Hello everyone,
Labor laws and regulations are constantly evolving. Staying informed of these updates as an expat in Vietnam helps you in navigating your professional experience and expat career.
We would like to invite you to share the latest or upcoming changes in labor laws in Vietnam:
- What are the recent changes you noticed?
- How did they affect your expat career or professional experience?
- How employers and employees reacted to these changes?
- What are the upcoming changes to follow in 2025?
- Any advice to stay informed of these further updates?
Share your insights and experiences to help fellow expats in their professional experience in Vietnam.
Thank you for your contribution.
Cheryl
Expat.com Team - @Cheryl
Hi Cheryl!
After the better part of 7 years here, I believe the most important bit of labor law that actually hasn't changed over that time is, it is absolutely and totally illegal to generate any type of income or compensation for services such as free housing when you are in this country on a tourist visa or on a Visa exemption, either the 6-month visa exemptions certificate given to certain people connected with Vietnamese natives, or the various visa exemptions that are granted to citizens of certain countries, ranging from 15 days to 90 days, depending upon the country.
There's absolutely no exception to this rule and yet everyday we see on social media people attempting to justify illegal work that they are doing or illegal employment that they are offering.
it is legal to work remotely when you are here on a tourist visa or a Visa exemption, but all of the income involved and all of the work that you are doing online must be outside of Vietnam.
So a person here on a tourist visa who is employed/connected with a company in Europe, and does work for that company that is in any location except Vietnam is working legally.
Unortunately there are many people attempting to come to Vietnam and then teach English online to students in Vietnam.
If they go home to their native country it's legal for them to do that but as long as they are here on a tourist visa or a visa exemption, it is totally illegal for them to be deriving their income from services provided within the borders of Vietnam, unless they are doing so with a valid work permit, which camera only be obtained through a legal employer and not through any one of the many visa agents who advertise the ability to obtain a work permit for anyone.
in addition to that important restriction, it's very important for anyone planning to come here and teach English legally to be aware that the government has placed new restrictions on that work, in the form of mandatory training prior to receiving an approved work permit:
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1053584
People who are actually trained as English teachers and have already passed all of their credentialing will find that the requirements for them are minimal or not applicable.
but the vast majority of people who come here to teach English do not have an applicable degree in the field of English language studies.
instead they come here with 4-year degrees in myriad fields. Even if they have become fully certified through ESL certification programs, they will still need to submit themselves to a certain level of training in the new program that the government has announced.
