How To Enter Vietnam Legally with Visas and Temporary Residence Card

Foreign visitors have been to Vietnam for purposes to visit friends, family members, travel, or work.

As Vietnam has become more attractive for economic investment and tourism destinations, more and more have been seeking to enter Vietnam for work purpose, and leisure purpose. It is important that travelers have suitable visas and entrance cards, and follow the laws. Failing to follow the law on immigration would result in blacklist, deportation creating unnecessary hassles, especially for business men seeking investment in Vietnam.

ANT Lawyers has assisted a number of clients with immigration matters due to overstaying time as prescribed on visas, being black-listed due to failing to adhere to regulations of work permits and have learnt that in many cases the client do not have full understanding of consequence of obeying the immigration laws in Vietnam.

On Jun 30th, 2016, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued the Cicular No: 04/2016/TT-BNG details Vietnam regulation on entry, exit, transit and residence of foreigners in Vietnam that layouts process and procedures in regard to applying for Visas, Temporary Residence Card to enter and stay in Vietnam legally for the right purpose.

Pursuant to the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence by foreigners in Vietnam dated June 16, 2014;

Pursuant to the Law on issue of legislative documents dated June 03, 2008;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No.58/2013/ND-CP defining the functions, responsibilities, entitlements and organizational structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 64/2015/ND-CP dated August 06, 2015 on cooperation among Ministries, Ministerial-level agencies, People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-affiliated provinces (hereinafter refer to as “province”) in management of entry, exit, transit and residence by foreigners in Vietnam;

The Minister of Foreign Affairs hereby issues this Circular providing guideline for procedures for issue of visa and temporary residence cards, and extension of temporary residence permit to foreigners in Vietnam within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Chapter II

POWER AND PROCEDURES FOR ISSUE OF VISAS AND TEMPORARY RESIDENCE CARDS AND EXTENSION OF TEMPORARY RESIDENCE PERMITS

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION

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Top 10 Challenges of Doing Business in Vietnam

Expanding gross domestic product (GDP), modern infrastructure and a dramatic increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) are signs that Vietnam has transformed into an attractive investment destination, but there are still barriers to doing business which are best navigated with local help on board.

Since 1988, there have been 13,544 foreign investment projects with a total registered capital of US$213 billion in Vietnam, building a large overseas investment sector which occupies about 17% of GDP and 43.4% of industrial product value. Overseas firms are attracted by Vietnam’s 87 million-strong population which supports a large and young workforce and that has also seen an increase in disposable income in recent years.

Strong economic growth rates have been a common feature of the Vietnamese economy since the 1990s, and even though the high levels slumped slightly during the global financial crisis, the country has rapidly returned to pre-crisis growth trends and is expected to continue on this path. Infrastructure, tourism development, and related real estate and retail sector development in urban areas are all attracting large amounts of FDI, and overseas firms are increasingly attracted by the country’s move from a centralized to a market-orientated economy.

However, The World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) rank Vietnam in 99th place in the world for ease of doing business, which means it is essential to seek local help of law firms and lawyers in Vietnam when expanding into the country.

Starting a Business

There are 10 procedures to undertake when starting a business in Vietnam, making it among the most complex start-up environments in the world. What’s more, many tasks facing new corporate entities may be unfamiliar to overseas companies, making the task far more rigorous. Registration of the seal-sample at the State Agency, for example, or publicly announcing the formation in a local newspaper are procedures most companies generally don’t have to complete.

Dealing with Construction Permits

It takes 110 days and 11 procedures to get permits for construction in Vietnam, once again requiring interaction with several official departments. Inspections must be carried out by the Department of Construction and the municipality, and certificates should be obtained from the Firefighters Prevention Department, the Department of Construction and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

Getting Electricity

Getting electrical connection is among the most rigorous tasks facing startups in Vietnam, taking 115 days to complete and costing a significant percentage of income per capita. Inspections by the local power corporation are required before completing processes with the Traffic and Transport Department and the Firefighters Prevention Department.

Registering Property

Registering property in Vietnam takes 57 days to complete, which is far higher than the OECD norm but around average for East Asia and Pacific. Contracts between the transferor and the transferee are signed before taxation is paid and registration for the right to use land is complete.

Getting Credit

Vietnam is home to quite a stable credit environment, and obtaining capital is a relatively smooth process for businesses. However, the lack of a private credit bureau can make the process a little trickier for overseas firms.

Protecting Investors

Investor protection is an area in which Vietnam needs to improve. It is ranked in 169th place by the World Bank and IFC, with a weak director liability index and shareholder suits index.

Paying Taxes

There are massive 32 corporate tax payments to be made each year which takes an average of 872 company hours to complete. Compared to the OECD norm of 176 and the East Asia and Pacific average of 209, taxation is one of the most burdensome processes of doing business in Vietnam.

Trading Across Borders

Given its strong manufacturing base and reliance on interconnectivity, trading across borders is a cheap endeavour. However, that isn’t to say the process is not complicated, and the stream of documentation required for both importing and exporting highlights that cross-border trade can be difficult at the best of times.

Enforcing Contracts and Resolving Insolvency

Enforcing contracts takes 400 days to complete and 34 procedures. Resolving insolvency is a far more laborious process, taking five years on average to complete and with a low recovery rate.

Culture

The Vietnamese believe in the teachings of the early Chinese philosopher Confucius which emphasize the importance of relationships, responsibility and obligation. Vietnam is also a collectivist country and community concerns will almost always come before business or individual needs.

ANT Lawyers

We have the local knowledge to help you navigate these minefields. Whether you want to set up business in Vietnam or just want to streamline your Vietnamese operations, we could assist.

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Overview on Cosmetics Regulations in Vietnam

Cosmetics are areas of highly regulated in Vietnam as they apply on human and could create health concern. Hence, cosmetics imported into Vietnam have to be applied special procedures to ensure safety. Cosmetics regulations in Vietnam would lay out provisions that importers and manufacturers to follow.

Cosmetics lawyers inVietnam

To carry out the Combination Convention in the cosmetic management which has been signed by countries are member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on September 2nd, 2003 (commonly called ASEAN Cosmetic Convention), the Ministry of Health of Vietnam issued Circular 06/2011/TT-BYT on Cosmetic Management.

The Circular dated January 25th, 2011 regulating the management of cosmetic products manufactured in the country, as well as cosmetics imported for circular in Vietnam. Besides, the cosmetic regulations is also provided in related provisions.

According to the Vietnam cosmetic regulations, cosmetic product must be construed as a substance or a preparation which is used for touch with outside parts of human body (skin, hair system, finger nails, toenails, lip, and outside reproduction organ) or teeth and mouth mucous membrane with main purpose in order to cleanse, aromatize, change the outward characteristics, form, adjust body’s smell, safeguard body, or maintain the human body in good condition. In addition to the products being grouped as cosmetic products such as: creams, emulsion, lotions, gels and oils for skin (group 1); tinted bases (group 2); toilet soaps, deodorant soaps (group 3); … some products are not classified as cosmetic.

Under Vietnam law, a cosmetic product made in Vietnam or imported into Vietnam must go through procedure of proclamation before being is sold on the market. In particular, organizations or individuals circulating the cosmetic products on the market have to be responsible for obtaining permissions through cosmetic product proclamation from authority agencies as well as responsible for safety, effectiveness, and quality of product.

For exporting cosmetic, the exporter needs to obtain the Certificate of Free Sale (CFS) as regulated. CFS is issued when such domestic cosmetic is issued the cosmetic product proclamation receipt number by competent state management agency. For importing cosmetic, enterprises are only allowed to import the cosmetic into Vietnam when presenting to the Customs agency the valid receipt number of cosmetic product proclamation report which has been issued by the Medicine Management Department – the Health Ministry. However, Vietnam law also provide import of cosmetic in some special situations which are not obligated to implement the cosmetic product proclamation as the following:

– Organization or individual who imports cosmetic in order to study and experiment;

– The organizations, individuals who receive cosmetic as gifts;

– The organizations, individuals who import cosmetic for displaying at fair, gallery and other temporary import for re-export situations.

For manufacturing cosmetic, the cosmetic regulations require the organizations which manufacture the cosmetic must deploy to apply and satisfy principles, the “cosmetic good manufacturing practice” standard of the Asian Southeast Association Nations (CGMP-ASEAN).

Besides, compliance with the other requirements such as labeling, safety of ingredients, cosmetic advertising is also required.

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Cases that Foreigners Do Not Have to Apply for Work Permits

Pursuant to Decree No. 11/2016/ND-CP and 140/2018/NĐ-CP , the below cases of foreigner will not have to apply for work permit in Vietnam:

-As capital contributing members or the owner of limited liability company.

-As member of the Managing Board of the joint stock company.

-As Head of the representative office, project of international organizations, non-governmental organizations in Vietnam.

-Entry into Vietnam for less than 03 months to carry out the service offering.

-Entry into Vietnam for less than 03 months to handle the incidents, technical situations and complicated technology arising that influence or threaten to production and business that Vietnam expert and foreign experts that currently in Vietnam cannot handle.

-As foreign lawyers that are licensed to practice law in Vietnam under the provisions of the Law on Lawyers.

-Under the provisions of the international treaties in which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

-As pupils and students studying in Vietnam and working in Vietnam but the employer must notify 07 days with state authorities on the provincial labor.

-Moving within the enterprises in the range of 11 service sectors in the service commitments of Vietnam to the World Trade Organization, including: business, communication, construction, distribution, education, environment, finance, health, tourism, culture and transport;

-Entry into Vietnam to provide advisory services and technical expertise or perform other tasks to serve the research, construction, appraisal, monitoring, evaluation, management and implementation of programs and projects funded with official development assistance (ODA) as prescribed or agreed in international treaties on ODA signed between the competent authorities of Vietnam and foreign countries;

-Granted the work permit on information and press in Vietnam by the Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs in accordance with law;

-Sent to Vietnam by agencies and foreign organizations to teach and research in the international school under the jurisdiction of the foreign diplomatic representative agencies or international organizations in Vietnam or the Ministry of Education and Training certificated for teaching and researching in the educational and training institutions in Vietnam;

-Volunteers certified by the foreign diplomatic representative agencies or international organizations in Vietnam

-Entry into Vietnam working in the positions of professional, manager, executive or technical employees with working duration of less than 30 days and no more than 90 cumulative days in 01 years;

-Entry into Vietnam to implement international agreements that agencies and organizations at the central and province have signed as in accordance with law;

-Pupils and students studying in abroad schools and training institutions that have internship agreements in the agencies, organizations and enterprises in Vietnam;

-Relatives of members of foreign representatives in Vietnam working after licensed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, except the case where international treaties that the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member that have other regulations;

-Have official passport to work for state agencies, political organizations and political – social organizations;

-Other cases decided by the Prime Minister on the proposal of the Ministry of Labour – Invalids and Social Affairs.

Our lawyers have consistently made valuable and important contributions to our profession.

This publication is designed to provide updated information of legal matters, and does not constitute professional advice.

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Expiry Date of the Criminal Record Card

According to Clause 4 of Article 2 of the Law on criminal record, criminal record card is the document issued by the competent state agencies for organizations and individuals, proving that individuals have or do not have criminal record. The problem is that, for how long since the date that state agencies issue the criminal record card, it will be expired?

Law firms in Vietnam

The law on criminal record of 2009 and the current law documents do not have regulations on the duration of use of the criminal record card. However, depending on the areas and purpose of using that the expiry dates of the criminal record card will be regulated differently.

For example, Articles 20, 24 and 28 of the Nationality Act of 2008, amending and supplementing in 2014 specified that in the dossier of application, stop and return to Vietnam nationality, there must have the criminal record card that is issued not more than 90 days before the date of submission.

Besides, a number of diplomatic representative missions of foreign countries in Vietnam also provides for the shelf life of the criminal record card when resolving visa application requirements, such as the United States Consulate provides that applicants for entry visas from 16 years or older need to submit the criminal record that was issued within a year.

Thus, the shelf life of the criminal record card in Vietnam currently is not clearly specified. It depends on the provisions in the documents of each different fields and the will of agencies and organizations wishing to learn about previous criminal conviction status of the litigants.

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Why Foreigners Find it Difficult to Purchase Properties in Vietnam?

The policy to open up the real estate market allowing foreigners to enter Vietnam and make investment in Vietnam through purchasing property is expected to warm up the real estate market and boost up the economy.

Our real estate lawyers in Vietnam have always followed the changes in regulations to update client. Officially, from July 1st, 2015 the amendment of Housing Law will come into effect. The new provisions about foreign ownership of houses in Vietnam are the highlights of the Housing Law 2014. In the Housing Law 2014, there is a separate chapter which state clearly about application subjects, requirements, rights and duties of foreigners who are allowed to buy houses in Vietnam. The application subjects have been extended compared to those in the old rules. The new regulations of Housing Law make the real estate market in Vietnam warm up.

When the Housing Law 2014 officially comes into effect, the decree which is expected to give guidance on implementation will be enacted. The regulation regarding buying houses by foreigners will be included in a specific documents having details instructions. According to the lawmakers, the Housing Law 2014 will have tighter guidelines in matters of real estate purchased by foreigners.

However to date, there is not any legal documents enacted to give instructions about the new provisions and about the Housing Law 2014 in general. According to Law on Promulgation of legal documents in 2008, the validity of legal documents is stated in the documents, but not fewer than 45 days from the day of enactment. This is a gap in Vietnam Law when the new Housing Law could not implement due to the lack of instructions and that the Resolution No. 19/2008 / QH12 about a pilot regulations on buying houses by foreign organizations and individuals has expired. Therefore, under the new rules, on July 1st, 2015 foreigners would not be able to buy house in Vietnam yet. This delay creates a legal gap and brings about difficulties and confusion.

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