Administrative Changes to Work Permit Processes

On 4 May 2019, the Ministry of Labour, War invalids and Social Affairs (“MOLISA”) issued Decision 632/QD-LDTBXH announcing amended and supplemented administrative procedures regarding employment under the management of MOLISA.

Decision 632 – Why the changes?

The Decision details administrative procedures which are modified, supplemented or repealed as a result of the earlier release of the following legal documents:

• Decree 140/2018/ND-CP by the Government amending Decrees related to business conditions and administrative procedures under the management of the MOLISA
• Circular 18/2018/TT-BLDTBXH by MOLISA on amendments and supplements to certain articles of Decrees related to administrative procedures under the management of MOLISA

Although these legal documents were issued and applied since late 2018, this Decision helps to harmonise the practical processes that are applied from an administrative aspect within MOLISA and its agencies, as the Decision details specific adjustment contents for each administrative procedure under the management of MOLISA.

What has changed?

Some notable changes from the decision are:

1. There are no longer circumstances which a work permit is revoked. This is provided by Article 13 of Decree 140/2018/ND-CP, which repeals Article 17 of Decree 11/2016 / ND-CP.
2. A foreign employee can submit a photocopy of their passport for their Work Permit application, and a notarised passport is no longer required according to Clause 6, Article 11 of Decree 140/2018/ND-CP.
3. Article 10 of Decree 140/2018/ND-C reduces the timeline for granting a Work Permit from 7 working days to 5 working days from the date of receipt of valid and sufficient application documents. Please note that a application for an approval of recruitment of foreign employee still needs to be undertaken before applying for the Work Permit.
4. There has been a simplification in the process for determining the “demand for use of foreign employees” by an employer. Previously, employers were responsible for determining the need to use foreign workers for each job position that Vietnamese workers had not met the need, then this was reported to the Chairman of the People’s Committee of a Province or Municipality. This has been revised by Clause 2, Article 11 of Decree 140/2018/ND-CP, so that the determination of the need to use foreign workers is simply reported and explained to the Provincial People’s Committee or Municipality.
5. Many application forms have been amended, and new forms need to be used. Accordingly:
   • The expected work location will need to be declared in Form No. 1, Form No. 2 and Form No. 3
   • Form 9 has been changed in its format
   • The area for pasting a 3×4 passport photo has been removed from the left corner of Form 12, so the Certification of foreign workers eligible for exemption from Work Permits no longer requires a photo