Temporary Residence Card (TRC) and Visa Extension in Vietnam
A temporary residence card replaces the visa-run cycle: it lets you stay and re-enter for the life of the card without applying for a new visa each time. It is filed by your sponsor, not by you, and the sponsor has to be registered with the immigration authority before any card application will be accepted. Getting the sponsor file right is most of the work.
Who needs this
- Foreign employees with a work permit, or a written confirmation that they are exempt from one, who intend to stay beyond a short visa
- Foreign investors, company owners and legal representatives named in the enterprise registration of a Vietnamese entity
- Spouses and children of a card holder or of a Vietnamese citizen, applying as dependants through the same sponsor route
- Anyone currently living on repeated short visas or extensions and paying for it in exit runs, agency fees and lost working days
- HR teams that need staff mobility to be predictable — a card removes the recurring approval risk that an extension carries
What to bring
- Form NA6 — the written request from the sponsoring organisation; individuals sponsoring a relative use form NA7 instead
- Form NA8 — the temporary residence card declaration for the foreigner
- The original passport, valid, with the current visa or temporary residence certification inside
- Two 2x3 cm photographs — one glued onto the declaration, one loose
- Proof that you fall within a category eligible for a card: a work permit, a confirmation of exemption from the work permit requirement, or other documents that establish eligibility
- The sponsor's one-off registration file, already lodged with the immigration authority: a certified copy of the establishment licence or decision, plus a document introducing the seal and the signature specimen of the authorised signatory
- For dependants: documents proving the family relationship, consular-legalised and translated where they were issued abroad
- For an extension of stay rather than a card: form NA5 together with the original passport
How it works
- 1
Register the sponsor before anything else
The inviting or sponsoring organisation must have filed its registration with the immigration authority — a certified copy of the establishment licence or decision, and a document introducing the seal and authorised signature. This is filed once, but it must be updated in writing whenever the company changes its name, address, seal or authorised signatory. A stale sponsor file quietly blocks every application behind it.
- 2
Settle the eligibility document
For most employees this is the work permit or the written confirmation of exemption; for investors it is the corporate documents naming them. This is the item that determines both whether a card is issued and which symbol it carries, so it has to be finished and consistent with the sponsor's own records before the card file is assembled.
- 3
Assemble and check the forms
NA6 (or NA7 for an individual sponsor) plus NA8, the photographs, the eligibility document and the original passport. Every field on NA8 should match the passport exactly, including the spelling and order of names. The sponsor signs and seals NA6; an unsigned or wrongly sealed NA6 is a common reason files come back.
- 4
File with the right immigration authority
Files go either to the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security or to the provincial-level police immigration office where the sponsoring organisation has its head office, or where an individual sponsor resides. The published channels are in person, online, and by public postal service. Confirm which office is competent for your sponsor before travelling to a counter.
- 5
If filing online, plan for the passport
The online route does not remove the physical passport requirement: where a file is submitted online, the passport must be sent to the receiving office through the public postal service, and the other components must be electronically authenticated — or else sent in by post as well. Decide who holds the passport and for how long before you commit to the online channel.
- 6
Track expiry and choose card versus extension
An extension of stay is a lighter file — form NA5 with the passport — but it is a repeat exposure to approval risk and buys less time. A card is the better answer for anyone staying long term. Either way, start early: put a calendar reminder well before the expiry date, not on it.
Where people get stuck
- Assuming the employee can file for themselves. The card is applied for by the inviting or sponsoring organisation or individual. A foreigner walking into an immigration office alone with a passport and a work permit will be sent away.
- A passport close to expiry. The card cannot outrun the passport it is attached to, so a passport with a year or two left will cap the card you are issued. Renew the passport first, then apply — doing it in the other order means paying for the card twice.
- A sponsor file that no longer matches reality. Companies change address, change legal representative and re-issue seals, then wonder why the immigration office rejects a signature it has never seen. Update the sponsor registration the same week the change happens.
- Leaving the residence declaration undone. The card file sits alongside your registered address; if the landlord never declared your temporary residence, expect questions at exactly the wrong moment.
- Starting the file a fortnight before the visa runs out. Between the eligibility document, the sponsor's signature cycle and the passport sitting at the office, this is a multi-week process even when nothing goes wrong.
- Treating dependants as an afterthought. A spouse and children need their own files, their own relationship evidence, and consular legalisation of foreign-issued certificates — which is often the slowest item in the whole project.
Common questions
How long will my card be valid for?
It depends on the symbol your card carries, which follows the ground on which you qualify — employee, investor, dependant, student. Each symbol has its own statutory ceiling, and the card is also constrained by your passport's remaining validity. Ask the receiving office to confirm the ceiling for your symbol rather than working from a figure you read online.
What does it cost and how long does it take?
Fees and handling times are published by the receiving authority and differ between the central Immigration Department and provincial offices. Check the current figures on the National Public Service Portal or the Ministry of Public Security portal at the time you file, and budget for the days your passport is out of your hands.
Can I get a card without a work permit?
You need a document establishing that you fall within a category eligible for a card. For employees that is normally the work permit or the written confirmation that you are exempt from needing one. Other grounds — investment, family relationship, study — are proved with their own documents. What you cannot do is apply on nothing.
Should I extend my visa or apply for a card?
An extension is a lighter file — form NA5 and your passport — and suits a short, defined gap. A card is the right answer for anyone here long term: it removes the recurring approval risk and the repeat handling of your passport. If you are extending for the third time, you should be applying for a card.
Official sources
- Cổng Dịch vụ công Bộ Công an — Cấp thẻ tạm trú cho người nước ngoài tại Cục Quản lý xuất nhập cảnh
- Cổng Dịch vụ công Bộ Công an — Cấp thẻ tạm trú cho người nước ngoài tại Công an cấp tỉnh
- Cổng Dịch vụ công Bộ Công an — Gia hạn tạm trú cho người nước ngoài tại Việt Nam
- Cục Quản lý xuất nhập cảnh — Bộ Công an
- Cổng Dịch vụ công quốc gia
Related service
Employer of Record (EOR) & Hiring →