Due to the high demand for qualifications, expertise and skills, Vietnam-based enterprises tend to employ foreign employees to work in Vietnam. The foreign employees must obtain a work permit (WP) or a WP exemption certificate (WPEC) before entering a labor contract with the employer. So, if a foreign employee works in Vietnam without a WP, what are the legal risks he or she faces?

Note the following issues in this matter.

1. Why must foreign employees have WPs to work in Vietnam?

A WP is a document that a competent labor-management agency of Vietnam issues to a foreign employee to legally work in Vietnam. Labor Code 2019 stipulates that the conditions for foreign employees working in Vietnam include:

(i) Being at least 18 years old and fully capable of civil acts.

(ii) Having professional qualifications, techniques, skills, work experience and having "sufficient health."

(iii) Not being a person who is serving a sentence or has not been cleared of criminal charges under foreign or Vietnamese laws.

(iv) Having a WP.

Thus, foreign employees must meet the above requirement to work in Vietnam. Accordingly, unless the employee is exempt from the WP, having a WP is one of the mandatory conditions.

2. Which cases are foreign employees exempt from WPs?

Foreign employees must not apply for WPs in some cases. Instead, they can obtain WPECs in some cases, including one of the following:

(i) Foreign employees hold important positions in foreign-owned enterprises such as...

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