Short answer. Two separate tracks govern the right to work in Vietnam, and confusing them is the most common early mistake. A founder or capital-contributing investor typically enters and works under a DT-series investor visa (DT1 to DT4, valid from one to five years depending on the capital contribution and investment classification), which can itself exempt the holder from needing a separate work permit. Hired foreign staff, by contrast, generally need a standard work permit before starting employment, applied for by the employer between 60 and 10 working days before the intended start date, with authorities allowing up to 10 working days to decide on a complete application. A work permit is typically valid for up to two years and may be extended once for a further two years. A defined list of exemption categories — including qualifying capital-contributing owners, intra-company transferees with 12 or more months of prior employment with the same corporate group, licensed foreign lawyers, and short-term assignments under 90 days a year in qualifying roles — removes the work-permit requirement entirely for those who qualify, but exemption still requires a formal confirmation from the labour authority rather than being automatic.
The investor-visa track: DT1 to DT4
A foreign individual who contributes capital to a Vietnamese company, rather than being hired as an employee, is generally the correct candidate for a DT-series investor visa rather than an employment-based visa. The DT category is tiered (DT1 through DT4) by the scale of the capital contribution and the classification of the underlying investment project, with validity running from one to five years depending on the tier. A properly structured investor visa can itself carry the right to work in the invested company without triggering a separate work-permit requirement, which is one of the more commercially significant, and most frequently misunderstood, features of Vietnam's foreign-labour framework for founders and controlling shareholders.
The work-permit track for hired staff
Foreign employees hired into a Vietnamese entity — as distinct from capital-contributing owners — generally require a standard work permit before beginning employment. The employer is responsible for lodging the application, and the statutory window for doing so runs from 60 days down to 10 working days before the proposed start date; once a complete application is filed, the labour authority has 10 working days to decide. A work permit issued on this basis is typically valid for up to two years, tracked to the underlying employment contract or assignment, and can be extended once for a further two-year period provided the renewal is filed in good time — a lapsed permit is a compliance problem that is considerably harder to fix retroactively than to prevent by filing early.
Who is exempt, and why exemption still requires a formal step
Vietnam maintains a defined list of work-permit exemption categories, including qualifying capital-contributing owners (overlapping with, but not identical to, the DT-visa population), intra-company transferees with 12 or more months of prior employment within the same corporate group, foreign lawyers licensed to practise in Vietnam, individuals undertaking short-term assignments of under 90 days per year in qualifying roles, and certain volunteers and development-assistance personnel. A growing, though narrower, category also covers priority-sector professionals in fields such as finance, technology, and innovation under recent policy easing. Falling into one of these categories does not remove the administrative step entirely — a formal work-permit exemption confirmation from the labour authority is still required in most cases, and proceeding on the informal assumption that exemption is self-executing is one of the more common compliance gaps JMT sees among newly arrived foreign staff and founders.
Do I need a work permit if I am the founder and majority shareholder of my own Vietnamese company?
Often not, if you hold a properly structured DT-series investor visa tied to your capital contribution, which can itself carry the right to work in the invested company — but this depends on the specific visa tier and should be confirmed rather than assumed.
How long does it take to get a work permit for a newly hired foreign employee?
The employer must file between 60 and 10 working days before the intended start date, and authorities have up to 10 working days to decide on a complete application — meaning realistic total lead time, including document preparation, typically runs several weeks.
How long is a Vietnamese work permit valid, and can it be renewed?
A standard work permit is typically valid for up to two years, tied to the underlying employment contract or assignment, and can be extended once for a further two-year period if the renewal is filed in good time.
Is an intra-company transfer automatically exempt from the work-permit requirement?
Only if the transferee has 12 or more months of prior employment with the same corporate group — shorter-tenure transfers do not automatically qualify for this exemption category.
What is the difference between a DT visa and an LD visa?
DT visas (DT1 to DT4) are for capital-contributing investors and are tied to investment scale and classification, valid from one to five years; LD visas are employment-based, split into LD1 (exemption-confirmed) and LD2 (work-permit-linked), both generally capped at two years validity in line with work-permit duration.
How does JMT Private & Partners assist with work permits and investor visas?
JMT assesses which track applies to each founder and staff member, prepares and files work-permit and DT-visa applications, and manages exemption-confirmation submissions where applicable, as part of its Business Related Advisory service line.
