Visas, residency and citizenship for Overseas Vietnamese

Overseas Vietnamese with a foreign passport can live in Vietnam without a visa by getting a visa exemption certificate, valid for up to five years, with stays of up to six months per entry. You apply at a Vietnamese embassy or consulate abroad, or at the Immigration Department in Vietnam, where the fee is USD 10 (Circular 28/2026).

This post is one section of The OV Guide to Moving to Vietnam, the members' guide built from OV sessions, the OV Summit and the OV Podcast, with the rules checked against the decree in October 2026. Many Việt Kiều use this route, and Quang Do, OV's founder, is one of them. It is general information, not legal advice.

Who can get it

The certificate comes from Decree 82/2015, in force since 15 November 2015. Two groups qualify:

• Overseas Vietnamese, also called Viet Kieu: people of Vietnamese origin who live abroad.
• Foreigners who are the spouse or child of an Overseas Vietnamese or of a Vietnamese citizen.

You need a passport valid for at least one more year, proof that you belong to one of these groups, and no ban on entering Vietnam.

For Overseas Vietnamese, the proof is usually a birth certificate or a paper that shows Vietnamese citizenship, yours or your parents'. If you have none, the decree lets the authorities look at other documents that show your Vietnamese origin. A spouse or child shows the relationship, for example with a marriage or birth certificate.

Foreign documents are easier to use than they were. Since 11 September 2026, an apostille from the country that issued a document is enough for Vietnam to accept it (Vietnam embassy notice). Germany, Austria and Czechia are exceptions: documents from these three countries still need consular legalisation (HCCH status table).

How long it lasts and how long you can stay

The certificate is valid for up to five years, and it must end at least six months before your passport expires. If your passport has three years left, your certificate will run for about two and a half. Renew your passport first if it is close to expiry.

It allows many entries. Each time you enter, you get a stay of six months, or less if the certificate has fewer than six months left. In practice this means you leave Vietnam at least once every six months.

A longer stay is possible in some cases. If a Vietnamese organisation or person guarantees you and you have a valid reason, you can ask for up to six more months. You apply at the Immigration Department or the immigration office of the provincial police, with your passport, an extension form and the certificate. The decree gives them five working days to decide.

How to apply

You need one set of papers:

• your passport, or for Overseas Vietnamese, a residence permit issued abroad
• the application form, with two photos (one glued on the form)
• your proof of eligibility, as above

Where you apply depends on where you are:

• Abroad: at a Vietnamese embassy or consulate. Under the decree, the embassy sends your name to the Immigration Department within one working day, the department answers within three, and the embassy issues the certificate one working day after that.
• In Vietnam: at the Immigration Department, if you are already staying in Vietnam. It decides within five working days of a complete file.

Since 1 April 2026 the fee in Vietnam is USD 10 per certificate, the same for a new one and a reissue (Circular 28/2026). Children listed in a parent's passport get the certificate with that passport. If the certificate is lost, damaged or expired, or your details change, you can get a new one; for a lost one, you add a notice of the loss.

What it does not cover

The decree issues the certificate for family visits and personal business. It is not a work permit. To work for a company in Vietnam, the usual route is a work permit through your employer, who handles the visa and paperwork. A temporary residence card for a work permit holder lasts up to two years and costs USD 145 (Circular 28/2026). What employers look for, and how pay compares, is in Moving to Vietnam: jobs, pay and legal setup for Viet Kieu.

It does not change what you can own either. Property rights depend on whether you hold a certificate of Vietnamese origin or Vietnamese citizenship; see Buying property in Vietnam as an Overseas Vietnamese.

It does help with daily life. Banks accept a visa exemption certificate, together with your passport, to open an account, after an in-person biometric check (Circular 25/2025). Since 28 September 2026, any foreigner legally in Vietnam can get a VNeID electronic ID at a provincial immigration office in 2 to 5 working days, and bank accounts must be linked to a verified VNeID by 30 June 2027 (Decree 320/2026, via Vietnam Briefing).

Family, the new visas and nationality

Foreign spouses and children of Vietnamese citizens have a second route besides the exemption: a family visa (TT) and a temporary residence card, sponsored by the Vietnamese family member. The card is valid for up to three years and can be renewed, so there is no need to leave every six months.

Since 1 July 2026 two new visas exist. UĐ1 is for high-skilled workers in the digital technology industry and others given preferential status by law or by a National Assembly resolution; UĐ2 is for their spouses and children under 18. The visas run for up to five years and their temporary residence cards for up to ten. Since the same date, grandparents living in Vietnam can invite or sponsor foreign grandchildren to visit.

Many Overseas Vietnamese never formally lost their Vietnamese nationality. If you have no papers that prove it, a Vietnamese embassy or consulate can confirm that you hold it, and you can then get a Vietnamese passport and enter as a citizen.

If you do not want citizenship, a certificate confirming Vietnamese origin (giấy xác nhận là người gốc Việt Nam) proves your origin. It counts as proof for the exemption certificate and for buying a house with its land.

Exemption, e-visa or citizenship?

Which route fits depends on how long you plan to stay.

• For a trip: an e-visa allows up to 90 days and costs USD 25 for one entry or USD 50 for several (Circular 28/2026). German, French and British passports, and many other European ones, get 45 days without a visa under rules that run to 2028. US, Canadian and Australian passports need a visa (Resolution 44/NQ-CP).
• For living here a while: the five-year exemption, as long as you do not need it for a job.
• For the long term: Vietnamese citizenship. Since 1 July 2025, if you have a Vietnamese parent or grandparent, you can get or restore Vietnamese nationality and keep your foreign one, with the President's approval and if your other country allows it. You can apply at a Vietnamese embassy, and there is no language test or five-year residence rule (Law 79/2025, Duane Morris summary).

The exemption suits the time while you test a move. A work permit or citizenship can follow once you settle. If you are still deciding, start with How to test a move to Vietnam before you make it.

What to watch

The Government's programme for Resolution 23 asks ministries to review the rules on nationality, entry and exit, and residence, with ministry plans due in the last quarter of 2026. A Government decree will set who qualifies for the UĐ1 visa. This page changes when either comes out.

Rules change often. Check your own case with the Vietnamese embassy or a lawyer before you book.