Three Difficulties in Applying Temporary Residence Card in Da Nang

In recent years, more and more foreigners are coming to live, work, study or to reside in Da Nang, therefore, many foreigners apply for Temporary residence card (TRC) for more convenience in Vietnam.

According to the regulation of Section 13, Article 3 of Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam, Temporary Residence Card (TRC)is a legal document issued by an immigration authority or a competent authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to a foreigner who is permitted to reside in Vietnam for a certain period of time. This card has the same validity as a visa. Therefore, if the foreigners have TRC, they will reside and entry/exit Vietnam without applying for visa.

However, the process and procedures to apply for TRC would have many different practical applications in each province. Particularly in Da Nang, the issuance of temporary cards for foreigners is more challenging.

The first, for the issuance of a TRC, the foreigner must apply for suitable visa, the issuance of TRC is executed at the Immigration Department of the Da Nang City Public Security. The application for a visa in Da Nang is more complicated than in other provinces. It is necessary to have specific information relating to the operation and management of the enterprise which guarantee foreigner to enter Vietnam(if any). For the submission of dossiers to apply for the visa, the foreigner shave to submit by themselves or by the staff of their company. This makes it necessary for the foreigner or the sponsor have to spend the time to complete the procedure.

Secondly, after having a valid visa, the foreigners should apply the TRC at the Immigration Department of the Da Nang City Public Security. The dossiers for applying the TRC is regulated in the Article 37 of the Law on enter, exit, transit, and residence of foreigners in Vietnam. However, when applying for temporary residence cards in Da Nang, the Immigration Department could request more other relevant documents to the business, which is some time not found in the law, which poses challenges to applicant.

Thirdly, the granting of TRC to foreign investors, workers in Da Nang requires the confirmation of work permit exemption, work permits. The duration of the TRC issued will be valid for a period of two (2) years. As a result, for foreign investors, only have TRC with the validity term of 02 years are granted, instead of maximum 5 years, as provided for in Clause 2, Article 38 of the Immigration law. In order to be granted a TRC for a period of more than two years, the Immigration Department shall consider the business situation of the company, the tax payment status of the investor, etc. Therefore, if investors want to be granted TRC for more than 02 years, they need to work in Vietnam for a longer time and the business must be profitable.

With the above difficulties, many foreigners need to necessary attention, prepare all the documents as well as know about the term of TRC, in order to be able to prepare the best dossier. We help clients overcome cultural barriers and achieve their strategic and financial outcomes, while ensuring the best interest rate protection, risk mitigation and regulatory compliance. ANT lawyers have Law firm in Hanoi, law firm in Ho Chi Minh and Law firm in Danang.

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How to Close a Business in Vietnam?

All corporations, companies, partnerships, branch offices, representative offices and other business entities are legal entities in Vietnam which can only be dissolved through formal procedures.

I. What are the major challenges with closing a business in Vietnam?

The main thing to remember throughout the process is that the dissolving company, a branch office or a representative office, one should pay close attention to the involvement of all key stakeholders, i.e. the employees, customers, creditors, business partners and relevant authorities.

The following are key information to gather for thorough analysis

-Company size in terms of capital and number of employees?

-Enterprise’s business sector?

-Tax invoice usage declaration?

-Annual profit?

-Compliance with tax procedures?

-Administrative violations in the field of taxation?

-Any outstanding tax?

-Tax document filing records?

-Other tax matters?

II. What does the dissolution process involve?

Once an analysis has been through, the next procedures mostly deal with reporting and submitting the relevant documents to the various regulatories and tax authorities at each step of the process, terminating contracts, liquidating assets and settling liabilities, and general administrative work such as returning the corporate seal, registration certificates, and having the company’s name removed from the system of the license authorities.

III) How to prepare document to close a business in Vietnam?

1. Documents submitted to the licensing authority in Vietnam:

-Liquidation notice of enterprise;

-Minutes of the meeting of Management Board / Board of Directors decided on the dissolution of enterprises;

-The company’s decision on liquidation;

-Report on enterprise asset liquidation;

-The list of creditors and the paid debt;

-Documents evidencing that enterprise has fulfilled all of its tax;

-Confirmation on social insurance for employees after the dissolution decision;

-The seal and certificate of seal sample registration.

2. Documents submitted to the tax authority in Vietnam:

-Liquidation notice of enterprise;

-Minutes of the meeting of Management Board / Board of Directors decided on the dissolution of enterprises;

-The company’s decision on dissolution;

-Audit reports and tax settlements;

-The financial statements for the year to date the decision on dissolution;

-The company’s tax liabilities audited by tax authority;

-Verification of tax obligations of the enterprise.

Close a business in Vietnam might be a lengthy process and more complicated than setting up a company in Vietnam. Sometimes, it is important to make a decision to exit and start a new venture. As a law firms in Vietnam, we do assist clients to close the business, exit the investment and deal with pending issues with licensing authorities including department of planning and investment, department of labour, tax bureau and others.

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Penalties on Working Without Work Permit in Vietnam

Vietnam has become an attractive destination for foreigner investors due to the impressive development of socio – economic in recent years. This is such a good opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises to get cooperation in business with foreign partners.

To take advantage of the opportunities to be the pioneer and market share, many of them have demand in employees with good skills and qualifications. To meet these requirements, more and more companies hire foreign workers for specific positions which might lack of human resources within Vietnam territory.

According to Labor Code 2019, the employer wishing to recruit the foreign workers has to explain their labor demand to the People’s Committee of provinces and obtain written approval from this agency. Pursuant to this written approval, the employer shall submit the application for the work permit to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of the province where the planned working place of such foreign workers is located.

A foreign employee means a person who has a foreign nationality and:

-Is at last 18 years of age and has full legal capacity;

-Has qualifications, occupational skills, practical experience and adequate health as prescribed by the Minister of Health;

-Is not serving a sentence; does not have an unspent conviction; is not undergoing criminal prosecution under his/her home country’s law or Vietnam’s law;

-Possessing a work permit granted by a competent Vietnamese state agency, except the cases specified in Labor Code.

Therefore, based on regulations of the Labor Code of Vietnam, except for the foreign employees exempted from work permit i.e. investor of company established in Vietnam, all of cases the foreign employees wishing to work in Vietnam shall be subject to work permit application. A foreign employee shall produce his/her work permit in Vietnam when carrying out immigration procedures or upon request of a competent state agency.

In case foreign employees who do not belong to work permit exemption being found working in Vietnam without work permit, that person shall be considered violation of the law of Vietnam. In addition, the employer that uses the violated employee without work permit shall be punished accordingly.

According to Decree No. 28/2020/ND-CP dated March 1, 2020 on administrative penalties for violations arising from labor, social insurance and sending Vietnamese workers abroad under contracts.

i) Foreign employee that working without work permits, except for the cases in which the work permit is exempt shall be expelled.

ii) Employers who employ foreign workers in Vietnam without work permits or written confirmations of their exemption from work permit requirements, or employs foreign workers holding expired work permits or written confirmations of exemption from work permit requirements shall be implied:

+ A fine from VND 30,000,000 to VND 45,000,000 if the violation involves 01 – 10 workers;

+ A fine From VND 45,000,000 to VND 60,000,000 if the violation involves 11 – 20 workers;

+ A fine From VND 60,000,000 to VND 75,000,000 if the violation involves 21 or more workers.

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