The work permit in brief
To work legally as an English teacher in Vietnam, you need a work permit issued by the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (DOLISA). Your employer applies on your behalf. Without a valid work permit, you’re working illegally, regardless of what visa stamp is in your passport.
The current regulations are set out in Decree 219/2025/ND-CP, which replaced the previous Decree 152 and streamlined parts of the process. The core requirements remain the same: a bachelor’s degree, a TEFL certificate (or documented teaching experience), a criminal background check, and a health certificate.
Once issued, the work permit is valid for up to two years and can be renewed once for a further two years, giving four years total. It’s tied to your employer and your specific work location, so changing jobs means notifying the authorities and, in most cases, applying for a new permit through your new employer.
What you need to prepare before you leave home
This is the critical step, and the one where most delays happen. The documents required for a Vietnam work permit need to be legalised, which means notarised, apostilled (or authenticated by a Vietnamese embassy), and eventually translated into Vietnamese. Doing this from your home country is straightforward. Trying to do it from Vietnam means sending documents back internationally, which can take weeks or months.
The documents you need to have legalised before travelling:
- Bachelor’s degree certificate
The original, notarised and apostilled in your home country. An apostille is a standardised form of international authentication, available through your country’s designated authority (in the UK, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office; in the US, your state’s Secretary of State office). If your country is not part of the Hague Apostille Convention, you’ll need embassy legalisation instead, which can take longer. - Criminal background check
Must be issued within six months of your work permit application. In some countries (notably the US, where FBI checks take 12–14 weeks), this means starting the process well before you plan to travel. The check also needs to be legalised.TEFL certificate
Your 120-hour certificate, legalised the same way as your degree. Some providers issue certificates that are already formatted for legalisation – ask before you enrol. If you plan to travel to Vietnam and get your TEFL certification once there, legalisation of your certificate can be done after your course, though it may take several weeks. Your training provider should be able to help with this process. - Health certificate
This is usually done in Vietnam at an approved hospital after you arrive. Your employer will direct you to the right facility. The certificate must be issued within 12 months of your application. It’s possible that some overseas health checks may be accepted, but this varies by province. The safest option is to plan plan on doing this in Vietnam. - Passport
Must have at least six months’ validity from your date of entry and at least two blank pages.
Bring multiple copies of everything. Both immigration authorities and individual employers may request them, and replacements are expensive and slow from overseas.
The process, step by step
Step 1: Arrive on a tourist visa.
Most teachers enter Vietnam on an e-visa (around $25, valid for 90 days). This gives you time to complete a TEFL course, interview, and secure a job offer.
Step 2: Secure a job offer.
Your employer must be a registered educational institution. Once you accept, they’ll begin the work permit process. You’ll need to provide all your legalised documents.
Step 3: Your employer submits the application.
Under Decree 219/2025, the employer submits an integrated application (Form 03) through Vietnam’s National Public Service Portal. This combines the labour demand justification and the work permit request into a single submission – previously these were separate steps. Official processing time is 10 working days from receipt of complete documents.
Step 4: Visa conversion.
Once the work permit is approved, your employer helps you convert your tourist visa to an LD2 (work) visa. This may involve a brief exit from Vietnam. A “visa run” to the Cambodian border is common and typically costs around $115 including transport. Some employers can arrange the conversion without leaving, but this depends on your specific visa status.
Step 5: Temporary residence card.
With your work permit and LD2 visa in place, you can apply for a temporary residence card (TRC), valid for up to two years. This replaces your visa as your primary residence document and simplifies travel in and out of Vietnam.
Realistic timeline
The official processing time for the work permit itself is 10 working days. But the full timeline from job offer to work permit in hand is longer, because it includes document checking, submission, and any back-and-forth over formatting issues.
Realistically, expect four to eight weeks from accepting a job to having your work permit issued. During this period, most teachers are already teaching – many schools start you on a tourist or business visa while the permit is being processed, which is standard practice.
The biggest variable is document preparation. If your legalised documents are ready when you accept the job, the process moves quickly. If they’re not – if you need to send your degree home for apostilling, or wait weeks for a background check – that’s where the delays can add up.
What it costs
Costs vary depending on your home country and how much your employer covers, but here’s a realistic range:
- Government work permit fee: VND 400,000–1,000,000 (approximately $16–40). Usually paid by the employer.
- Document legalisation: varies widely by country. Budget $100–300 for apostilles, notarisation, and certified translations across all your documents.
- Health check in Vietnam: typically $50–100 at an approved hospital.
- Vietnamese translations: $50–100 for all documents combined, done locally in Vietnam.
- Visa run (if required): approximately $115 for a Cambodia border run.
- Tourist e-visa: $25.
Total out-of-pocket for the teacher: roughly $300–800, depending on your home country’s legalisation costs and how your employer shares expenses. Some schools cover everything; others cover only the government fee and leave the rest to you. Ask before you accept the offer.
What can go wrong, and how to avoid it
- Documents not legalised before arrival.
This is the number one cause of delays. If your degree isn’t apostilled, you can’t just get it done in Vietnam. It needs to go back to your home country. Start the legalisation process months before you plan to travel. - Background check expired or still processing.
The check must be issued within six months of your work permit application. FBI checks from the US take 12–14 weeks. UK DBS checks are faster but still take time. Don’t leave this until the last minute. - Wrong hospital or formatting on health certificate.
Not all hospitals are approved for work permit health checks, and the format is important. Wrong information, missing signatures, or incorrect conclusions can get your application rejected. Your employer should direct you to the right facility. - Employer doesn’t have proper registration.
Not every language centre is registered to sponsor foreign workers. If a school can’t tell you clearly how the work permit process works when you ask, that’s a warning sign. Established schools that regularly hire foreign teachers will have a well-practised system. - Working without a permit.
Some schools suggest you start on a tourist visa and sort the paperwork “later”. While many teachers do teach during the processing period with their employer’s knowledge, working long-term without a permit carries real risks: fines, deportation, and difficulty obtaining proper documentation in future. Schools that help you through the proper process are the ones to trust.
Changing employers
Your work permit is tied to your employer. If you change jobs, your new employer will generally need to apply for a new work permit on your behalf. The old permit should be cancelled by your previous employer. This process is manageable but takes time. Don’t assume you can switch schools and keep working seamlessly without paperwork.
What changed under Decree 219/2025
Decree 219/2025/ND-CP came into effect on 7 August 2025, replacing the previous regulations under Decree 152/2020 and Decree 70/2023. It simplified several parts of the work permit process and adjusted the qualification requirements. Here are the key changes that affect English teachers:
The experience requirement was reduced from three years to two years for teachers without a TEFL certificate. For teachers with a 120-hour TEFL certificate, no experience is required – this hasn’t changed.
The application process was consolidated. Previously, employers submitted a separate labour demand justification before applying for the permit. Under Decree 219, both are combined into a single Form 03 submission, saving roughly 10–15 days.
Criminal background checks can now be processed simultaneously with the work permit application through the National Public Service Portal, rather than as a separate step.
The practical effect for most TEFL teachers: the process is slightly faster and simpler than before, but the document requirements haven’t changed. Preparation at home is still the critical factor.
