On November 1, 2011, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs issued Circular No. 31/2011/TT-BLDTBXH guiding implementation of Decree 34/2008/ND-CP dated 25 March 2008 of the Government and Decree 46/2011/ND-CP dated 17 June 2011 of the Government amending and supplementing number of articles of Decree 34/2008/ND-CP of the Government regarding recruiting and managing foreign labor in Vietnam.
Under Circular 31, for any vacant positions, employers must announce for recruitment of Vietnamese employees first; then, they can go for foreigners, otherwise.
Notably, foreign labors do not have to apply for Work Permit in case:their working term in Vietnam is less than 03 months; or they are Chiefs of representative offices; Chiefs of project offices or Commissioned Representatives of foreign non-governmental organizations
The Circular 31/2011/TT-BLDTBXH comes into effect on 18 December 2011./.-ITD