Decree 393/2026/NĐ-CP · Effective December 5, 2026
What this means for you
- The new general foreign-worker rules start December 5, 2026; issuance alone does not replace the rules before that date.
- Map each faculty or staff role to the exact permit or exemption category and required evidence. A US academic title is not an automatic exemption.
- Check saved permits and applications, as well as the special education mechanism under Resolution 248, before changing a staffing plan.
Questions about how this applies to your institution? Talk it through with a USVN senior advisor.
The detail
1. The rule and its status
The new foreign-worker decree changes the permit/exemption framework from December 5, 2026; it does not replace today's rules merely because it has been issued. Issued, not yet in force: October 20, 2026; effective December 5, 2026. Official signed decree, Articles 35–36.
2. Who it affects and what it means for a US school
The future general decree must also be reconciled with National Assembly Resolution 248/2025, Article 2(1)(c)'s special HEI personnel mechanism and Article 9's conflict rules. This page does not conclude that the special mechanism ends when393 starts.
It affects personnel planning across the effective date. Article 8(14) specifies education/research-related exemption categories, including qualifying cooperation projects, institutional cooperation/linked programs, specified master's-or-higher fields, doctoral qualifications and professor/associate-professor roles. The exact person's work, qualification and evidence matter; do not describe all US faculty as automatically exempt.
Article 9 supplies proof routes, including a dispatch/invitation and the applicable approved cooperation document or linked program for specified cases. An academic agreement is evidence within a procedure, not a universal waiver of every labor/immigration step. This page does not certify an individual's eligibility.
3. What to do, by partnership model
- Recruitment: for planned Vietnam-based work from December 5, classify duties and employer and determine the proper permit/exemption route before travel commitments.
- 2+2/3+1: assign responsibility for faculty evidence and authorization for the Vietnam component; preserve filing dates around the change.
- Dual degree/joint program: match the actual cooperation document, appointment, qualifications and duties to the relevant category. Do not use the future rule for work governed by 219 today.
- Online/blended: distinguish personnel teaching abroad from personnel working in Vietnam, including short visits for assessment and management.
- Branch campus: reconcile labor eligibility with the educational staffing requirements and local competent authority; educational licensing does not replace work authorization.
For every model, maintain a person-by-person record of duties, dates, employer, qualification, permit/exemption evidence and expiration. These are recommended operational checks, not an additional statutory filing invented by this page.
4. Change history
Article 36 replaces219/2025 and ends the specified labor portions of Resolution 24/2026 from December 5. Article 35 preserves qualifying permits/exemption certificates through expiry; specified applications filed before effectiveness continue under 219. It also has a saved route for certain extensions filed under Resolution 24 and continues existing provincial delegations until new ones issue. Signed pages 28–29. Do not instruct every current permit holder to start over on December 5.
5. Sources and verification
Official Vietnamese signed PDF · Government record
Last verified: 2026-10-22. English explanation; the official Vietnamese text controls.
6. Related pages
Current219 regime · University organization · University Atlas · Branch-campus rules · Why partnerships stall.
7. Briefing and legal note
Not legal advice. Prepare a briefing with a USVN senior advisor with planned work dates and existing permit/file history to identify the applicable side of the December transition.
For general information only, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with qualified counsel and the relevant Vietnamese authorities before acting.