On November 25th, 2019, the 14th National Assembly passed the Law amendments to a number of articles of the Law on entry, exit, transit, and residence of foreigners in Vietnam, this Law takes effect from July 1st , 2020.
One of the most prominent changes in the Law on amendments and supplements this time can include the regulations on changing visa purposes. Previously, the 2014 Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam stipulates that visas of foreigners in Vietnam are valid for one or more times and must not change their purpose.
According to Article 1 of the Law amendments to a number of articles of the Law on entry, exit, transit, and residence of foreigners in Vietnam 2019, foreigners in Vietnam are allowed to change their visa purposes in the the following case:
– He/she presents document proving to be an investor or a representative for foreign organization investing in Vietnam as per the law of Vietnam;
– He/she presents document proving his/her relationship with person inviting or sponsoring in terms of parents, spouse, children;
– He/she is invited or sponsoring by agencies or organizations and presents work permit or confirmation of eligibility for work permit exemption according to labor laws;
– He/she makes entry by electronic visa and presents work permit or confirmation of eligibility for work permit exemption according to labor laws.
In particular, in the past, only the case of common visas for children under 14 sharing passports with parents, this Law also adds cases of general visas, which are:
Visas shall be issued according to lists issued by immigration authorities with respect to foreigners visiting and travelling or transiting by sea who have the need to enter inland for visiting and tourism purposes according to programs organized by international tourism enterprises in Vietnam; members of foreign military ships travelling under official programs of tours outside of central-affiliated cities and provinces where their ships anchor.