Visa guide · Vietnam
Relocating to Vietnam: visa categories and tax landscape
Employment-sponsored work permits; recent 5-year e-visa for remote workers (2023); narrow long-stay options compared to Thailand/Malaysia.
The Vietnam relocation landscape
Vietnam's visa structure is less developed for digital nomads than Thailand or Malaysia, but the 2023 introduction of a 5-year multiple-entry e-visa materially broadened long-stay options for remote workers and frequent business visitors. Employment-sponsored work permits remain the standard route for those joining Vietnamese companies.
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) anchors the inbound business + tech flow; Hanoi is the secondary hub with stronger cultural/government overlap. District 1, District 2 (now Thu Duc) and District 7 concentrate the expat-friendly neighborhoods in HCMC.
Visa categories worth knowing
The main residence-permit categories used by relocators. Listed in editorial-priority order, not exhaustive.
Introduced 2023; multiple-entry, 90-day stays per entry. Not a formal digital nomad visa but functionally serves many remote-worker patterns.
Standard sponsored route. Requires employer sponsorship + Vietnamese-language documentation. Multi-year with renewal.
For founders, investors, and individuals engaged in business activity with a registered Vietnamese entity.
Available for substantial investment in a Vietnamese company. Threshold and structure documentation-heavy.
Admission to a Vietnamese institution. Limited work rights; transition to Work Permit post-graduation is established.
Tax landscape for inbound residents
What the tax picture looks like for someone moving to Vietnam, alongside any special expat regimes.
Vietnamese personal income tax is progressive with rates up to 35% at the top bracket, but the brackets bite later than in many neighbors — typical mid-career professionals see effective rates in the low-to-mid teens. Compulsory social insurance contributions add ~10.5% employee side.
There is no broad expat-favoring tax regime. Foreign tax credits are available where treaty applies. Tax-residency rules trigger at 183 days within 12 months.
Practical considerations
- Vietnamese is the default for daily life and bureaucracy; English is moderate in central HCMC business neighborhoods, more limited elsewhere.
- Cost-of-living arbitrage is significant for foreign-currency earners — HCMC's central condo rents are a fraction of Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur equivalents. The trade-off is humidity (year-round) and air-quality variability.
Vietnam cities on Mundevo
Cost-of-living and salary breakdowns we maintain for cities in this country.
Related terms
Before you act
Verify with the consulate. Search for "Vietnam consulate" plus your current country of residence; the consulate site is the authoritative source on current categories, thresholds, and required documents.
Get a tax read. Tax residency, special regimes, and home-country exposure interact in ways no editorial guide can address for your specific situation. A consultation with a tax advisor familiar with Vietnam before you move pays for itself many times over.
Build the cost picture. Run the salary and cost calculations for the specific city in Vietnam you're considering — visa eligibility is only one of the three pillars (visa, cost, tax) that decide whether a move makes sense.