Policy changes in foreign labour recruitment, residence registration, government bond issuance to take effect in January

Police officers review residence registration papers of a household in the central province of Thanh Hóa. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoa Mai

HÀ NỘI — Notable policies taking effect in January 2024 include foreign labour recruitment, online residence registration, and private issuance of government bonds.

Foreign labour recruitment

From January 1, 2024, having previously been unable to recruit Vietnamese workers for advertised positions slated for foreign workers, employers will be responsible for determining the need to hire foreign workers according to regulations, as per Decree 70/2023/NĐ-CP.

Recruitment announcements for Vietnamese nationals will be made available on the online portal of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), or of employment service centres of centrally-run cities and provinces.

According to the MoLISA, the country counted more than 130,500 active foreign workers as of August 2023. 

Around 10,300 of them (approximately 8 per cent) are exempted from work permits. 

Online residence registration

Starting January 1, 2024, people can fill in forms, upload scans/photos of their documents, or document links from their digital storage (no certification procedures required), and submit fees online for residence registration. 

They must be able to provide the originals when requested by residence registration officers. 

In the case of in-person registration, people can submit certified copies or scans/photos of documents and bring the originals along for verification. 

Documents issued by foreign agencies must undergo consular legalisation and be translated into Vietnamese, unless exempted by regulations. 

Private issuance of government bonds

Decree 83/2023/NĐ-CP, which amends the Government’s Decree 95/2018/NĐ-CP on the issuance, registration, depositing, listing and trading of the Government’s debt instruments on the securities market, will take effect on January 15, 2024. 

According to the new regulations, the State Treasury will make and submit to the Ministry of Finance a plan for private issuance of government bonds, which specifies bond buyers; planned quantity of bonds to be issued; bond term; planned interest rate; planned issuance date; and planned form of private placement (the State Treasury may issue bonds directly to buyers or through a selected distribution agent).

Private issuance of government bonds is a method of directly selling the bonds to each buyer, or choosing a commercial bank or foreign bank branch to act as a distribution and payment agent for government bonds to buyers. — VNS