Effective Date & Summary
Effective September 10, 2026, Vietnamese authorities have widened the range of enforceable employer obligations and generally increased penalty levels for non-compliance.
Key Information to Note
Working without valid work authorisation
- Foreign nationals working without a required Work Permit (WP) or Work Permit Exemption Certificate (WPEC), or with an expired WP or WPEC, face a fine of VND 15 to 25 million, with expulsion available as an additional sanction.
- Employer fines apply concurrently and scale with the number of non-compliant employees: VND 30 to 45 million for 1 to 10 employees, VND 45 to 60 million for 11 to 20 employees, and VND 60 to 75 million for 21 or more employees.
Assignments under 90 days: notification failures now penalised
- Foreign nationals working for a cumulative 90 days or less per calendar year remain exempt from both the WP and the WPEC requirements under Decree 219, but the employer must notify the competent authority at least three working days before work begins.
- Decree 283 now penalises a missing, late, or incomplete notification at VND 1 to 3 million, with the filing still required as a remedial measure. Where the exemption requirements are met, this is an employer breach only, with no penalty on the individual.
Other employer penalties
- Deploying an employee inconsistently with the details recorded on their WP or WPEC or failing to return or revoke those documents: VND 5 to 10 million per employee, capped at VND 75 million per employer.
- Missing, late, or incomplete multi-province notification for a WP or WPEC holder working across more than one province: VND 1 to 3 million.
Newland Chase Insights
With these changes, enforcement now extends to the administrative obligations surrounding work authorization, notably short-term assignment notifications, multi-province notifications, and end-of-assignment document returns. These requirements may previously have been handled less formally because non-compliance did not carry the same potential penalties.
Employers should audit their foreign national populations for expired or expiring permits and for discrepancies between an employee’s recorded and actual role, location, and employing entity. Employers should also ensure that work permit exemption notifications are appropriately tracked and completed within the required timeframe.
This news alert is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For case-specific guidance or further information, please contact Newland Chase directly.
