relationship certificate….)

– For the case of applying for a temporary residence card to visit relatives sponsored by the company/organization with the categories of relatives visiting or living with foreigners working at the organization, the mandatory condition is that foreigners working at the company must have a Temporary Residence Card or have met the conditions to apply for a Temporary Residence Card and submit an application for a one-time Temporary Residence Card together with their relatives. TEMPORARY RESIDENCE CARD FOR FOREIGNERS IN VIETNAM

c. Requirements and conditions for carrying out administrative procedures:

– Agencies and organizations, when applying for temporary residence cards to foreigners, need to submit documents to prove their legal status at the Immigration Department, the Ministry of Public Security Portal.

+ License or decision of a competent authority on the establishment of the organization (notarized);

+ The organization’s operation registration document (notarized) issued by a competent agency of the People’s Committee of the province or centrally run city;

+ Written introduction, seal and signature of the legal representative of the organization;

The above submission is done only once. When there is a change in the contents of the dossier, the enterprise must send a written notice to the Immigration Department to supplement the dossier.

– Foreigners who enter the country for the purpose of operating activities in accordance with the provisions of Vietnamese law, and are not subject to the “exit suspension” specified in Article 28 of the Law on entry, exit, transit and residence of Vietnam. foreigners in Vietnam.

Specifically: A foreigner may be temporarily suspended from exiting in one of the following cases:

+ Being the accused, defendants, persons with related obligations in criminal cases or being defendants, sued persons, persons with related obligations in civil, commercial business, labour cases; administration, marriage and family;

+ Being obligated to execute court judgments or decisions or decisions of the Competition Handling Council;

+ Has not fulfilled the tax payment obligation;

+ Being obliged to execute decisions on sanctioning administrative violations;

For national defense and security reasons.

○ Cases that do not apply to persons serving prison sentences who are escorted abroad to provide evidence as prescribed in Article 25 of the Law on Mutual Legal Assistance.

○ The period of suspension of exit shall not exceed 3 years and may be extended.

3. Application for temporary residence card for foreigners

a.Dossier:

– Dossier to apply for a temporary residence card includes:

+ A written request for a temporary residence card (form NA6 for agencies or organizations, NA7 for individuals);

+ Application form for temporary residence card for foreigners (NA8)

+ Passport

+ 02 photos of size 3×4 cm (01 photo glued to the declaration, 01 separate photo);

Note: If the foreigner is in the NG3 category, proof of documents is required.

– Dossier of application for a card in case the employee has been granted a work permit:

+ Copy of tax registration certificate

+ A copy.of the seal sample registration certificate

+ A.copy of the labour certification with a term of 1 year or more

+ A copy of.the certificate of temporary residence certified by the ward police

+ A copy.of the business registration certificate or an equivalent document

+ 1 copy of passport, valid visa, entry and exit slip. (enclose the original for comparison)

+ 4 photos 3×4 cm, bare head, taken from the front, with clear face, clear ears, without colored glasses, photos taken not older than 6 months.

– Dossier for work permit granting:

+ Copy of tax registration certificate

+ A.copy of the seal sample registration certificate

+ A copy.of the certificate of temporary residence certified by the ward police

+ Copy of.documents proving that you are not eligible for a work permit

+ Copy.of Investment Certificate or other equivalent documents

+ 1 photocopy of valid passport, visa, entry and exit slip (enclose the original for comparison)

+ 4 photos 3×4 cm, bare head, front view, clear face, clear ears, no colored glasses, photos taken not older than 6 months

– Dossier for relatives accompanying foreign workers:

+ Copy.of documents proving the purpose of applying for temporary residence confirmation

+ A.copy of the certificate of temporary residence certified by the ward police

+ 1 photocopy of valid passport, visa, entry and exit slip (enclose the original for comparison)

+ 4 3x4cm photos with bare head, taken from the front, with clear face, clear ears, without colored glasses, photos taken not older than 6 months

+ Depending on each specific case, it is required to provide the legalization and translation into Vietnamese of the marriage registration certificate, birth certificate, family relationship proof document, etc.

b. Authority and time limit for granting temporary residence card:

+ For temporary residence card with NG3 symbol: The diplomatic mission, consular office or other authorized foreign agency in Vietnam sends an application file for grant of temporary residence card with symbol NG3 at the competent authority. authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;

+ For the remaining types of temporary residence cards mentioned above: The inviting or guaranteeing agencies, organizations and individuals shall directly submit the application for granting temporary residence cards to foreigners at the immigration management agency where the agency is located. The inviting agency or organization is located or the place where the inviting or guarantor resides;

+ Within 05 working days from the day on which the complete application is received, the immigration management agency or the competent agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall consider and grant the temporary residence card.

Above is LawPlus’s analysis of the cases of being granted a Temporary Residence Card as well as the conditions, documents and procedures to apply for a temporary residence card for foreigners in Vietnam. With the experience of accompanying a lot of customers who are investors, experts and workers from many different countries in the process of living and working in Vietnam through the use of the Temporary Residence Card, LawPlus hopes that customers can better understand the provisions of the law to apply in practice. For more detailed advice and answers to questions, please contact LawPlus at hotline +84 2862 779 399, +84 3939 30 522 or email info@lawplus.vn.