Decree 219 regulating foreign workers working in Vietnam

Đọc bản Tiếng Việt

With the aim of creating a streamlined and favorable environment for agencies, organizations, and enterprises to recruit foreign workers with high technical expertise and experience—thereby contributing to the promotion of investment cooperation, and the development of science, technology, and engineering—on August 7, 2025, the Government issued Decree No. 219/2025/ND-CP (“Decree 219”) regulating foreign workers working in Vietnam.

Decree 219 took effect on the same day of issuance and replaces relevant provisions in Decree No. 152/2020/ND-CP and Decree No. 70/2023/ND-CP.

Below are some notable highlights concerning foreign workers working in Vietnam:

1. Decree 219 removes the requirement to advertise job vacancies for Vietnamese workers for most forms of employment. Accordingly, employers are only required to advertise vacancies in three cases: (i) performing a labor contract, (ii) participating in the execution of bidding packages or projects in Vietnam, and (iii) performing a labor contract with foreign diplomatic missions or foreign organizations in Vietnam.
   Employers are also allowed to proactively choose a suitable method of advertising instead of being required to advertise on the job service portal of the competent authority. The advertising period has also been shortened to no less than 5 days prior to the date of application submission, instead of 15 days as previously required.
2. The work permit process has been significantly shortened, in which the two procedures—explaining the demand for foreign workers and applying for a work permit—have been integrated into a single process with a processing time of 10 working days, instead of 15 working days and 5 working days respectively as previously stipulated.
3. Decree 219 introduces procedures for re-issuance and extension of the work permit exemption certification. When there are changes to personal information, foreign workers are not required to submit a new application for the exemption certification but only need to submit the updated information and relevant declaration form to complete the procedure. The Decree also clearly stipulates that the work permit exemption certification may be extended once, with a maximum duration of no more than 2 years.
4. Foreign workers who are managers, executives, experts, or technicians coming to Vietnam for short-term work of less than 90 days within a calendar year are now eligible for work permit exemption, instead of being subject to restrictions as previously stipulated.
5. The requirements for proving eligibility as a manager, technician, or expert have also been reduced. Decree 219 also introduces additional qualification criteria for experts working in priority development sectors.
6. Promotes the application of information technology and the integration of administrative procedures through a one-stop-shop mechanism on the National Public Service Portal.
7. Decree 219 provides detailed guidance for cases where foreign workers work for one employer in multiple provinces. Employers are no longer required to update information on the work locations in the work permit when there is a change in the foreign worker’s workplace, as was stipulated previously in Decree 152 and Decree 70.
8. Decree 219 still contains some notable provisions that may affect the planning and implementation of procedures for applying for work permits for foreign workers, such as regulations on health certificates issued abroad, and the declaration of foreign workers’ employment sectors according to the occupational codes in the Vietnamese Occupation Classification.