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Awesome!  It just took one week to process my application for my temporary resident permit here in Vietnam.  I picked up temporary resident ID card today which is valid until May 30, 2013.  I never thought I would get to this day.

It is all done!!!

Now I will try to get my Vietnamese driver’s license for both a car and motorbike.  That is supposed to be much easier.  I will start that process myself on Monday.

Well, finally, after trying for nearly 10 months, I got my work permit.  I can now legally work in Vietnam for the Horizon International Bilingual School for the next 3 years in various capacities relating to IT. My work permit can be extended three times possibly up to 9 more years for a total of 12 years.

My school is now working on getting me my 3 year temporary resident card.

Yes, it was a bit difficult to get my work permit.  I originally started with my company, SLG Vscapeone.  Due to problems related to my ex-business partner, the documents filled out for the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (DoLISA) were incorrectly filled out.  One document listed me as General Director, the other as Assistant Manager.  Yes, this was purposely done and many know I was forced to leave Vietnam for 4 days to fix my visa in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, last March.  Now everything is good to go and I hope many Expats do not have to experience the headache I went through.

So here is my recap on how “Americans” can get their work permits.  There are still many who need to obtain them before the July deadline at which point Vietnam will start to deport those foreigners who do not hold work permits.

Rule #1, DO NOT USE AN AGENT to get your work permit.  They are worthless and not worth the time and money you will spend with them.  I used my ex-business partner’s friend who, for nearly 5 months, did nothing to help me obtain my work permit though I had to pay him.  When Horizon resubmitted the forms, we had to start from scratch (minus the police report and health check).  My lawyer filled out my job experience form.  Skip the agent, ask your employers or very close friend to help you.  You have to do most of the work anyway.

Here we go: Read the rest of this entry »

Not surprised when I read this latest new piece from Thanh Nien News.  If you do not have a work permit by July then you must leave Vietnam or be deported.  In reality, it is not realistic for many teachers and professionals with legitimate jobs in Vietnam.

The time period to obtain your work permit can exceed 6 months for some.  Getting the necessary authentications are not that easy and for some Expats, they will need to wait at least 6 months before they can even submit the work permit application (you need to wait 6 months before you can do your criminal background check in Vietnam.  It is not realistic to have it done overseas since many Expats live in more than one location over the last 10 years).

Luckily for many Expats, due to the lack of transparency of Vietnamese government agencies, this ruling will be hard to implement.  It could also jeopardize the steady stream of new ‘legitimate’ revenue for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the increase visa fees for many Expats and Tourists.  This will be a wait and see thing…

Foreign workers in Vietnam will have to obtain a work permit by July or they will be deported, according to a new regulation drafted by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA).

Foreigners working in Vietnam for more than three months without a permit will not have their visas or their temporary residence cards extended, according to the draft.

In many cases, they will be deported, the draft said.

Six months after the draft takes effect this July, all foreign workers that have not applied for a work permit will be sent home.

Those foreigners hired to manage or operate production lines must have at least five years experience in management jobs to hold such positions here, according to the draft.

Also, foreigners working in Vietnam must be over 18 years old and have clean criminal records.

Vietnam’s current decree on foreign labor only includes the conditions by which to grant work permits to foreigners, not punishment for those without them, Le Quang Trung, deputy head of the MoLISA’s Job Department, was quoted by the Vietnam Economic Times as saying recently.

“The new decree gives authorities the foundation and rights on which to expel foreign workers,” Trung said.

Firms will be fined VND5-10 million (US$268-535) if their foreign employees don’t meet the requirements.

The amendments also require Vietnamese employers, especially construction firms and project investors, to keep local authorities updated with their foreign worker statistics.

City and provincial labor departments will receive applications for work permits.

Foreigners will not need the permit if they are members of limited firms that have two or more members, owners of one-member limited firms, board members of joint stock firms, promoters of specific services, and lawyers that are allowed by the Ministry of Justice to work in Vietnam.

The work permit will be effective for up to three years, depending on the terms of each worker’s labor contract. Foreigners can have their permit extended if their work requires more than three years or if they’re supposed to transfer technology to Vietnamese workers and need more time to do so, the draft said.

Official statistics showed that Vietnam now employs nearly 60,000 legal foreign workers and 20,000 illegal ones, many of them manual workers. Vietnam’s policy is to export manual workers and receive none.

Figures from the Ministry of Public Security last year showed that more than 35,000 Chinese were working in Vietnam.

Source: http://www.thanhniennews.com/2010/Pages/20100329113212.aspx

If you are Viet Kieu (Abroad Vietnamese) and interested in getting a 5 year visa exemption, Tung (Saigon in a Cup) gives a very detailed descriptions on how you can obtain this.  This 5 year visa exemption also applies to those who are married to Vietnamese nationals.

Visit How to get a 5 year visa exemption for more information.

Having this type of visa means you will have to leave Vietnam every three months (border run to Moc Bai) but I heard some Viet Kieu are able to renew it in Saigon for a “fee”.

For the rest of us, once you have renewed your 3 month visas three times (for 9 months), you will have to leave Vietnam to renew your visa.  The easiest is getting a “letter of invitation” from you company or school, especially for Americans.  The other option is to go through the tedious work permit process which, once approved, allows you to obtain a 2-3 year temporary resident card.

The choice is yours…

Well, here is another update in regard to my work permit application.  Last week the Department of Labor (DoLISA) refused to accept my “consularized” notarized degree.  Though the process was legal in Vietnam and they admitted it, they still could not accept it and they had a valid reason.  It seems that recently some Americans, Brits, and Aussies were able to get their “fake” degrees consularized which made them “legal”.

Essentially, a consularized degree is when you get a document notarized by a ‘recognized’ government body in your country.  In the US, this usually means there is a notarized stamp and a gold seal on the document.  According to Vietnamese law, you can take this to the US Consulate, or your embassy of choice, attach an affidavit certifying it is a true copy and then submit it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs  (MFA).  Note, the affidavit will say, in bold letters, that the US Consulate will not accept responsibility for the document.  The MFA ‘will’ accept this document, translate it, attach another seal and it is “legal” but because of the previous statement from the US Consulate, DoLISA will not accept it.

Hence you are left no choice but to authenticate your diploma.  In short you must:

1. Get your university to notarize your degree, it cannot be an apostille (electronic seal) since Vietnam is not a member of the Hague convention.  The notarization process will start at the County-level (about $1 per document in Indiana) and then to the Secretary of State level (free).  Be sure to include a FedEx airbill and envelope.  This process can take about 5-7 business days depending on your state.  One to two days if you hand carry it.  You will need to send a personal check to pay for the fees.
2. The “notarized” degree will then need to be sent to the US Department of State in Washington, DC.  This costs about $8 per document.  The process takes 5-8 business days.  You can find more information at this web address: http://www.state.gov/m/a/auth/.  Many people skip this process but legally, you MUST get your diploma authenticated by the US State Sept. for it to be legal.  In the future, DoLISA “could” refuse diplomas that were not authenticated here even IF the Vietnam Embassy or Consulate legalizes them.  You can send a personal check to pay the fees.
3. Finally you must send your diploma to either the Vietnam Embassy or Consulate.  Today the Embassy told me it will cost about $50 to “legalize” the diploma and $20 to expedite it.  Just mail them to the Vietnam Embassy, 1233 20^th St NW, suite 400, Washington DC 20036, or Consulate, Suite 430, 1700 California, San Francisco, California.  Be sure to include a FedEx airbill and envelope so they can return it to you when completed.  The Vietnam Embassy recommends you keep the tracking number as well.  I will send a money order since both the Embassy and Consulate will not accept personal checks I am told.  I heard this process takes about 7 business days but if you expedite it, it should be faster.

Thus, the whole authenticating process, including shipping time, is roughly 3-4 weeks if you live in Vietnam.  It is actually not as painful as I thought.  Just time consuming the first time around (yes, you will have to do this again yearly since the validity of the legalized diploma is about 6 months).  Vietnamese who studied overseas will have to go through the same authentication process in the near future as well.  Some Vietnamese companies are noticing an increasing number of Vietnamese “claiming” they studied an earned a degree when they did not (this happens in Vietnam as well).

A final note, I do not recommend using a service to handle your work permit.  They CANNOT do anything special for you.  In fact, from experience, you will have to be with your service agent throughout the process so essentially you are just paying a “high” fee to have somebody walk with you.  Just find a friend or trust your HR manager to take care of the process.  It is cheaper this way in the long run.  If you need help, then use a “trusted” Vietnamese lawyer for “advice” only.

As of now, my diploma is in Wash., DC, getting authenticated.  I hope to send it to the Vietnamese Consulate later next week but my process is almost over.