8 new points about foreign workers in Vietnam - Decree 219/2025/ND-CP

Decree 219/2025/ND-CP, effective from August 7, 2025, marks a major turning point in policies for foreign workers in Vietnam. GT Law sends to our customers a creative and concise analysis of 8 outstanding new points, decoding the changes that bring many opportunities and challenges to businesses, investors and foreign workers.

Removing the 3-Year Barrier: Attracting Young Professionals & New Fields

Replacing the mandatory 3 years of experience for foreign experts, the new Decree opens up two flexible thresholds:

• Just need to graduate from university and have 2 years of experience relevant to the job position.
• Đặc biệt, trong các ngành như khoa học, công nghệ, đổi mới sáng tạo, chuyển đổi số… chỉ cần 1 năm kinh nghiệm là đủ.

=> The new policy promotes knowledge transfer in advanced fields, attracts young and dynamic experts, contributes to renewing creative resources, and reduces the time for international personnel standardization compared to before.

Provincial People's Committee Is The Agency Issuing Work Permits (GPLĐ): Clear Decentralization

All procedures for granting, extending, and revoking work permits, as well as certificates of non-work permit issuance, are handled directly by the People's Committee of the province where the foreign worker works. The People's Committee of the province also has the right to delegate the task to local specialized agencies.

=> This creates initiative for localities, reduces pressure on centralization on the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, in line with the decentralization policy, helping to handle faster in reality multi-industry, multi-location enterprises.

Submitting Application for Work Permit and Criminal Record Online – Optimizing Procedures

Enterprises can now submit applications for work permits and criminal records at the same time on the National Public Service Portal. The synchronized digital procedure continues to integrate the steps of reporting and explaining the need to use foreign labor into the application for a license.

=> Shorten the process, eliminate many intermediaries, save time and costs for businesses, increase transparency, and at the same time accelerate the reception of international experts into Vietnam.

Expanding Cases That Do Not Require a Work Permit: Multi-Industry, Multi-Field

Bên cạnh các đối tượng miễn GPLĐ cũ, Nghị định mới bổ sung nhiều trường hợp: người lao động nước ngoài làm việc trong các lĩnh vực tài chính, khoa học, công nghệ, đổi mới sáng tạo, chuyển đổi số… nếu được cơ quan có thẩm quyền xác nhận sẽ không phải xin GPLĐ.

=> This is a policy breakthrough for Vietnam to compete in attracting high-quality human resources from emerging industries, creating favorable conditions for technology startups, research institutes, and priority socio-economic development projects.

Working Less Than 90 Days/Year Does Not Require a Work Permit – Flexible for Short-Term Professionals

Foreign workers working in Vietnam for less than 90 days a year do not need a work permit, but are required to notify the competent authority at least 3 working days in advance.

=> Create conditions for consulting projects, technology transfer, short-term international training, while still ensuring transparent control and management of foreign human resources.

Cases Where a Certificate of Exemption from a Work Permit Is Not Required Still Must Be Notified

Some exceptional cases are exempted from applying for a certificate of exemption from a work permit, but must still send a 3-day notice to the local management agency where the intended work location is located.

=> This policy both reduces paperwork and maintains the State management function, prevents risks, and prevents foreigners from "working illegally" outside the controlled area.

License Renewal Limit: Only Once, Maximum 2 Years

Unlike previous practice of allowing multiple extensions, the new Decree only allows a single extension of a work permit, for a maximum period of 2 years.

=> Tighten management of foreign workers working long-term in Vietnam, prevent the use of indefinite extensions to "circumvent the law", and at the same time force businesses to proactively build a more effective human resource roadmap and technology transfer.

Can Work in Many Places Thanks to a Work Permit – Businesses Must Proactively Notify

If a work permit has been granted, foreign workers are allowed to work in many other provinces and cities if they need to expand their position. However, the enterprise must send a notice at least 3 days in advance to the People's Committee of the province where they are expected to work.

=> Create motivation to increase interaction of high-quality human resources between economic regions and localities, reduce binding procedures, quickly adapt to inter-regional projects, but still maintain a close monitoring role.

Business Perspective & Lawyer Orientation

New opportunities for Vietnamese businesses:

• More flexibility in recruiting young, highly qualified foreign experts for key industries (AI, semiconductor technology, innovation, digital transformation).
• Reduce administrative costs, receive workers quickly and promptly to serve production and business needs.
• Have the right to proactively expand branches and projects to many localities without being hindered by overlapping licenses.

Challenges to note:

• To extend a work permit only once, businesses need to plan long-term human resources and effectively train internal transfer.
• Regulations on notification and reporting in advance, even if exempted from a work permit, must still be fully implemented to avoid administrative violations.
• Closely coordinate with the provincial People's Committee, closely follow the decentralization policy and actual implementation roadmap.

GT Law accompanies clients

With a team of lawyers knowledgeable about international labor law and updated with the latest points of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP, GT Law commits to:

• Consulting on work permit application documents, confirming work permit exemption for the right group of subjects, following the correct procedure, saving maximum time.
• Orientation of optimal solutions for multi-industry enterprises; preparation of dossiers for special cases, new industries and inter-regional projects.
• Support businesses in communicating and working with provincial People's Committees and specialized agencies when handling expanded, decentralized or complicated cases.

Decree 219/2025/ND-CP is a big push to bring Vietnam deeper into the international labor market, creating a flexible and advanced environment to attract high-quality experts, while tightening legal loopholes in the management process. Enterprises and international experts, let GT Law be a reputable legal partner - accompanying throughout the process of approaching, applying and complying with new policies, creating success for a sustainable integration future.

For any questions about foreign workers, permits, recruitment procedures or inter-regional project implementation – Contact GT Law for in-depth, confidential and effective advice!