VietNamNet Bridge – The HCMC Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs has recently announced that foreign employees are required to apply for new work permits rather than extensions when their permits expire. This regulation runs counter to the Government’s Decree 102.

Illustrative image. – File photo

Nguyen Van Khai, vice chairman of the HCMC Labor Federation, said the department had mistaken the work permit renewal rule with that on work permit issuance. The department has misinterpreted Government Decree 102.

The labor department in a notice sent to employers on May 16 asked enterprises to apply Section 3 in the decree for foreign workers whose work permits expire. This is wrong, Khai said.

Article 13 of Section 4 regulates cases in which work permits are reissued, including those lost or damaged, or contents regarding name, date of birth, nationality, passport number and workplace changed, or work permit expiration.

Procedures for work permit renewal are quite simple, Khai confirmed.

Meanwhile, Section 3 stipulates procedures for work permit issuance, including required papers such as a written request for a work permit made by the employee, a health certificate issued in the worker’s home country or in Vietnam, a written certification that the worker is not a criminal or liable to criminal prosecution according to Vietnam’s law and the foreign country’s law, which is made within the previous six months from the date on which the application is submitted.

To obtain the papers, foreign employees should come back to their home countries to contact relevant agencies.

Pierre-Jean Malgouyres, chairman of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam (CCIFV) and general director of Archetype Group, said many enterprises would face huge problems if the department’s notice was applied.

Archetype Group now has 200 staff, including 25 foreign architects and engineers. It would be very costly and time-consuming for those foreign employees to return home to get those required papers.

Such a regulation would place a heavy burden on enterprises, especially foreign firms, he said.

“I understand that the rule is aimed at limiting unskilled foreign labor in Vietnam and we advocate this point. But I believe the Vietnamese government should find a way to separate work permits for unskilled and qualified foreign employees,” Malgouyres said.

Currently, local enterprises still found it hard to find qualified Vietnamese experts in some sectors, he told the Daily on June 3.    

Source: SGT