Laws of Vietnam

DECREE No.24-CP ON THE 24th OF MARCH 1995 OF THE GOVERNMENT ON ENTRY AND EXIT VISA PROCEDURES

THE GOVERNMENT

DECREES:

Chapter I

EXIT VISA PROCEDURES

1. The Prime Minister shall consider and grant exit visas to the Ministers, Heads of the agencies at ministerial level, Presidents of the People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government (hereafter referred to as Ministerial and Provincial Heads);

2. The Ministerial and Provincial Heads shall consider and grant exit visas to:

- Public officials and employees and staffs on the payroll of State agencies and enterprises of the levels lower than those described in Item 1 of this Article (including those who are assigned by State agencies and enterprises to work at social organizations, non-State economic organizations, enterprises with foreign invested capital, and foreign organizations in Vietnam);

- The Chairmen (Chairwomen) of the boards of directors, and Directors of non-State enterprises (including stock and limited liability companies which have capital contributed by State enterprises), the establishments of which are decided or licensed by Ministerial and Provincial Heads.

The Ministerial and Provincial Heads may empower the Heads of the public services (general or specialized departments under Ministries, scientific research centers, institutes or universities of national status, etc.,), Directors of departments directly under provincial level, and General Directors of State enterprises of national status having regular international contacts, to dispatch overseas, and be responsible for, public officials and employees and staffs under their (organizational, professional and technical) management, to implement agreements or contracts which they have signed with foreign countries for cooperation in economy, trade, science, technology, personnel training, labor, expertise, etc., and which have been already approved by either the Ministries or provinces.

In this mandating, the Ministerial and Provincial Heads shall make written introductions to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior of the signatures, seals, scopes of power and responsibility of the mandated agencies;

3. The processing of exit visas for officials, employees and staffs who are under the management of Party offices and the people's organizations of the central level (the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, the Vietnam Women's Union, the Communist Youth Union, the War Veterans' Association, the Vietnam Peasants' Union) shall be conducted as prescribed by the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee;

4. The Minister of the Interior shall consider and grant exit visas to Vietnamese citizens who do not fall into the provisions of above-stipulated Items 1, 2 and 3. They include:

- Citizens who travel abroad for study, health treatment, tourism, employment, or visits of relatives (except for visits paid by spouses and children under 16 years of age to relatives who are officials, employees or staffs of overseas representative offices of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam), or who travel abroad for other personal purposes;

- Members of social or professional organizations (outside the people's organizations of the central level) who are assigned by their organizations to make overseas business trips;

- Members of non-State economic organizations: stock companies, limited liability companies, cooperatives, production teams, private enterprises, etc., who are assigned to make overseas business trips.

- Vietnamese citizens working in enterprises with 100% foreign capital, joint venture enterprises with foreign countries, branches of foreign companies, and representative offices of foreign organizations and international organizations in Vietnam... who apply to travel abroad for personal reasons, or who are sent by these organizations to work overseas.

Article 2.- The procedures for exit visas for the persons described in Items 1, 2 and 3 of Article 1 are as follows:

1. For first-time exit visa:

a) The authorized agencies shall send to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior the decision and the list of personnel who have been assigned to make the overseas trips;

b) The concerned person shall fill the application form for passport and visa (form set by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior) which shall be affixed with his/her photo and signature, and sealed with endorsement by the Head of his/her managing agency or unit. If the application form is directly endorsed with a signature by the Head of the authorized agency, the concerned person does not need the documents described in Point (a) of this Item.

The person with authority in deciding exit visa is responsible before law for the personnel and for consulting the concerned offices regarding complicated cases (in accordance with Article 3 of the Regulation on exit and entry delegations, issued in conjunction with Decree No 12-CP on the 1st of December 1992 of the Government);

2. For re-exit visas: If it is not more than 12 months after the first exit, only the written exit authorization of the competent agency and the valid passport of the concerned person are required. The concerned person still has to fill the application form for exit visa, but does not need the signature endorsement of the Head of his/her agency or unit, as required in the first application.

3. The Ministry of the Interior shall not make a personnel endorsement of the officials, employees, technical staffs and those who are on the payroll of State agencies, organizations and enterprises (including those who are on long-term contracts) and are assigned to make overseas trips. If it discovers that a person belongs to the category which is banned from exiting, or is not yet allowed to make overseas traveling for national security reason, or is being examined for penal liability (being prosecuted, or serving sentences, etc., in accordance with the provisions of law), the Ministry of the Interior has the right to suspend the exit visa and promptly notify the concerned offices of this suspension;

4. Issuing the passport and exit visa:

a) The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is responsible for issuing the passport and exit visa for the persons stipulated in Articles 5 and 6 of Decree 48-CP on the 8th of July 1993 of the Government.

The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for issuing the passport and exit visa for the persons stipulated in Items 1 and 2 of Article 7 of Decree 48-CP on the 8th of July 1993 of the Government.

b) Within five days from the reception of the complete and proper file, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of the Interior shall complete the issuance of the passport and exit visa for the applicant.

The exit visa may be valid for single or multiple exits at one or more international gates of Vietnam, depending on the need of the trips and the proposal of the Head of the agency which is authorized to decide the exit.

Article 3.- Regarding the Vietnamese citizens stipulated in Item 4 of Article 1, the procedure for exit visa is as follows:

1. The application of the passport and exit visa is composed of:

a) 01 application (in form set by the Ministry of the Interior) affixed with photos and the endorsement by:

- The Head of the State agency, organization or enterprise for the applicants who belong to the State payroll (including those on the State payroll but assigned to work in social organizations, non-State economic organizations, enterprises with foreign invested capital, and foreign organizations in Vietnam);

- The police at the commune or ward (of residence) for personnel who is outside the State payroll and who applies for exit visa to travel for purposes of social organizations, non-State economic organization, or enterprise with foreign invested capital, foreign organization in Vietnam, or for other personal purposes.

The person who endorses the application of the concerned person shall be held responsible before law for the personnel he/she has endorsed (the concerned person being free of security problem and is not under examination for penal liability);

b) The invitation or guaranty provided by the overseas organization or relative (the concerned person is not required to hand in the original copy of the invitation nor to obtain the certification from the overseas Vietnamese representation).

2. The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for:

a) Considering and denying exit visas for persons who belong to the categories which are banned from exit, or not yet allowed to exit for reason of national security, or who are being examined for penal liability (being prosecuted or serving sentences, etc., in accordance with the provisions of law);

b) Issuing passports and exit visas to persons described in Item 3, Article 7, of Decree 48-CP on the 8th of July 1993 of the Government;

c) The time allowance for the issue of passports and exit visas:

- 07 days, from the reception of the complete and proper files for travels for market study and surveys, or for implementation of contracts on economy, trade, services, training, labor, expertise, etc.;

- 10 days, from the reception of the complete and proper files for travels for other personal purposes.

Chapter II

ENTRY VISA PROCEDURE

1. The Prime Minister considers and grants entry visas to guest delegations of the State (including the official members and entourage); guests who are representatives of foreign governments and the United Nations, with ranks equivalent to minister or provincial head or higher, and who come for working session, visit, meeting, study tour, exchange of experience, medical treatment, etc., at the invitation of their Vietnamese counterparts;

2. The Minister for Foreign Affairs shall notify the overseas Vietnamese representative office to issue entry visas to the following persons after having provided the data on them to the Ministry of the Interior:

- The officials and employees of the foreign diplomatic representations and consulates, and the representative offices of international and inter-governmental organizations (including their accompanying family members and private helpers);

- The other foreign nationals assigned or recommended (through diplomatic channels) by their own governments or international or inter-governmental organizations, to work at, or to visit their relatives who are officials and employees of, their representative offices in Vietnam;

- Cases of diplomatic and humanitarian emergency;

3. The invitation of foreign guests to come and work with the offices of the Party and people's organizations of the central level shall be conducted in accordance with the regulation set by the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee;

4. The procedure for issuing entry visas for the guests described in this Article is as follows:

a) When there has been a decision by an authority described in the above-mentioned Items 1, 2 and 3, the agency or organization which is assigned to host and arrange the working schedule for the guests shall be responsible for notifying the Ministry of the Interior of the list of the guests for monitoring purpose;

b) The overseas Vietnamese representative office shall expeditiously process the visa procedure and issue the visas (if necessary) upon receiving the cables of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs;

c) The Ministry of the Interior shall not process the entry visas for the guests described in this Article; if it detects a guest belonging to the categories not allowed to enter Vietnam, the Ministry of the Interior shall coordinate with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to deny the entry.

Article 5.- With regard to guests who are exempted from entry visas under agreements signed between the Vietnamese and foreign governments, the procedure shall be as follows:

- The host agency or organization is responsible for notifying the Ministry of the Interior at least five days before the arrival of the guests, of the essential data on them, the purposes of their trips, their working schedules and the length of their stay in Vietnam;

- If it detects that the person or persons belong to the categories not allowed to enter Vietnam, the Ministry of the Interior shall deny their entry, or force them to exit in accordance with the provisions of law;

- The international gate checkpoint is responsible for issuing the temporary and short-term entry permits at the request of the host agency or organization, in accordance with the bilateral agreement signed between the two countries.

Article 6.- With regard to guests who need to be issued visas within the time limit set by the bilateral agreement signed between the Vietnamese and foreign governments, the procedure shall be conducted as follows:

- The overseas Vietnamese representative office shall, upon receiving the visa application of the guests, notify promptly the essential data to the Ministry of the Interior, and the agencies or organizations in the country with which the guests request to work. It is allowed to collect (two-way) post charges from the guests at the current cost of the concerned country;

- Past the time limit set by the agreement (starting from the date of reception of the application file and notification to home), if the representative office has not received any response from home, it shall:

+ Refuse to issue visas to guests who have no Vietnamese host agency or organization;

+ Issue visas to guests who have written documents that they have been invited or offered hosting by a Vietnamese agency or organization and, at the same time, cable data of them (names in full, passport numbers, dates of issue and expiry of the visas, and the arrival dates) to the Ministry of the Interior and the host agency to help in the monitoring and management;

- If it detects that the person belongs to the categories not allowed to enter Vietnam, the Ministry of the Interior shall not allow him/her to enter, or shall force him/her to leave.

Article 7.- With regard to foreigners and overseas Vietnamese residents (hereafter referred to as guest) who do not fall into the categories stipulated in Articles 4, 5 and 6 of this Decree, when applying for entry, they shall be subject to personnel consideration and entry clearance by the Ministry of the Interior before being issued visas. The procedure is as follows:

1. For the guests who are invited by an agency, a people's organization, a social or economic organization having the status of a juridical person (hereafter referred to as agency and organization):

- The Head of the host agency or organization shall file a request, attached with a list of names and other necessary data to the Ministry of the Interior for personnel consideration and entry clearance;

- The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for considering and making the clearance decision (yes or no) within 05 days after reception of the full and proper file;

- The overseas Vietnamese representative office shall issue the visa to the guests as directed by the cable of the Ministry of the Interior;

2. For the guests who are invited by a foreign-invested joint venture enterprise, an enterprise with 100-percent foreign capital, a branch of a foreign company, or a representative office of a foreign economic organization in Vietnam, to come to Vietnam to carry out production and business activities in line with their licenses or business registration in Vietnam, and for the guests who are invited by their relatives who are Vietnamese citizens residing in Vietnam for home visits:

a) For regular entry:

- The Head of the host enterprise, branch, representative office..., or the host citizen shall file an application or request to the Ministry of the Interior for entry visa, attached with a list of the guests (in form set by the Ministry of the Interior);

- The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for considering and making the clearance decision (yes or no) within 05 days after the reception of the full and proper file;

- The overseas Vietnamese representative office shall issue the visa to the guest after receiving the cable of the Ministry of the Interior;

b) For entry to carry out investment projects which have been licensed by the State Committee for Cooperation and Investment, the overseas Vietnamese representative office is authorized to issue the visas within 05 days after reception of the full and proper file from the guest (in accordance with the provisions of Article 95 of Decree No.18-CP on the 16th of April 1993 of the Government). After issuing the visas, the representative office has to cable (names, passport numbers, visa numbers and dates, purposes and time of the entry) to the Ministry of the Interior and the host agencies for monitoring and management;

3. In case the guests are not invited by a Vietnamese agency, organization or individual, but have come to the overseas Vietnamese representative office to apply for visas to enter Vietnam to probe opportunities for trade, investment or tourist visits..., the procedure is as follows:

a) The overseas Vietnamese representative office is responsible for promptly cabling one of the following business and service organizations, and is allowed to collect post charges (two ways) at the current cost of the concerned country;

- The Trade and Service Company (TSC) under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry;

- The service and investment consultancy companies recommended or appointed by the State Committee for Cooperation and Investment (one for each region, the Northern, the Central and the Southern);

- The International Tourist Companies of Vietnam appointed by the National Administration of Tourism (one for each region);

b) Upon receiving the cable sent by the overseas Vietnamese representative office, the addressed service company is responsible for filing entry visa requests to the Ministry of the Interior, and is allowed to collect service charge (apart from the visa fee) at levels jointly set by the Ministries of Finance, Foreign Affairs and the Interior;

c) The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for replying to the entry visa requests within 05 days at most after reception of the full and proper file, and shall cable the overseas Vietnamese representative office to issue entry visas requested by the service companies.

d) The overseas Vietnamese representative office shall issue the entry visas for guests as notified by the Ministry of the Interior.

Article 8.- For the guests who are invited by Party and State offices at provincial level or higher, or by people's organizations of the central level, to come for the second or more working visit not more than 12 months after the previous one, the overseas Vietnamese representative office shall issue entry visas for the guests according to the invitation cable or letter sent by the host office in the country (to be produced by the guests). After that, it shall cable (the names, passport numbers, visa numbers and dates, time of entry) to the Ministry of the Interior and the host agencies for monitoring and management.

1. The entry visa into Vietnam shall be written on the pages of the passport itself, not on a separate page, except for a number of special cases to be decided by the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee or the Prime Minister;

2. The visa fee must be collected at the level jointly set and publicly announced by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior. No agency, organization and individual is allowed to collect fees outside this level. The service and post charges as stipulated in Articles 6 and 7 of this Decree must be collected separately, and not to be grouped together with the visa fee.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

1. The management of exit and entry activities must be a unified management. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior, and the overseas representative offices of Vietnam must cooperate closely and ensure smooth communication. The Ministry of Finance shall provide financial sources for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior to modernize their information network to serve the management of exit and entry activities, and ensure that they are safe and speedy in all junctures, within the country and overseas, from immigration offices at central to local levels, and at all international ports of exit and entry.

2. The Ministry of the Interior shall quickly consolidate, rearrange its staffs for management, controlling and handling of exit and entry activities at international ports (over-land, rail, water and air routes), and put them under a unified management. This rearrangement must be completed within 90 days after the effective date of this Decree.

Article 11.- This Decree takes effect as from the 1st of April 1995;

It replaces Decisions No.193-CT on the 10th of May 1987, and No.48-CT on the 26th of February 1988, of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (now the Prime Minister). The provisions in Decrees No.12-CP on the 1st of December 1992, No.04-CP of the 18th of January 1993, and No.48-CP of the 8th of July 1993 of the Government, and the previous provisions of the Ministries, Agencies at ministerial level, Agencies attached to the Government, and People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government, which are contrary to this Decree, are now annulled.

Article 12.- The Minister of the Interior, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Finance shall, in accordance with their vested functions and tasks, within 20 days at the latest from the effective date of this Decree, make detailed guidance for the implementation of this Decree.

Article 13.- The Ministers, the Heads of the Agencies at ministerial level, the Heads of Agencies attached to the Government, and the Presidents of the People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government are responsible for the implementation of this Decree.-

On behalf of the Government

The Prime Minister

VO VAN KIET