How Foreign Workers in Vietnam Convert to an LD2 Visa and Labour TRC

A foreigner employed in Vietnam cannot apply for a Temporary Residence Card directly — the employer must first obtain a work permit and then sponsor an LD2 visa, after which the TRC application can proceed for a card valid up to two years, subject to the work permit's remaining validity.

This point trips up more applicants than it should. Many foreign workers assume the TRC process is something they can initiate themselves once a job offer is confirmed. Vietnam's system does not work that way. The work permit, the LD2 visa, and the TRC are each employer-sponsored, employer-filed, and employer-submitted. The foreign employee appears at specific points in the process — and in person at the end — but the entire sequence is driven by the sponsoring company.

Work Permit to LD2 Visa to Labour TRC: Process at a Glance

1. Employer applies for work permit approval and then the work permit itself at the relevant provincial DoLISA office
2. With work permit confirmed, employer sponsors the LD2 visa application for the foreign employee inside Vietnam
3. Foreign employee receives LD2 visa — typically 5 working days from a valid application
4. Foreign employee registers temporary residence at the ward-level police (khai báo tạm trú) at their current address
5. Employer assembles and submits the full TRC dossier online through the national portal, then delivers hard copies to the Immigration Department
6. Foreign employee attends the immigration office in person to collect the TRC card — issued within 5 working days of an accepted dossier

[Conditions described here as of March 2026 may change without notice, so verify current LD2 and TRC requirements with the relevant immigration authority before applying.]

In this guide

• Who This Guide Is For
• The Three-Stage Structure
• Stage One: Work Permit and LD2 Visa
• The 12-Month Validity Threshold
• Stage Two: The Labour TRC Application
• Processing Time and Costs
• What Officers Check and Why Applications Are Refused
• Practical Notes for Workers and Employers
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who This Guide Is For

This guide is written for foreign nationals who are employed or have accepted employment in Vietnam, are currently in-country on a short-stay visa — e-visa, tourist visa, or business visa — and need to convert to a legally recognised long-term residency status.

It is equally relevant for HR and compliance teams at Vietnamese companies who are sponsoring a foreign employee's work permit and TRC for the first time, and want a clear overview of what each stage requires and where the process typically stalls.

This guide is not for foreign spouses or family members applying for a TT TRC, investors applying for a DT-category TRC, or foreign employees who already hold a work permit and are renewing a TRC — those scenarios are addressed in separate guides.

The Three-Stage Structure

Unlike some immigration systems where residency and employment authorisation are combined into a single application, Vietnam treats them as three separate steps that must be completed in sequence.

Step A — Work permit: Authorises the specific employment arrangement. Issued by the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (DoLISA) or, for certain senior roles, the Ministry of Labour (MoLISA). Without a valid work permit, there is no basis for any subsequent steps.

Step B — LD visa: Categorises the foreigner's presence in Vietnam as labour-based. Required to be in place before the TRC application begins. Sponsored by the employing company.

Step C — Labour TRC: Issued by the Vietnam Immigration Department under the Ministry of Public Security. Authorises residence for up to two years, linked to the work permit's remaining validity. Cannot be applied for without both the work permit and the LD visa already confirmed.

What practitioners are currently reporting (February 2026): Current office practice appears to have narrowed accepted types to LD2 in standard employment cases. Whether this reflects a statutory change or a sustained processing practice update has not been confirmed in published legislation as of the time of writing. Confirm the current position with the Immigration Department or a licensed practitioner before filing.

A note on LD1 visas: Work-permit-exempt roles — including certain senior managers and technical specialists — may be issued an LD1 visa. As of early 2026, practitioner reports indicate that TRC processing is occurring for LD2 holders specifically. Whether an LD1 visa currently supports a TRC application under office practice should be verified directly with the relevant provincial immigration office or an immigration practitioner before filing. Do not assume the LD1 pathway is currently available without this confirmation.

Stage One: Work Permit and LD2 Visa

The Work Permit Application

The work permit process is entirely employer-led. The foreign employee cannot initiate, submit, or manage their own work permit application — everything runs through the sponsoring company.

Under Decree 219/2025 (which replaced Decree 152 from August 7, 2025 onwards), the application timeline runs as follows:

• New work permit applications must be filed within 60 days of the intended employment start date and no later than 10 business days before the expected start
• Renewal applications must be filed within 45 days and no later than 10 business days before the existing permit's expiry

Applications go to the provincial DoLISA office where the employee will be working, or to MoLISA for certain national-level or senior roles. Standard processing time is 5 working days from receipt of a complete and valid application.

Key documents typically required for the work permit application:

• Employer's request letter and explanatory documentation confirming the need for a foreign employee
• The employee's valid passport and relevant qualifications
• Criminal record certificate — must have been issued within 6 months of the filing date
• Medical / health fitness certificate — must have been issued within 12 months of the filing date, from an authorised Vietnamese or foreign health facility
• Employment contract or offer letter
• Documents evidencing the employee's qualifications, experience, or specialist status (varies by worker category: expert, manager, technical worker)

Decree 219 introduced an online joint application option for criminal record certificates, which reduces processing back-and-forth for certain worker categories. Where applicable, the employer's HR team should confirm eligibility for this route.

Worker categories under Decree 219 — expert, manager, technical worker — have updated definitions, and document requirements differ by category. If the original work permit was issued under Decree 152, reviewing the current requirements before renewal is worthwhile. Do not assume the document checklist is identical.

Foreign-language supporting documents — including qualifications and criminal record certificates from outside Vietnam — must be consularly legalised and certified-translated into Vietnamese. This is the step that most consistently causes timeline overruns: allow adequate lead time for foreign document legalisation before the employer files.

Getting the LD2 Visa

Once the work permit is confirmed, the employer sponsors the LD2 visa application for the foreign employee inside Vietnam. The LD2 visa is the specific visa category that links the foreign employee's presence to their labour authorisation and sets the stage for the TRC application.

The LD visa application is filed through the Immigration Department, with the employer as the sponsoring party. Processing typically takes 5 working days from a valid submission.

The foreign employee's current short-stay visa must remain valid throughout the work permit and LD visa process. If the tourist visa or e-visa is approaching expiry while these stages are in progress, it should be extended rather than allowed to lapse — working with an expired underlying visa creates compounding compliance problems.

The 12-Month Validity Threshold

This is one of the most consequential and least-discussed requirements in the LD TRC process, and it is the source of a significant number of avoidable refusals.

When the TRC application is filed, the work permit must have at least 12 months of remaining validity. This is a fixed threshold — it is not waivable by the immigration officer and cannot be resolved by additional supporting documentation.

The practical implication: an employer who obtains a short initial work permit — say, for 14 or 15 months — and then immediately files for a TRC may find that the time taken to complete the work permit and LD visa stages has eaten into the buffer, leaving less than 12 months on the permit by the time the TRC application arrives at the counter. The TRC application will be refused.

The correct approach is to confirm the remaining validity on the work permit before the TRC dossier is assembled. If the permit has less than 12 months left, the work permit should be renewed first before the TRC application is filed. Employers who understand this threshold up front tend to apply for longer initial work permits where possible, or sequence the TRC filing promptly after the work permit is issued while the validity buffer is still comfortable.

Stage Two: The Labour TRC Application

With the work permit and LD2 visa in place, and temporary residence registered, the TRC application proceeds through the Vietnam Immigration Department — at the national office or at the provincial/city immigration management office covering the employee's place of residence.

The standard process is online-first submission through the Ministry of Public Security's e-portal. The employer's authorised representative creates an account, submits documents electronically, and receives a submission confirmation before delivering original hard copies to the relevant office. Online submission and physical delivery are both required.

In Ho Chi Minh City the portal is accessed via dichvucong.gov.vn, and the employer account requires a company digital signature token. In Hanoi, submissions go to the Immigration Management Department at 44–46 Tran Phu, Ba Dinh District. Other provinces have equivalent processes, though smaller provincial offices may have local submission variations — confirming with the office before filing is advisable.

Step 1: Temporary Residence Registration

Before the TRC dossier is submitted, the foreign employee's temporary residence must be registered with the ward-level police at the address where they are living — khai báo tạm trú. The confirmation letter (Form CT07) is a required document in the TRC dossier.

If the employee is renting, the landlord is legally required to register foreign tenants, though this does not always happen automatically. The employee should confirm this is in order before the employer assembles the dossier. A missing or unstamped CT07 is one of the more avoidable reasons an application is returned.

Step 2: Assemble the Labour TRC Dossier

Required documents:

• Sponsorship and issuance request letter from the employing company — filed on Form NA6, on company letterhead, signed by the legal representative
• TRC application declaration form — Form NA8 (with passport-sized photo: 2×3cm, white background, front-facing, no glasses, taken within 6 months)
• Original passport with minimum 13 months of remaining validity
• Valid LD2 visa sponsored by the employing company
• Original valid work permit with at least 12 months of remaining validity
• Notarised copy of the labour contract
• Temporary residence registration confirmation — Form CT07

Supporting documents:

• Notarised copy of the company's business registration certificate
• Certificate of seal registration
• Company introduction letter authorising the representative submitting the application

Translation / legalisation: Any foreign-language qualifications or employment supporting documents included in the dossier must be consularly legalised and certified-translated into Vietnamese.

Step 3: Submit the Dossier and Pay the Fee

The employer's authorised representative submits the complete dossier. On receipt of a valid and complete submission, the officer issues an appointment slip for collection. The government fee for a labour TRC is approximately USD 145 for a card valid up to 2 years. Agent or service fees, if applicable, are additional and vary.

Step 4: Collect the Card

The foreign employee must attend the immigration office in person to collect the TRC — the employer's representative handles submission, but collection requires the employee's physical presence. The TRC is issued within 5 working days of an accepted dossier. If the application is refused, the office issues written notice of the reason.

Processing Time and Costs

The 5-working-day processing window for the TRC begins only when the dossier is accepted as complete. Dossiers returned for missing or incorrect documents restart the clock entirely. In practice, the time lost is almost always in document preparation — not in the official processing window. A clean dossier filed on a Monday is typically ready for collection the following Tuesday.

Realistic total timelines from the point of beginning the work permit application:

• All documents already in Vietnam and in order: Allow 3–4 weeks from work permit filing to TRC collection
• Foreign documents requiring consular legalisation and translation: Allow 5–7 weeks, with the legalisation step as the primary variable

Summary of costs:

• Work permit fees: VND 400,000 (Hanoi) to VND 1,000,000 (highest provincial rate) — paid by the employer
• TRC government fee: approximately USD 145
• Agent or practitioner fees: additional; range widely depending on service scope

Confirm current work permit fees with the relevant provincial DoLISA office before filing, as these are set locally and subject to change.

What Officers Check and Why Applications Are Refused

Work permit with insufficient remaining validity — the most structurally significant refusal cause in the LD pathway. The 12-month minimum is fixed and cannot be argued at the counter. Employers who do not factor this threshold into their initial work permit duration planning regularly create avoidable refusals. Once the permit fails this threshold, the TRC application must wait for a permit renewal before it can proceed.

LD2 visa not in place — a TRC application submitted without a valid LD2 visa as the active underlying status will be refused. Applications occasionally arrive with an e-visa or DN business visa still as the employee's active status. These are returned immediately. The LD2 visa must be confirmed before the TRC dossier is assembled.

Photos outside specification — a consistent minor cause of return: photos that are the wrong size (not 2×3cm), have a non-white background, show the applicant wearing glasses, or were taken more than 6 months before the application. This causes a full processing cycle delay. The employer should check photos against the specification before including them in the dossier.

Temporary residence registration missing — Form CT07 is required and must carry the ward police stamp. Employees who moved into rental accommodation recently, or whose landlord has not registered them, need to resolve this before the dossier is assembled.

Company documents not current — the business registration certificate copy and seal registration must be current and notarised. Companies that use an old business registration copy from a previous application sometimes find it is no longer valid.

Varies by provincial office: Procedures and specific document requirements in major cities are relatively well-established. In smaller provinces, requirements can differ or officers apply local interpretations. Where the employee is working and residing outside Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, direct pre-submission confirmation with the local immigration office reduces the risk of an avoidable return.

Practical Notes for Workers and Employers

The employer's HR team drives the LD TRC timeline — not the foreign employee. This is the single most important practical reality of the LD pathway. The foreign worker cannot self-file, cannot chase the work permit independently, and cannot submit the TRC application. If HR is slow, the delay is real and the foreign employee's legal status remains short-term throughout. Workers who are approaching the end of their short-stay visa while waiting on HR should raise the urgency in writing, naming the specific expiry dates.

The TRC cannot be renewed — a fresh application is required each time. The full application cycle repeats when the card approaches expiry. Ideally the new application is initiated 30–60 days before expiry to avoid a gap in status. The employer's HR should treat TRC expiry as a recurring calendar item rather than a one-time event.

If a dependent TRC for a spouse or children is also needed, plan both applications together. Once the foreign worker holds an LD TRC, the spouse and children under 18 can apply for TT TRCs. These should be planned as a parallel process where possible — each dependent application follows the same basic TRC process, sponsored by the foreign TRC holder.

Working with a local immigration practitioner for the first application is often efficient. The document requirements under Decree 219 are detailed, and the legalisation requirements for foreign-issued documents are specific. A practitioner who files these applications regularly knows what individual offices check and what they return without explanation. The cost is modest relative to the time cost of a rejected and restarted application.

Sorting out the TRC is often the trigger for putting other long-stay arrangements in order — bank accounts, health insurance, and housing leases often require stable residency documentation. A guide on opening a bank account in Vietnam as a foreign worker covers what to expect once the TRC is in hand.

> Applicants should confirm current fees, document requirements, and processing timelines directly with the relevant provincial DoLISA office and the Vietnam Immigration Department (Cục Quản lý xuất nhập cảnh) before submitting any application. Requirements under Decree 219/2025 are subject to further implementing guidance and periodic updates.

Sources

• Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) – This is the central authority responsible for issuing the Work Permit, which is the mandatory prerequisite for any LD2 visa application.

• Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (DOLISA) – The provincial-level offices where your employer must submit the "Acceptance of Demand for Foreign Workers" and the subsequent Work Permit dossier.

• Vietnam Immigration Department (Cục Quản lý Xuất nhập cảnh) – This body handles the Visa Purpose Conversion. Under 2026 regulations, foreigners who enter on an E-visa and obtain a work permit can legally convert their visa status to LD2 without leaving the country.

• National Public Service Portal (Cổng Dịch vụ công Quốc gia) – The official digital gateway for submitting the online dossiers required for both the Work Permit and the initial stages of visa sponsorship.

• Ministry of Public Security (MPS) – The parent ministry of the Immigration Department, which oversees the issuance of the Temporary Residence Card (TRC) once the LD2 visa is secured.