If your spouse or parent is Vietnamese, you may qualify for a visa-exemption certificate valid for up to five years—but it does not let you stay in Vietnam continuously for five years. Under Decree 82/2015, entry with the certificate normally gives six months of temporary stay at a time, or less if the certificate expires sooner. The certificate is for family visits and personal matters. If you intend to live in Vietnam, explore a sponsored family visa or temporary residence card instead; neither immigration route automatically replaces employment formalities.
A couple moving to Ho Chi Minh City for a year needs a different plan from a foreign child visiting grandparents in Da Nang for one month. Choose your route by who is Vietnamese, how long you need to stay at once, and whether you will work—not by the misleading sales phrase “five-year visa.”
Choose the route that fits your family
| Your situation | Where to start | The mistake to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign spouse of a Vietnamese citizen; visiting family a few times a year | Apply for the visa-exemption certificate, showing your marriage and the Vietnamese spouse's identity | Five-year certificate validity ≠ five-year continuous stay. Follow the permitted-stay end date given on entry. |
| Foreign child of a Vietnamese citizen; travelling for a school holiday | Ask about the child's own family visa-exemption certificate, using birth or adoption/parentage evidence | A certificate issued to one parent does not automatically cover a child with a separate passport. |
| Foreign spouse moving to Vietnam to live with a Vietnamese partner | Compare the certificate with a Vietnamese-citizen-sponsored TT family visa / qualifying temporary residence card | Repeated six-month entries are not a substitute for choosing a suitable longer-term status. |
| Foreign spouse of an overseas Vietnamese person who is not currently holding a Vietnamese passport | The exemption scheme can also apply, but prove the sponsor's Vietnamese origin/overseas-Vietnamese eligibility and your relationship | A foreign spouse cannot rely only on an unverified family story or a partner's foreign passport. |
| Foreign partner not yet legally married, or a child without acceptable relationship documents | Establish the legal relationship/documentary eligibility first; meanwhile consider another lawful entry route | A wedding plan, shared address or informal letter is not equivalent to the required marriage/parentage proof. |
The Vietnamese government's Decree 82 covers overseas Vietnamese and foreign spouses and children of overseas Vietnamese or Vietnamese citizens. The related family category does not automatically include every unmarried partner or distant relative. A child who also holds Vietnamese citizenship needs a nationality/passport check rather than assuming a foreign-passport visa certificate is the correct document.
Five years on the certificate, six months on each arrival
The important dates are different:
- Certificate lifespan: Up to five years, but it must expire at least six months before the underlying passport/travel document expires. A passport with two years left cannot produce a new five-year certificate. For application issuance, Decree 82 and the Ministry of Public Security service require a passport or international travel document valid for at least one year.
- Permitted stay on entry: Article 10 provides six months of temporary stay for each entry. If the certificate itself has less than six months left, the stay is limited by its remaining validity. Check the actual permitted-stay date recorded by border control; don't equate six calendar months with a guaranteed 180-day arithmetic calculation.
- Extension: For a longer family visit, Article 10 allows an application for an extension up to another six months when an eligible Vietnamese organisation or individual supports the request and there are legitimate reasons. Considered for approval is not an automatic extra six months.
- Passport rules at travel: Some embassy entry instructions refer to at least six months' passport validity at arrival, a different test from the one year required to apply for the certificate. Confirm the requirements for your passport and issued document before booking.
Worked example: A foreign spouse obtains a certificate with a validity period of nearly five years and enters on 10 November 2026. That person should examine the border-issued allowed-until date for the initial stay; they cannot simply remain until 2031. To remain beyond the permitted period, arrange an approved extension or the correct family-residence status before the deadline. Do not assume that leaving and re-entering always fixes residence problems or guarantees permission to return.
What documents should you prepare?
The Ministry of Public Security's active application service lists Form NA9, two recent 4×6 cm photos, passport/travel document and certified or original-comparison proof of eligibility. For a foreign spouse or child, your proof is normally:
- Spouse: A legally valid marriage certificate plus documentation identifying the Vietnamese spouse or qualifying overseas-Vietnamese sponsor.
- Child: Birth certificate, recognised parent–child relationship evidence or adoption decision, plus parent/sponsor identity documents.
- Overseas-Vietnamese sponsor: Suitable evidence of Vietnamese nationality or former Vietnamese nationality/origin, together with your family relationship.
- Identity and consistency: Names, dates, passport details and relationship records must agree. Bring a clear explanation and supporting legal documents if a name changed after marriage.
Foreign-issued documents can be the slowest part. Ask the particular receiving Vietnamese embassy or immigration office whether your marriage/birth document requires consular legalisation, a qualifying apostille, a certified Vietnamese translation, or other authenticated copies. A September 2026 Foreign Ministry notice explains that, since 11 September 2026, some Apostille Convention documents can avoid separate consular legalisation, but not every foreign document from every country qualifies, and translation requirements remain. Check the actual country-to-Vietnam treaty application and document type; do not pay for an unnecessary procedure or skip a required one based on a broad internet checklist.
Where to apply: Outside Vietnam, contact a Vietnamese embassy/consulate. If already lawfully in Vietnam, the Ministry of Public Security Immigration Department accepts eligible applications in person or through its partially online/public-postal procedure. Online submission may still require supplying originals or certified records. The official domestic service lists no more than five working days after a complete dossier is received; that is not a guarantee covering translation, document corrections, postage or embassy processing.
What does it cost in 2026?
The Ministry's public service and the Ministry of Finance's Circular 28/2026 fee list, effective 1 April 2026 state USD 10 for issuance or reissuance of the visa-exemption certificate. That is a government certificate fee, not an all-in bill: consular-service charges, legalisation/translation, photos, delivery and any other necessary services may vary. Don't confuse it with the separate temporary residence card fees.
A good question to ask before paying an agent: “Which part of this quotation is the USD 10 government certificate charge, and which part is your service or document-preparation fee?”
Living in Vietnam: certificate versus family residence
If your plan is to settle with your Vietnamese spouse, discuss a TT-category family visa and, where eligible, a TT temporary residence card (TRC) with Immigration rather than repeatedly relying on family-visit entries. Under the current immigration-law framework, a qualifying TT temporary residence card may be issued for up to three years, limited further by passport validity and the specific approved case. A spouse, parent or child relationship may fit a family category, but the sponsor's status, the applicant's actual current permission, required records and visa/TRC procedure must be established in the individual case.
Do not mistake these documents for permanent residence. That is a distinct application with its own statutory conditions, including qualifying sponsorship and residence history; marriage does not automatically grant permanent status. Nor does a visa-exemption certificate instantly convert into a TT card. Ask the immigration authority whether an in-country family status request is available for your current lawful status or whether a different entry step is needed. Do not let your existing permission expire while waiting.
For general visa-entry differences, see Vietnam visas and entry routes. For employer-sponsored long stays, see work and long stays in Vietnam.
Can you work if married to a Vietnamese citizen?
This point changed in practice and is often described wrongly. A visa-exemption certificate is not itself a work permit. However, under Labour Code Article 154(8) and Decree 219/2025, a foreign national married to a Vietnamese citizen and living in Vietnam falls into a work-permit exemption category. In a 23 May 2026 answer, Vietnam's Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed that the employer must give the competent authority notice at least three working days before the expected start, even where the spouse has a visa-exemption certificate but no TT card yet.
This is a specific spouse-and-residence case, not automatic permission for any visitor, child, fiancé or family-exemption holder to work. The employer must confirm that the marital/residential facts qualify, prepare the notification, and comply with any other applicable employment rules. Do not tell an employer that a five-year certificate alone makes a first-day shift lawful.
Before you pay or move your family
If you are visiting, collect the actual marriage/birth proof and apply to the embassy or Immigration for the exemption certificate; plan around the six-month stay per entry, not its five-year validity. If you are relocating, discuss the TT family-residence route and its actual sponsor/proof requirements before committing to a year-long lease. If you will work, have the employer handle the married-and-residing exemption notification in time and confirm your separate right to stay.
The first useful task today is simple: put your passport expiry, the Vietnamese family member's status, your legal relationship document, intended arrival and intended length of stay on one page. Those five facts decide which official channel can answer your real situation without selling you an inappropriate “five-year residency visa.”