5 major changes in Vietnam Immigration Policy since July 1, 2020

Last updated: Jun 24/2024

New Vietnam visa types and code, new tourist visa validity, visa status change without leaving Vietnam, etc. See how the Vietnam immigration policy changes from July 1, 2020

The new Law No. 51/2019/QH14 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law No. 47/2014/QH13 on entry, exit, transit and residence of foreigners in Vietnam will take effect on July 1, 2020. This new law is in concern by various foreigners who are currently in Vietnam or will visit Vietnam in the future as it covers some major changes in Vietnam visa and Vietnam temporary residence card.

This article gives you a detailed analysis of major changes in Vietnam Immigration policy when this new law comes into effect on July 1, 2020.

1. 4 major changes on Vietnam visa since July 1, 2020

1.1 The first change related to types and codes of Vietnam visa. Instead of current 20 types and codes, we will have 21 types and codes with more sub-codes since July 1, 2020 as follows:

Law No. 47/2014/QH13	Law No. 51/2019/QH14
i. NG1 – to be granted to members of delegations invited by the Secretary-General of Vietnam’s Communist Party of, the President of Vietnam, the President of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister.	► remain unchanged
ii. NG2 – to be granted to members of delegations invited by standing members of the Secretariat of the Vietnam’s Communist Party, Deputy President of Vietnam, Deputy President of the National Assembly, Deputy Prime Minister, President of Vietnamese Fatherland Front, Executive Judge of the People’s Supreme Court, Chief Procurator of the People’s Supreme Procuracy, State Auditor General; members of delegations at the same levels of Ministers, Secretary Generals of Provincial Communist Authorities, Presidents of the People’s Councils, Presidents of the People’s Committees of provinces.	► remain unchanged
iii. NG3 – to be granted to members of diplomatic missions, consular offices, representative offices of international organizations affiliated to the UN, representative offices of intergovernmental organizations and their spouses, children under 18 years of age, and housemaids during their term of office.	► remain unchanged
iv. NG4– to be granted to people who come to work with diplomatic missions, consular offices, and representative offices of international organizations affiliated to the UN, representative offices of intergovernmental organizations, visitors of members of diplomatic missions, consular offices, representative offices of international organizations affiliated to the UN, and representative offices of intergovernmental organizations.	► Changed to: NG4– to be granted to people who come to work with diplomatic missions, consular offices, and representative offices of international organizations affiliated to the UN, representative offices of intergovernmental organizations and their accompanying spouse/children under 18 years old, visitors of members of diplomatic missions, consular offices, representative offices of international organizations affiliated to the UN, and representative offices of intergovernmental organizations.
v. LV1 – to be granted to people who come to work with units affiliated to Vietnam’s Communist Party; the National Assembly, the Government, Central Committee of Vietnamese Fatherland Front, the People’s Supreme Court, the People’s Supreme Procuracy, State Audit Agency, Ministries, ministerial agencies, Governmental agencies, the People’s Councils, the People’s Committees of provinces.	► remain unchanged
vi. LV2 – to be granted to people who come to work with socio-political organizations, social organizations, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.	► remain unchanged
vii. ĐT – to be granted to foreign investors in Vietnam and foreign lawyers practicing in Vietnam.	► This visa type is now amended and supplemented as follows: LS – to be granted to foreign lawyers practicing in Vietnam. ĐT1 – to be granted to foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam with capital contribution of at least VND100 billion, or investing in the business fields and areas of investment incentives decided by the Vietnam Government. ĐT2 – to be granted to foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam with capital contribution of VND50 – under VND100 billion, or investing in the business fields of investment encouragement decided by the Vietnam Government. ĐT3 – to be granted to foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam with capital contribution of VND3 – under VND50 billion. ĐT4 – to be granted to foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam with capital contribution of less than VND3 billion.
viii. DN – to be granted to people who come to work with enterprises in Vietnam.	► to be changed as follows: DN1 – to be granted to foreigners who work with other businesses and organizations with legal status in accordance with the laws of Vietnam. DN2 – to be granted to foreigners who come to Vietnam to offer services, establish a commercial presence or perform other activities under international treaties to which Vietnam is a member.
ix. NN1 – to be granted to Managers of representative offices or projects of international organizations and foreign non-governmental organizations in Vietnam.	► remain unchanged
x. NN2 – to be granted to heads of representative offices, branches of foreign traders, representative offices of other foreign economic, cultural, professional organizations in Vietnam.	► remain unchanged
xi. NN3 – to be granted to people who come to work with foreign non-governmental organizations, representative offices, branches of foreign traders, representative offices of other foreign economic, cultural, professional organizations in Vietnam.	► remain unchanged
xii. DH – to be granted to people who come to study or serve an internship.	► remain unchanged
xiii. HN – to be granted to people who come to attend conventions or conferences.	► remain unchanged
xiv. PV1 – to be granted to journalists who have permanent residences in Vietnam.	► remain unchanged
xv. PV2 – to be granted to journalists who come to work for a short period of time in Vietnam.	► remain unchanged
xvi. LĐ – to be granted to people who come to work.	► to be changed as follows: LĐ1 – to be granted to foreigners who come to work in Vietnam with work permit exemption certificate, unless otherwise provided for in international treaties to which Vietnam is a member. LĐ2 – to be granted to foreigners who must have work permit to work in Vietnam.
xvii. DL – to be granted to tourists to Vietnam.	► remain unchanged
xviii. TT – to be granted to foreigners that are parents, spouse, children under 18 years of age of the foreigners issued with LV1, LV2, ĐT, NN1, NN2, DH, PV1, LĐ visas, or foreigners that are parents, spouse, children of Vietnamese citizens.	► to be amended as follows: TT – to be granted to foreigners that are parents, spouse, children under 18 years of age of the foreigners issued with LV1, LV2, LS, ĐT1, ĐT2, ĐT3, NN1, NN2, DH, PV1, LĐ1, LĐ2 visas, or foreigners that are parents, spouse, children of Vietnamese citizens.
xix. VR – to be granted to people who come to visit their relatives or for other purposes.	► remain unchanged
xx. SQ – to be granted to people in the cases mentioned in Clause 3 Article 17 of this Law.	► remain unchanged
	xxi. EV – newly added – Elec

1.2. The second change is about the tourist visa validity. It is changed as follows:

According to this new law, visitors entering Vietnam will be granted a temporary residence stamp upon arrival with the duration of stay matching their visas. But for tourist visas which are valid for more than 30 days, tourists are only given a 30-day temporary residence stamp, and they may consider extending visa every 30 days if they do not wish to leave the country.

1.3. The third change is about change of visa status without leaving the country for eligible foreigners.

Currently, if a visa holder needs to change his/her visa to another type/category, he/she needs to leave Vietnam and enter again under the new visa. This policy has been relaxed under the new law and a visa purpose can be changed without the need to exit Vietnam in the following cases

Being an investor or a representative of a foreign organization investing in Vietnam;
Being a parent, spouse, or child of the guarantor;
Being invited or guaranteed to enter Vietnam for employment and granted a work permit or work permit exemption;
Entering Vietnam under an e-visa and then being granted a work permit or work permit exemption.

So, with this change, more foreigners will be able to change their visa status without leaving Vietnam, making it easier to transition to long-term visa status.

1.4 The 4th change is about visa exemption as follows:

In addition to the current visa exemption certificate, there will be two major points that you should note in this regard which takes effect on July 1, 2020, according to the Law No. 51/2019/QH14.

The 30-day visa exemption is granted to those entering the coastal economic zones decided by the Government when those zones meet the following conditions:
- having an international airport,
- having their own space;
- having defined geographical boundaries and be separate from the mainland;
- being in line with socio-economic development policies while posing no threat to national defense, security, social order and safety of Vietnam.
The regulation requiring that the foreigners who enter Vietnam with unilateral visa exemption (those from Belarus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) must wait 30 days following their exit date to enter Vietnam with another visa exemption will be removed. It means that, those citizens can, now, from July 1, 2020, can enter Vietnam at any time with 15-day visa exemption.

2. Major change on Vietnam temporary card which take effect on July 1, 2020

There will be more codes for Vietnam temporary card due to more codes of Vietnam visa as mentioned above. The eligible applicants now can get a Vietnam temporary residence card of either of the following codes which matches to their visa code:

NG3
LV1
LV2
LS
ĐT1
ĐT2
ĐT3
NN1
NN2
DH
PV1
LĐ1
LĐ2
TT

Please take note that in accordance with the current laws, all foreign investors can obtain a ĐT visa which is a good basis for an application for a temporary residence card valid for up to 5 years. But in accordance with this new law, foreign investors with ĐT4 visa (having the capital contribution of less than VND3 billion) is not eligible for a temporary residence card in Vietnam/

There are also some changes in the validity of those temporary residence cards. If according to current law, a temporary residence card is valid for 5 years at maximum, its validity under the new law is valid for up to 10 years, specifically as follows:

TRC with ĐT1 code: valid for up to 10 years,
TRC with NG3, LV1, LV2, LS, ĐT2 and DH: valid for up to 05 years,
TRC with NN1, NN2, ĐT3 and TT: valid for up to 03 years,
TRC with LĐ1, LĐ2, and PV1: valid for up to 02 years.

But it is the same as the current Law No. 47/2014/QH13, the temporary residence card validity will be 30 days shorter than the remaining validity of the applicant’s passport.

Should you have any question about a temporary residence card in Vietnam, feel free to let us know.

3. Legal sources

Law No. 51/2019/QH14
Law No. 47/2014/QH13
Guidance on implementation of Law No. 51/2019/QH14 by the Vietnam Immigration Department.

Above are the major changes related to entry, exit, transit, and residence of foreigners in Vietnam. Should you need any clarification, feel free to let us know at +49 1764 5030929 or visa.mttravel@gmail.com