Capital simplifies work permit issuance for foreign laborers

The Ha Noi Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs simplified procedures to approve the employment positions of foreigners in the capital city.

Most foreigners who wish to work in Ha Noi must apply for a work permit, which is a legal document that gives them the legitimacy to be employed and paid for by a company in the capital city.

However, according to Decree No.152 dated December 20, 2020, a foreigner may work in Ha Noi without a work permit, but with a work permit exemption certificate. This certificate is equivalent to a work permit, valid for up to 2 years, and also serves as a basis to apply for a temporary residence card.

In particular, foreigners falling into one of the categories listed below are eligible for work permit exemption in Ha Noi:

- Foreigners who are heads of representative offices, projects, or persons who assume primary responsibility for the operation of international organizations or foreign non-governmental organizations in Hanoi;

- Foreigners working in Hanoi for less than 3 months;

- Foreigners stay in Hanoi for less than 3 months to solve complicated technical or technological problems that have or may have a negative impact on the production and operation of companies and cannot be dealt with by Vietnamese;

- Foreigners get married to Vietnamese citizens and wish to reside in Vietnam;

- Foreigners arriving in Ha Noi for expert, managerial, general managerial, or technical positions for a period of fewer than 30 days and making a maximum of 03 visits to the capital per year;

- Foreigners holding official passports to work in state agencies, political organizations, or sociopolitical organizations;

- Foreigners who are certified by the Ministry of Education and Training to carry out teaching and research in Hanoi.

In addition, the municipal Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has simplified the process of granting work permits to foreigners.

In 2022, more than 10,200 enterprises in Ha Noi were authorized to hire nearly 15,000 foreign workers. The department also inspected 20 enterprises for compliance with the law on the employment of foreign workers.

In the same period, Ha Noi authorized over 3,800 foreign managers, 152 executives, more than 9,100 experts, and nearly 1,700 technical workers to work in the city.

The department issued some 10,000 new licenses, reissued 868 permits for foreign workers in Ha Noi, renewed work permits in 373 cases, and revoked the work permits of 370 others at the request of businesses./.