Working in Vietnam as an Overseas Vietnamese: the routes in 2026

There are six main routes for an Overseas Vietnamese to work in Vietnam in 2026: as a Vietnamese citizen, with the five-year visa exemption certificate, on a work permit or one of its new exemptions, as a founder or investor, in a role with a tax break, or remotely for an employer abroad. Which one fits depends on three things: the passport you use here, who pays you, and what you do.

This guide is for Overseas Vietnamese professionals, Việt Kiều or Viet Kieu, and for anyone else weighing a job here. Several rules changed in the last 16 months, more take effect on 5 December 2026, and Resolution 23 points to more. We checked every fact on 29 October 2026.

1. Vietnamese citizenship

Who it fits: anyone who still holds Vietnamese nationality, and anyone with a Vietnamese parent or grandparent who wants to apply for it or get it back.

What it takes:

• If you never gave up Vietnamese nationality, you may still be a citizen. A certificate that confirms it takes about four weeks with old papers, or a police check of 45 to 60 days without them (Decree 191/2025).
• Since 1 July 2025, the amended Law on Nationality lets people with a Vietnamese parent or grandparent get or restore nationality and keep their foreign passport. It needs the President's approval, and your other country must allow it. There is no language test and no residence period, and you can file at a Vietnamese embassy or consulate.
• Use your Vietnamese papers in Vietnam. If you enter on a foreign passport, you are treated as a foreigner: in July 2025 a Vietnamese-Swedish dual citizen was fined for overstaying. Work permits are for foreign workers, so as a citizen you are hired like a local. No law says this directly for dual nationals, so confirm it with your employer.
• Get the citizen ID card (căn cước). Citizens living abroad can have one, but for now you apply in person at a police office in Vietnam, not at an embassy.

Ministries have until mid-2027 to review every law on the rights of dual nationals (Vietnam News), so more may change.

2. The visa exemption certificate

Who it fits: people of Vietnamese origin on a foreign passport, and the foreign spouses and children of Overseas Vietnamese or of Vietnamese citizens.

What it takes:

• Proof of Vietnamese origin, such as an old Vietnamese passport or birth certificate. Without one, a certificate of Vietnamese origin takes about two months, including a 45-day check (Tuổi Trẻ).
• A passport with at least a year left. The certificate lasts up to five years and ends at least six months before your passport does (Embassy of Vietnam in the US).
• Each stay is up to six months, with one extension of up to six months for a good reason. It costs USD 10 if you apply in Vietnam, at the Immigration Department, or you apply at an embassy or consulate.

What it does not do: the certificate is for visiting family and personal matters, not a right to work. If you take a job here, you still need a work permit or an exemption (route 3). The 2026 update of the immigration law kept the certificate as it was.

3. A work permit, and the new exemptions

Who it fits: anyone who works for an employer in Vietnam on a foreign passport. There is no separate track for people of Vietnamese origin.

What it takes:

• An employer who applies for you. Under today's rules (Decree 219/2025), an expert needs a bachelor's degree and two years' experience, or one year in priority fields.
• From 5 December 2026, Decree 393/2026 replaces those rules. A permit lasts up to two years and can be extended once for up to two more. The decision comes within 10 working days, and a refusal must be in writing.

The new decree lists 18 groups who need no work permit (LuatVietnam). Some still need a confirmation certificate, issued within five working days. Others only need the employer to notify the authorities at least three working days before the start date. The groups that matter most for Overseas Vietnamese:

• A foreign national married to a Vietnamese citizen and living in Vietnam: notice only. This covers you if you hold a foreign passport and your spouse is a Vietnamese citizen.
• Owners of a limited liability company, and chairs or board members of a joint stock company, with capital of VND 3 billion or more: notice only (route 4).
• Work in Vietnam of up to 90 days a year in total: notice only.
• PhDs and professors who teach or do research at a university or vocational school: notice only. Holders of a master's who teach or research in science, technology, finance or business need the certificate.
• Experts in strategic technologies, and people hired under the national AI workforce programme: certificate.

4. Founder or investor

Who it fits: people who want to run their own company in Vietnam, or put capital into one.

What it takes:

• VND 3 billion or more of capital in your company if you want to work in it as owner or board member without a work permit (route 3).
• An investor visa that matches your capital: ĐT1 for VND 100 billion or more (residence card up to 10 years), ĐT2 for 50 to 100 billion (5 years), ĐT3 for 3 to 50 billion (3 years), and ĐT4 below 3 billion (a visa of up to 12 months, no card) (Vietnam Briefing, June 2026).
• A choice of status. On a foreign passport only, you are a foreign investor under the Investment Law in force since 1 March 2026, with limits in some sectors. If you also hold Vietnamese nationality, Decree 96/2026 (Article 16) lets you choose domestic or foreign investor rules, as the old decree did.

5. Roles with tax breaks

Who it fits: finance professionals at the International Financial Centre, and tech workers in chips, AI and other key digital fields. Vietnamese and foreign nationals qualify alike.

What it takes:

• At the International Financial Centre in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, managers, experts, scientists and highly skilled staff pay no income tax on their salary until the end of 2030 (Decree 324/2025). You need one of three: a bachelor's degree or a recognised international professional certificate, five years' experience in a relevant field, or a management role at another financial centre, a known financial institution, a fund or a large multinational (VnEconomy).
• Since 1 July 2026, high-quality digital industry workers (in digital technology zones, or on key digital products, chips and AI) and high-tech R&D staff pay no income tax on their salary for five years. The five years run without a break from the first month of exempt income (Decree 253/2026, Article 41).
• Since 1 July 2026, the new UĐ1 and UĐ2 visas give highly skilled digital professionals and their families stays of up to five years (VnExpress International).

Not law yet: a draft National Assembly resolution on talent proposes a five-year income tax exemption for people chosen for national strategic tasks and their teams, no work permit, UĐ2 visas for spouses and children, and an extra 50% tax deduction for their employers. It covers Vietnamese citizens, Overseas Vietnamese and foreigners (Dân trí). The government plans to put it to the National Assembly session that closes around 21 November 2026 (Báo Chính phủ). We will update this post when it passes.

6. Remote work for an employer abroad

Who it fits: people who keep their job or their clients abroad and live in Vietnam.

What it takes:

• A legal basis for your stay: citizenship, the visa exemption certificate or a residence card. Vietnam has no digital nomad visa.
• Care on permits. No rule covers this case clearly. One law firm's reading is that you usually need no Vietnamese work permit if you work only for a foreign employer, but that you should not do it on a tourist visa or an e-visa.
• A tax plan. After 183 days in Vietnam in a calendar year or in 12 months in a row, or with a registered residence or a fixed-term lease, you are tax resident and pay Vietnamese tax on income from anywhere (Law 109/2025). Check the tax treaty with your other country with a tax adviser.

Which route is yours

• You hold Vietnamese nationality, or can get it: route 1 is the simplest for most jobs.
• You have a job offer and a foreign passport: route 3, and check whether you fall into an exemption group.
• You are married to a Vietnamese citizen: the spouse exemption may spare your employer the permit.
• You are building a company: route 4. You work at the Financial Centre or in chips and AI: add route 5.
• You keep your job abroad: route 6, and plan your tax before day 183.

For pay, tax and contracts, see Building a career in Vietnam. For visas, housing and costs, see Moving to Vietnam, and for your own company, Building a business in Vietnam. Roles that offer visa support are on the OV job board.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules here change often, so check your own case with a lawyer or your employer's HR team before you sign.