Vietnam to Expel Non-licensed Foreign Workers

Vietnam will expel foreign employees, who work in the country for more than three months without applying for working licenses.

 

The information is stated in a draft decree to supplement Decree 34/NĐ-CP on recruitment and management of foreign laborers working in Vietnam.

 

Foreign workers - who specialize in production operation and management, do not hold any professional certificates, but want to continue working in the country- must acquire written papers issued by local investors certifying that they have at least five-year working experience.

 

Six months after the effective date of the new decree, all illegal foreign workers will be expelled if they still hesitate to acquire the licenses.

 

Le Quang Trung, Deputy Director of the Employment Department under the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, said Decree 34/NĐ-CP only covers conditions for foreign laborers to apply for working licenses. It does not draw any penalty for non-licensed foreign workers.

 

The new decree will be effective on July 1, 2010.

 

Although Vietnam has yet to officially allow the import of blue-collar foreign workers, it is reported that some 90,000 such laborers are currently working in the country, including 5,000 workers from Africa and the Middle East who arrived during 2007 and 2008. (New Hanoi)