The work permit in brief
To work legally as an English teacher in Vietnam, you need a work permit – or to fall within one of the recognised exemptions. Your employer applies on your behalf. Under Decree 219/2025/ND-CP, permits are handled at provincial level, by the provincial People’s Committee or the department it authorises, so the exact office varies from province to province.
The decree’s standard route is the “expert” category: a bachelor’s degree plus at least two years of relevant work experience. Teachers get a different set of paperwork rules, though. For education roles, eligibility can be shown with documents proving you meet Vietnam’s education-sector teaching standards – and for language centres, those standards (a recognised qualification plus a language-teaching certificate) don’t include an experience requirement.
Two things the decree doesn’t say, despite what you’ll read elsewhere: it never states that a TEFL certificate “replaces” experience, and it doesn’t mention 120 hours anywhere. So always have your employer confirm the route and documents with their provincial authority.
There’s no maximum age written into the decree. Teachers in their 60s and beyond are regularly approved, provided they pass the health check – though individual employers have their own preferences.
Once issued, the permit is valid for up to two years and can be renewed once for a further two, giving four years in total. It’s tied to your employer and the role stated on it, so changing jobs means fresh paperwork.
Short-term teaching: the under-90-day exemption
If you’ll work fewer than 90 days in total during a calendar year, you can be exempt from the full work permit. Under Decree 219 there’s no exemption certificate to apply for in this case – your employer simply notifies the provincial authority in writing at least three working days before you start, with your details and working period.
It’s still a formal step arranged by your employer, not a green light for casual, unreported work. And for anything beyond 90 days in the year, the full permit process applies.
What you need to prepare before you leave home
This is the critical step, and the one where most delays happen. Foreign documents in a work permit application normally need consular legalisation – Vietnam isn’t part of the apostille convention – which means notarisation, authentication by your home country’s authority, then legalisation by a Vietnamese embassy. After that, they’re translated into Vietnamese and certified locally.
Doing the home-country steps before you travel is straightforward. Doing them from Vietnam means sending documents back internationally, which can take weeks or months.
One thing to check first: ask your employer exactly which qualification documents their province wants, so you legalise the right paperwork.
The documents to prepare:
- Bachelor’s degree certificate
Needed whichever route your employer uses. Have the original legalised at home: notarised, authenticated by your country’s designated authority (in the UK, the FCDO), then legalised by a Vietnamese embassy or consulate. If your employer is using the general “expert” route, they’ll also need written confirmation of at least two years’ relevant work experience – another reason to confirm the route first. - Criminal background check
Must be issued within six months of the application. It can come from your home country or be issued in Vietnam – and under Decree 219, your employer can even request a Vietnamese one alongside the permit application, with your authorisation. If you use a home-country check, allow plenty of time (FBI checks can take 12–14 weeks) and budget for the same legalisation process as your degree. - TEFL certificate
Usually part of the evidence where your employer relies on the education-sector standards. No regulation fixes a minimum number of hours – 120 is the industry benchmark – so check with your employer that your particular certificate will be accepted before paying to legalise it. If you plan to take your TEFL course in Vietnam, legalisation can be arranged after the course; your training provider should be able to help. - Health certificate
Usually done in Vietnam at an approved hospital after you arrive, and it must be no more than 12 months old when the application goes in. Overseas health checks are only accepted where Vietnam has a recognition agreement with the issuing country, so the safest plan is to do it locally. Your employer will point you to the right facility. - Passport
The permit application itself just needs a valid passport, but keep at least six months’ validity and a couple of blank pages – visa and entry rules still expect them.
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 with the right immigration status – but don’t start teaching yet.
Most prospective teachers enter Vietnam on an e-visa ($25 single-entry or $50 multiple-entry, valid for up to 90 days). That gives you time to complete a TEFL course, interview, and secure a job offer. What it doesn’t give you is permission to work: teaching should wait until your permit is issued, or a valid exemption has been notified.
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: Sort your work visa or residence status.
Once the work permit is approved, your employer helps you move onto the right immigration status – typically an LD2 (work) visa or a temporary residence card. Exactly how depends on your current visa, nationality and province: some cases can be handled without leaving Vietnam, others involve exiting and re-entering. Don’t let anyone present a border run as an automatic, standard step – it isn’t.
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.
One thing a pending application doesn’t do is authorise you to work. The permit is meant to be in place before your employment contract is signed and before your start date. Some schools will suggest you “start now and sort the paperwork later” – be careful, because the legal risk of that arrangement sits with you, not the school.
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 legalisation, 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 notarisation, authentication and consular legalisation 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.
- Vietnam e-visa: $25 single-entry or $50 multiple-entry.
Total out-of-pocket for the teacher: roughly $250–600, with document legalisation the biggest variable. Some schools cover everything; others cover only the government fee and leave the rest to you. Ask for a written breakdown before you accept the offer.
What can go wrong, and how to avoid it
- Documents not properly legalised.
Still the number one cause of delays – and note that an apostille alone isn’t enough for Vietnam. Foreign documents need the full consular legalisation chain, and the steps vary by country. If it isn’t done before you fly, your paperwork may have to travel home without you. Start months ahead. - 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”. The risk of that sits with you: under Decree 12/2022, a teacher working without a valid permit or exemption faces fines of VND 15-25 million ($600-$1,000) and can be required to leave, or be deported from, Vietnam. Employers face heavier penalties again. Schools that walk 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.
Renewing your work permit
Your work permit can be renewed once for up to two years, giving a maximum of four years on a single employer sponsorship. Renewal is significantly simpler and cheaper than the initial application. You do not need to resubmit your degree, TEFL certificate, or criminal background check. The main requirements are an updated health certificate (within 12 months), a new labour contract, and a valid passport. Submit the renewal application 10-45 days before your current permit expires.
Renewal costs are roughly VND 300,000-450,000 ($12-$18) in government fees, plus the health certificate. Total: approximately $55-$185, compared to $250–600 for the initial permit.
After that single renewal (four years in total), you’ll need a fresh work permit application to keep working. If you’re staying with the same employer in the same role, the paperwork is lighter than first time around – your school will confirm exactly what their province needs.
What changed under Decree 219/2025
Decree 219/2025/ND-CP took effect on 7 August 2025, replacing Decree 152/2020 and Decree 70/2023. For teachers, the honest summary is: the process got simpler, but the wording around experience is less black-and-white than it’s often presented.
The general “expert” requirement dropped from three years’ relevant experience to two. That’s a rule for the expert category as a whole – the decree doesn’t set one rule for teachers with a TEFL certificate and another for teachers without.
For education roles, the decree’s paperwork rules point to Vietnam’s education-sector standards instead, and for language centres those standards centre on a recognised qualification plus a teaching certificate – with no experience requirement. That’s the real basis on which first-time teachers qualify. It just isn’t written into the decree as a simple “TEFL instead of experience” rule, and no regulation fixes a 120-hour minimum.
The paperwork was consolidated: the employer’s justification for hiring a foreign worker and the permit application now go in together as a single submission (Form 03). And with your authorisation, your employer can request a Vietnamese criminal record certificate at the same time through the National Public Service Portal, with both issued together electronically.
The practical effect: a faster, more integrated process – but not a looser one. Before relying on the no-experience route, have your employer confirm the qualification documents with their provincial authority.
