How foreign employees sponsored by firms can obtain temporary resident cards in Vietnam

A common scenario involves a company headquartered in one locality while maintaining representative offices elsewhere, where foreign employees actually live and work.

For instance, a company is headquartered in former Binh Duong Province, now part of Ho Chi Minh City, with a representative office in Hanoi.

One of its foreign employees works directly at the Hanoi office and resides there.

In such a case, which authority is responsible for issuing the temporary resident card: the Ho Chi Minh City Immigration Office or the Hanoi Immigration Office?

The Ministry of Public Security has provided a clear and official response through its public information portal.

As per Clause 1 under Article 4 of the ministry’s Circular No. 31/2015 dated July 6, 2015, foreigners eligible for temporary residence cards under Clause 2, Article 36 of the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam must apply through the agency, organization, or individual that has invited and sponsored them.

Applications are submitted directly to either the Immigration Department or the Immigration Office of the Department of Public Security of the province or the city where the sponsoring organization is headquartered, or where the sponsoring individual resides.

This means that when a foreign employee is sponsored by a company, the application for a temporary resident card should be filed with the immigration authority in the locality where the company’s head office is registered, regardless of where the employee actually lives and works.

In the example above, the competent authority would therefore be the Immigration Office of Ho Chi Minh City or the Immigration Department under the Ministry of Public Security.

To facilitate processing and ensure administrative convenience, companies employing foreigners are recommended to submit temporary resident card applications to the Immigration Office of the locality where their headquarters is located.