Conditions and Procedures for Foreigners to be granted permanent residence status in Vietnam

Thứ sáu - 30/10/2020 08:52

Firstly, to better understand permanent residence status, let begin with the definition of it:

Place of permanent residence means a place where a citizen lives regularly, stably and permanently at a given locality and has registered his/her permanent residence. (Clause 1, Article 12 Law on Residence 2006).

In addition, every change in residence must be registered, each person may register his/her permanent residence or temporary residence AT ONE PLACE ONLY. (Clause 4, Article 4 Law on Residence 2006)
Conditions for foreigners to be granted permanent residence status in Vietnam.
(Article 39, 40 Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam, 2014)

A Foreigner can have permanent residence status in Vietnam in the following cases and conditions:

Foreigners who have contributed to the development and protection of Vietnam and are awarded medals or titles by Vietnam’s government.
Foreigners are scientists or experts temporarily residing in Vietnam, who must be proposed by the Ministers, Heads of ministerial agencies or Governmental agencies in corresponding fields.
Any foreigner sponsored by his parent, spouse, or child who is a Vietnamese citizen and has a permanent residence in Vietnam. Furthermore, foreigners have had a temporary residence in Vietnam for 03 consecutive years or more. (*NOTE).
Any of the foreigners in the above cases may be granted permanent residence status if he/she has a legitimate residence and is making a decent living in Vietnam.

*NOTE: Determination of duration of temporary residence in Vietnam of a foreigner applying for permanent residence - hereinafter referred to as applicant (Clause 2, Article 5 Circular No. 31/2015/TT-BCA).

The applicant has temporarily resided in Vietnam for at least consecutive 3 years according to the entry and exit visa borne at the checkpoint within latest 4 years from the date on which the application for permanent residence is submitted.

Procedures for foreigners to be granted permanent residence status in Vietnam
(Article 41 Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam, 2014)

No	Procedures	Notes
1	Any foreigners applying permanent residence status (hereinafter referred to as applicant) shall follow the procedures at an immigration authority. The application dossiers consists of: A written request permanent residence status; A criminal record issued by a competent authority of the country of which the applicant is a citizen; A diplomatic note from a diplomatic mission of the country, of which the applicant is a citizen, requesting grant of permanent residence status to the applicant; Certified true copy of the passport; Papers proving the fulfillment of requirements mentioned in Article 40 of this Law; A note of sponsorship (applied to the foreigner mentioned in Clause 3 Article 39 of this Law).	All application dossiers must be submitted to: (Clause 3, Article 5 Circular No. 31/2015/TT-BCA) Immigration Administration Department, or Division of immigration administration of police authority of the province.
2	Within 04 months from the receipt of sufficient documents, the Minister of Public Security shall consider granting the permanent residence status; if further investigation is deemed necessary, the deadline may be extended for up to 02 months.
3	The immigration authority shall send a written notification of the result to the applicant and the police authority of the province where the foreigner wishes to have a permanent residence. Within 04 working days from the receipt of the notification from the immigration authority, the police authority of the province shall notify the foreigner of the grant of permanent residence status.
4	Within 03 months from the receipt of the notification of the grant of permanent residence status, the foreigner must go to the immigration authority affiliated to the provincial police department to receive the permanent residence card.