Draft new Decree on foreign workers in Vietnam: a necessary amendment

The Draft Decree on foreign workers working in Vietnam, developed by the Ministry of Home Affairs to replace Decree No. 152/2020/ND-CP and Decree No. 70/2023/ND-CP (the "Draft"), [1]brings many important changes and supplements to meet the requirements of administrative procedure reform,  improve the business environment, and attract high-quality human resources from abroad. This article will analyze the notable new points in the draft, focusing on the adjustments to the licensing time, application requirements, decentralization of authority, and application of information technology, and evaluate the implications of these changes for the management of foreign workers and Vietnam's socio-economic development in the context of the Party and the State of Vietnam is reforming the business environment in Vietnam.

1. Reduce the time to issue work permits

One of the outstanding new points of the Draft is the effort to significantly reduce the processing time for work permit procedures. According to current regulations in Decree 152/2020/ND-CP, this process can take up to 36 working days. The draft proposal proposes to integrate the procedure for reporting and explaining the demand for foreign workers into the process of submitting applications for licenses, thereby shortening the maximum time for work permit issuance procedures to 10 working days. The shortening of the time to issue work permits helps Vietnam become a more attractive destination for foreign investors and experts, especially in priority areas such as technology, finance, and digital transformation. At the same time, the reduction of the licensing time is also a necessary reform step to meet the requirements of the Party and the State in facilitating business activities in Vietnam, specifically the reduction of at least 30% of the time for processing administrative procedures in 2025. Not to mention, the reduction in licensing time will help relevant businesses and organizations save time and costs, thereby quickly implementing projects with the participation of foreign workers, creating conditions to accelerate actual business activities.

2. Amendments to regulations on health examination certificates

The Draft Decree amends regulations on health examination certificates, allowing health certificates or health examination certificates issued by competent health agencies of foreign countries or Vietnam to be valid for a period of 12 months from the date of issuance to the date of submission of dossiers. For health examination certificates issued by Vietnamese agencies, the additional requirement is that foreigners do not suffer from infectious diseases that are at risk of community spread, according to the guidance of the Ministry of Health. The recognition of health certificates from both foreign and Vietnamese agencies helps reduce the burden on foreign workers, especially those who have undergone a medical examination before coming to Vietnam. This regulation is also to ensure public health safety. The requirement to control infectious diseases reflects the state's interest in protecting public health, especially in the context of globalization and the alarming risk of infectious diseases since the Covid-19 pandemic. This amendment proposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs will help employees not have to carry out additional health checks if the documents are still valid, thereby saving costs and time.

It should be noted that businesses hope that after this Decree is issued, the Ministry of Health will have specific guidelines on the list of infectious diseases to be clearly announced and widely disseminated, avoiding confusion in the implementation process.

3. Simplifying Judicial Record Requirements

The draft proposes to classify foreign workers to simplify the requirements for judicial records. For managers, investors, and experts entering Vietnam to handle emergency situations, the Draft allows only to report to the competent authority at the workplace 3 days in advance, instead of having to carry out procedures for issuing work permits or certifying that they are not subject to licensing. These cases are also exempt from the criminal record requirement.

In addition, for cases of applying for certification of not being subject to work permits, the draft abolishes the requirement to submit judicial records and supplements the subjects to be certified, including those who are certified by ministries and ministerial-level agencies to work in priority fields such as finance,  science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, and key development fields of Vietnam. The elimination of judicial background requirements for some groups of subjects helps reduce administrative barriers, creating favorable conditions for experts and investors to work in Vietnam. In addition, the new regulation Draft allows for the rapid handling of emergency situations, such as technical assistance or short-term professional advice.

It can be seen that prioritizing strategic areas such as digital transformation and innovation shows the Government's clear orientation in developing high-tech industries.

However, the exemption from judicial records should be accompanied by a strict monitoring mechanism to ensure security and social order, avoiding cases of abuse of this regulation.

4. Simplify Expert Qualification Conditions

The draft amendments to the regulations on conditions for certification of experts are simpler, with two main changes:

Firstly, it is necessary to supplement cases that only need to graduate from university to be eligible to work in Vietnam in priority fields such as finance, science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, or under cooperation agreements of the Vietnamese Government.

Secondly, for specific fields (such as finance, science, technology, university lecturers, etc.), experts certified by specialized ministries (such as the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education and Training) will be recognized as experts and do not need to issue work permits.

The relaxation of the conditions from experience requirements or advanced degrees to only need to graduate from university helps Vietnam attract many young and dynamic human resources in new fields. This regulation is in line with bilateral or multilateral cooperation agreements, creating conditions for international experts to participate in strategic projects. Regulations authorize specialized ministries to certify experts to help reduce the burden on labor management agencies, and at the same time ensure professionalism in the appraisal process.

The point that needs to be improved is that it is necessary to have clear criteria for specialized ministries to certify experts, avoiding inconsistency or bias in the assessment process.

Mr. Pham Van Tuyen responded to the enterprises' proposals. Source: Labor Newspaper

5. Decentralization of licensing competence

The draft implements the thorough decentralization of the authority to issue work permits. Accordingly, agencies, organizations and enterprises established by the Government, the Prime Minister, or ministries may choose to submit dossiers at the Ministry of Home Affairs or provincial-level competent agencies. For employers with representative offices or branches in many localities, they are also allowed to choose to handle procedures at the Ministry of Home Affairs to simplify the process.

The Draft allows businesses to choose a management agency that suits their needs, helping to save time and travel costs. Moreover, the decentralization of authority to the provincial level helps reduce the pressure on processing documents at the Ministry of Home Affairs, and at the same time improves local responsibility in managing foreign workers. The clear decentralization helps localities to be more proactive in attracting foreign human resources, in line with the economic development needs of each region.

However, to ensure consistency, it is necessary to have a centralized database system and detailed guidance for localities to synchronously implement the licensing process, avoiding the case that each locality implements in one way as it is now.

6. Supplementing procedures for certification of not being subject to work permits

The draft supplements administrative procedures related to re-issuance, extension, and revocation of certificates not subject to work permits. This is to overcome the situation that the certificate is damaged, lost, or expired but not reissued or extended, forcing the employee to submit a new dossier.

The addition of these procedures helps ensure the rights of foreign workers, while minimizing work interruptions due to paperwork. The new regulation reflects the actual need, when in many cases the certificate needs to be extended or reissued to continue working legally.

In general, clearly stipulating cases of revocation helps the management agency better control cases of violations or are no longer eligible to work. However, it should also be noted that these new procedures need to be specifically guided and integrated into the online system to ensure convenience for users.

7. Promote the application of information technology

The draft emphasizes the application of information technology in the management and issuance of work permits, including:

• Issuance of work permits online.
• To build a unified database on foreign workers from the central to local levels, connecting with other administrative databases on foreign citizens in Vietnam.

The digitization of the licensing process helps increase transparency, minimize errors, and improve the efficiency of case processing. At the same time, having a unified database will facilitate information sharing between agencies, thereby improving management and monitoring. It is required to apply information technology in line with international practices, help Vietnam integrate more deeply into the global labor market, integrate with modern development principles and trends of the world.

To implement effectively, it is necessary to invest in technology infrastructure, staff training, and ensure cybersecurity to protect workers' personal data.

The new draft Decree on foreign workers working in Vietnam brings many breakthrough new points, from shortening the time for issuing licenses, easing dossier requirements, decentralizing authority, to promoting the application of information technology. These changes not only meet the requirements of administrative reform but also demonstrate Vietnam's strategic orientation in attracting high-quality human resources, promoting economic development, and international integration. However, to ensure feasibility, it is necessary to closely coordinate between agencies, invest in infrastructure, and issue detailed guidelines to synchronously implement the new regulations. With these adjustments, Vietnam is gradually building a more open, friendly, and competitive working environment in the region as well as in the international arena.