Vietnam digital nomad visa & residency (2026)

Resolution 229/NQ-CP (issued 11 Aug 2025, valid to Aug 2028) added Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia to Vietnam's unilateral visa-waiver list at 45 days per stay. Remote workers from these countries can now chain 45-day stays with e-visa windows to extend time in Vietnam.

Decree 221/2025/ND-CP (issued 8 Aug 2025) created a 5-year, multiple-entry Special Visa Exemption Card for globally recognised scientists, executives, artists, elite athletes, and top academics, with each stay capped at 90 days. Vietnam's closest instrument to a long-stay talent pathway; no dedicated digital-nomad visa exists alongside it.

Resolution 128/NQ-CP tripled the permitted visa-free stay to 45 days for Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Belarus (valid to Mar 2028). Combined with the new 90-day e-visa, nationals of these countries gained effective access to six-month rolling remote-work windows.

Law No. 23/2023/QH15 (passed by the National Assembly 24 Jun 2023) took effect, expanding the e-visa from 40 countries to every country and territory on earth, extending stays from 30 to 90 days, and converting single-entry to multiple-entry. This was the single most significant reform enabling digital nomads globally to access Vietnam without a consulate appointment.

Following a government decision on 16 February 2022, all foreign nationals were again permitted to enter Vietnam without quarantine from 15 March 2022, reinstating the e-visa programme and unilateral visa exemptions suspended since March 2020. Marked the end of a near-two-year effective ban on digital-nomad stays.

Law 51/2019/QH14 (passed 25 Nov 2019) entered into force, adding three new articles covering investor, family-dependent, and work-authorised visa sub-categories and codifying electronic visas as a permanent legal instrument rather than a pilot. Provided the statutory basis for the subsequent 2023 e-visa expansion.

From 00:00 on 22 March 2020, Vietnam barred entry to all foreign nationals except diplomats, officials, investors, and essential skilled workers, effectively ending all tourist and nomad activity. The restriction remained largely in force until November 2021, with full normalisation only in March 2022.

Vietnam piloted its first online e-visa system under Decree 07/2017/ND-CP, issuing 30-day single-entry visas to nationals of 40 countries without a consulate visit. The pilot proved the digital-visa model and directly led to the full programme codified in Law 47/2014's 2019 amendment.

Vietnam's first comprehensive unified statute governing foreign nationals' entry, exit, transit, and residence entered into force, establishing visa categories, temporary-residence cards (1–5 years), permanent-residence permits, and the supervisory authority of the Ministry of Public Security. This remains the legal skeleton on which all subsequent reforms — including the e-visa and SVEC programmes — are built.