🇻🇳 Vietnam · Permanent Residency
Permanent-residence routes: eligibility, required years of residence, and the official application steps — including any investment routes where a country offers them.
Quick answer
Vietnam’s permanent residence card (thẻ thường trú) is limited, granted mainly to those with special contributions to Vietnam, stateless persons long resident, or the spouse/child/parent of a Vietnamese citizen after several years. Most foreigners instead hold renewable temporary residence cards; permanent residence lets you stay without a visa.
Vietnam has permanent residence cards, but the route is narrow. Most foreign residents use temporary residence cards or visa categories tied to work, investment, family or study.
- Older official legal text lists permanent residence consideration for contributors and spouses, children or parents of Vietnamese citizens residing in Vietnam.
- Permanent residents must hold a permanent residence card and comply with reporting rules.
- Do not treat Vietnam PR as a broad points-based or investor-open route; verify eligibility with immigration authorities.
Step-by-step
- 1
Check eligibility
Permanent residence is mainly for those with special contributions, long-resident stateless persons, or close family of a Vietnamese citizen.
- 2
Meet the family-route conditions
For the family route, you generally need a Vietnamese sponsor (spouse/parent/child) and several years of prior temporary residence.
- 3
Apply to the Immigration Department
File the permanent-residence application with the Immigration Department with sponsor, residence and criminal-record documents.
- 4
Await approval
Approval is discretionary and can take months; the permanent residence card (thẻ thường trú) is renewed periodically.
- 5
Receive permanent residence
Permanent residence lets you stay without a visa and work; you register your address with local police.
- 6
Understand alternatives and citizenship
If PR is out of reach, renewable temporary residence cards are the norm; Vietnamese naturalization generally requires giving up other nationality.
Checklist
- Eligibility (contribution / stateless / Vietnamese family)
- Vietnamese sponsor + prior temporary residence (family route)
- Immigration Department application + documents
- Discretionary approval (months)
- Permanent residence card (renewable)
- Address registration with local police
- Alternative: renewable temporary residence card
- Naturalization usually requires renouncing other nationality
Official authorities
- Vietnam legal database — permanent residence provisions
Official legal text on permanent residence cards and eligibility.
- Vietnam Immigration Department
Immigration authority.
Frequently asked questions
Is permanent residence common in Vietnam?
No — it is limited and mostly for special contributors or close family of Vietnamese citizens; most foreigners hold temporary residence cards.
What is the alternative to PR?
A renewable temporary residence card (thẻ tạm trú), typically tied to work, investment or family, is the usual long-stay route.
Does Vietnam allow dual nationality?
Generally no — naturalization usually requires renouncing your other nationality, with limited exceptions.
Official-information aggregation, not legal advice. Always verify on the authority's own site.