>> No solace for foreigners caught in work permit limbo

Foreigners who are struggling to get their employer to process work permits on their behalf could still face deportation, an official confirmed.

Le Quang Trung, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs’s Employment Department

Le Quang Trung, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs (MoLISA)’s Employment Department, told DTiNews that a work permit remains a necessity.

Many foreigners who are willing to comply with the regulation are unable to do so as their Vietnamese employer is unwilling to go through the application process on their behalf. What do you suggest foreigners who are working for a Vietnamese employer do, if their employer is not willing to apply for a work permit?

The Government’s regulations and Decree No. 46 amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 34 on managing foreigners seeking to work in the country also relate to foreign workers who come to Vietnam as part of foreign invested projects. Six months after the new decree takes effect on August 1, foreign workers who have not received a work permit or have yet to apply for a permit will be expelled from the country.

Obviously, Vietnam is in desperate need of workforce in several fields including high-tech industries, services, scientific research and education, so it will provide more favourable conditions for those who apply to work in these fields. In the meantime, the country will put a stop on groups of foreign employees with lower qualifications, particularly manual workers.

Do you think it is reasonable for the employee to face deportation for not having a work permit, while the Vietnamese employer only faces the sanction of a fine?

More attention has been paid to how to deal with employers who employ unregistered foreign employees. The department has proposed to make public the names of companies that have failed to conform to the regulation, along with fines they have had to pay. The aim is to heighten the deterrent for employers. I believe that all enterprises try to promote the prestige of their brand name. With the possible negative impact to their prestige when their names are made public along with their violations, enterprises may become more responsible.

The regulations seem to be based on the idea that foreigners will seek employment in Vietnam while being resident abroad (having an \'invitation\' to work letter). But it seems vague and restrictive for foreigners who have devoted many years of their lives to developing the country. How can a foreigner easily move to another job offering better pay and conditions if their labour contract and accompanying work permit have become invalid through leaving their previous employer? - Will they be obliged to re-apply for another work permit?

The Government of Vietnam highly appreciates the significant contributions made by foreign employees to the country’s development. However, like any other country in the region, Vietnam requires a foreigner who wants to work in the nation to get a work permit. In fact, there have been some changes in the new regulation that provides more favourable conditions for foreigners to get a work permit, including a halving of the processing time to get a work permit to ten working days. Re-application procedures will take only three working days. A work permit in Vietnam can have up to 36-months validity, which is longer than several other countries.

In a case where a foreigner wants to move to another job with better pay and conditions, a work permit is still required, along with documents to prove their ability to fulfil the new job.

A work permit remains a necessity

Can you clarify if foreigners married to Vietnamese nationals require a work permit or are they exempt via their permanent or temporary residency permit?

Any foreigner who has a foreign nationality and works in Vietnam must have a work permit. Those who have adopted Vietnamese nationality will be exempted from this procedure.

Why has the government chosen to implement a work permit system that ties the right to work to a specific employer, rather than a more realistic system where the employee has the right to work in general, in any sector legally entitled to employ foreign staff, similar to the US Green Card system? Doesn’t this leave the foreign worker at an unfair disadvantage in terms of job mobility?

For years, Vietnamese authorities have been paying much attention to updating and supplementing regulations on managing foreign employees in order to meet Vietnam’s commitments upon the World Trade Organisation (WTO) entry. Decree No. 46 amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 34 on managing foreigners seeking to work in the country has included both regulations on tighter management over low-qualified foreign employees and incentive policies for the high-qualified groups. However, in the time to come, local authorities will continue to study regulations on this issue in order to supplement the decree.