Foreign worker cap relief

The move is incorporated in a draft decree to replace Decree 93/2005/ND-CP, which provides regulations on recruitment of foreign nationals in Vietnam.
The draft decree is being evaluated by ministry authorities, public organisations and individuals related to the issue, before it is tabled for prime ministerial approval in the next few months.
Nguyen Thanh Hoa, Deputy Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), admitted that foreign employment limit became irrational since Vietnam’s World Trade Organization admission, but the control over the influx of expatriates seeking jobs in Vietnam would be stricter.
Molisa reports revealed a sharp increase in foreign nationals working in Vietnam since 2004, at an average growth of 60 per cent per year.
At the end of last year there were more than 34,000 foreign employees in Vietnam, 31.8 per cent of whom held management positions and 41.2 per cent were highly-skilled technicians and specialists.
Hoa said the move to open Vietnam’s labour market would generate more competition forcing employers to improve local workers’ skills.
Currently, only 30 per cent out of the almost 45 million workers in Vietnam’s labour pool are classified skilled – a reason for MoLISA’s continual priority of drawing highly-skilled foreign workers.
“Our desire is that only in a case where local workers are unavailable to take charge in any skilled positions should employers find foreign nationals. Therefore, we would rather look into the quality of the foreign workers by critically requiring their submissions of skills and qualification levels,” Hoa said.
In accordance to the draft decree, 15 days is the legalised duration in which cities and provinces’ MoLISA departments evaluate and issue a work permit to a foreign worker, who has already submitted sufficient personal documents including a CV, labour contract, education and training certificates and degrees.
Foreign workers who will be exempt from having a work permit include those who work in Vietnam less than three months, owners of limited liability companies, shareholding companies’ management board members and lawyers who have been given a work licence by the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice.
Anyone who comes to Vietnam to do marketing, fix technical faults and technological transfers can also be exempted from asking for work permits.
In accordance to Decree 93/2005/ND-CP, dated in July 2005, enterprises in Vietnam are only allowed to employ foreign nationals not exceeding 3 per cent of their total workforce and they can employ at least an expatriate.
The 3 per cent cap has been a source of hot debate in annual Vietnam business forums and Consultative Group (CG) meetings where the international business community claims such limit is ‘a backward policy in the context of Vietnam’s open investment climate and global integration’.