The 5-Step Guide to Getting Your Vietnam Work Permit (Without the Headache)

A Vietnam work permit sounds like a wall of bureaucracy because, on paper, it is. In practice it breaks down into five steps, done in order, and our partner school sponsors the permit itself rather than leaving you to apply as an individual. Here is exactly what happens, in the order it happens, and which parts Fluent takes off your plate.

Step 1: Get your core documents together

Before you even have an offer, start pulling together your degree certificate, a TEFL or TESOL certificate of at least 120 hours, a clean police background check, and the photo page of your passport. You will also record a short 60 to 90 second introduction video for the school. None of this is hard to get, but it is the step people leave too late, and every other step waits on it.

Step 2: Legalise and translate everything

Once you accept your offer and sign your teacher contract with Fluent, your documents need to be legalised, meaning notarised or apostilled in your home country. This is the slowest step, typically two to four weeks, and it is the one that decides whether your whole timeline runs smoothly or not. If you hold UK documents, budget for an additional legalisation bundle, roughly £160 through the services we recommend. Document legalisation processes vary by country (UK, US, Canadia, Ireland, South Africa, etc.). Start this the day you get your offer letter, not the week before you fly.

Step 3: Apply for your entry visa

With your documents in motion, you apply for your Vietnam entry visa using the invitation letter Fluent provides.

We ask for your flight details at least four weeks before departure so the invitation letter and your visa timeline line up.

This is also when you book flights, only after your offer letter is confirmed, never before.

Step 4: Complete your health check and permit paperwork in orientation week

You will land in Hanoi to an airport pickup and a five day orientation before you even see your placement city. Orientation is where the practical, in-person part of the permit process happens: a mandatory health check (around $80, paid locally), embassy visits, if required for specific nationalities and the paperwork that turns your legalised documents into a lodged application. Our in-country team sits with you through this, managing appointments and tracking every detail  so nothing gets missed or mistranslated.

Step 5: Your school lodges the permit, and you start teaching

After orientation, you transfer to your placement city with a representative from the school. From there, the school completes the official lodgement and registration of your work permit, since it is the sponsoring employer, not you, who files the final application.

You will sign your local employment contract and start teaching, fully legal, with the same permit protecting you for the whole semester.

What Fluent actually handles for you

Steps 3 and 5 are ours to run, and we guide you closely through 1, 2, and 4 rather than leaving you to work it out from a government website. That is the difference between placing yourself and being placed: fifteen years of doing this means we know exactly where applications usually stall, and we build the timeline backwards from your flight date so nothing is rushed at the last minute.

Ready to start the process?

The work permit timeline runs on your offer letter, so the earlier you apply, the more breathing room you have. Apply now and our team will be in touch within 48 hours to start the clock.

Questions first? Email anh@fluenteducation.com