Following feedback from businesses with domestic operations, Vietnamese officials have vowed to simplify visas and work permits procedures for foreign workers.

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According to Thanh Nien, Duong Manh Hung, director of the Foreign Labor Department under the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs told a conference in Saigon yesterday that his agency is working on draft proposals regarding requirements for foreign professional workers.

“It has been too strict when we require foreigners to have at least a bachelor degree and five years of experience in their field to be able to work in Vietnam,” he said, adding, “We are also considering two proposals especially for workers from Southeast Asia, either removing work permit requirements or keeping them to the minimum.”

Hung said that he expects amendments on foreign labor to go into effect in the third quarter of this year.

In addition, “Policy makers will also propose favorable policies for employees being transferred to Vietnam from the same company abroad. Currently, they have to apply for a work permit just like other employees who are being recruited for the first time,” wrote Thanh Nien.

Hopefully, the powers that be apply this logic to tourist visas in the near future.

[Photo via us7thfleet]