What is Temporary Residence Card? Necessary information about temporary residence cards for foreigners

Through this article, Oriental Visa shall help you to find out all answers for what is a temporary residence card, valid term of a temporary residence cards for foreigners.

What is Temporary Residence Card?

Vietnam temporary residence card is a document issued by the Immigration Management Authority or a competent authority to issue residence cards of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to foreigners who want to reside in Vietnam for a long time. 

Types of Temporary Residence Card

Current three popular types of Temporary Residence Cards for foreigners include: temporary residence card for work, temporary residence card for investment and temporary residence card for visiting relatives

Temporary residence card for work (Temporary Residence Card symbolized Work)

This type of temporary card is for foreigners who have been granted work permit for businesses or representative offices of foreign companies in Vietnam. 

The temporary residence card – Work is valid for 2 years.

Temporary residence card for investment (Temporary Residence Card symbolized Investment)

Cases are granted temporary residence card for investment:

• Owner of a one-member limited liability company in Vietnam.
• Member of a Board of Directors of a joint-stock company or a limited liability company with two or more members.

The duration of investment temporary residence card is up to 5 years depending on the percentage of capital contribution. 

Temporary residence card for relatives’ visit (Temporary Residence Card symbolized Relatives’ Visit)

Temporary residence card – Relatives’ visit is granted to relatives of foreigners who already have temporary residence card in Vietnam: parents, spouse and children. 

Term of temporary residence card for visiting relatives:

• Maximum 3 years (if the relative is Vietnamese citizen). The 3 year temporary residence card in this circumstance is usually applied under temporary residence card for the husband who is foreigner. 
• 3 months or up to the term of Temporary Residence Card- Relatives’ Visit (if the relative has another nationality).

So Oriental Visa has just answered the question about what Temporary Residence Card is, what a temporary residence card in English is and what a temporary residence card in Chinese is. As well as how to distinguish types of temporary residence card in Vietnam and the image of temporary residence cards. Next, let’s find out the duration of temporary residence card for foreigners and what it is used for! 

Term of temporary residence card

The temporary residence card for foreigners in Vietnam works as a long-term visa that valid from 2-10 years and can replace visa. 

The temporary residence card for foreigners allows them to stay legally in Vietnam in a certain period of time. There is no need to renew or re-apply for a visa during that time. 

Conditions for granting temporary residence cards to foreigners

Conditions for foreigners to be granted Vietnam temporary residence card is regulated in Clause 2, Article 36 of the Law on Residence of foreigners in Vietnam.

• Foreigners who are members of diplomatic, consular, representative offices of the United Nations, intergovernmental organizations in Vietnam, and their spouses, children under 18 years and maid under their term.
• Foreigners enter Vietnam with a visa symbolized: Job, Lawyer, Investment, Foreigner, Study, Reporter, Work, Relatives’ visit. 

Procedures for applying for temporary card can be done for foreigners and Vietnamese with foreign passports.

Regarding regulations on temporary residence cards for foreigners, you can read more in Circular No. 31/2015/TT-BCA dated July 6, 2015 of the Ministry of Public Security. This Circular have guidance on visa issuance, temporary residence card issuance, entry and exit permit issuance, and permanent residence settlement for foreigners in Vietnam.

What are benefits for foreigners when having temporary residence cards in Vietnam?

Having temporary Residence Cards for foreigners in Vietnam will have these following benefits:

• The temporary residence card has the same validity as a long-term visa. Therefore, foreigners can temporarily stay in Vietnam for a long time.
• Holders of temporary residence cards for foreigners are exempted from visas when exiting or entering the country during the validity of the card.
• Foreigners who are granted temporary residence cards can buy apartments and may be able to buy houses in the near future. Currently, the Ministry of Construction is recommending that foreigners buy houses in Vietnam to solve the housing backlog.
• Foreigners can stay in Vietnam for a long time while the card is valid without having to leave Vietnam.

The last part in this article will answer all questions about temporary residence cards for foreigners in Vietnam is the difference between the temporary residence card and visa.

Place for submitting application for the temporary residence card for foreigners in Vietnam?

The place to apply for temporary residence cards for foreigners in Ho Chi Minh City is at the Immigration Department of Ho Chi Minh City.

Address: 333-335-337 Nguyen Trai, District 1, HCMC

Time to receive applications:

• Morning: 8:00-11:30
• Afternoon: 1:30-4:30
• Every Monday to Saturday morning (except public holidays)

Differences between Visa and Temporary residence card?

First of all, we find out the concept of visa and temporary residence card to know if a temporary residence card can replace a visa, if there is a temporary residence card, do you still need a visa?

• Visa is a document issued by a competent authority of Vietnam to foreigners so that they are allowed to enter Vietnam.
• Temporary residence card is a type of document issued by an immigration management agency or a competent agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to foreigners so that they are allowed to reside in Vietnam for a certain time.

The temporary residence cards for foreigners is valid in lieu of a visa.

The difference between visa and temporary residence card is mainly in the following points:

	Visa	Temporary residence card
Subject	Foreigners have demand to enter Vietnam and have all required documents	Foreigners with work permits, reporters and journalists permanently residing in Vietnam Head of representative offices, projects of international organizations, foreign non-governmental organizations in Vietnam Heads of representative offices and branches are granted visas symbolized LV1, LV2, DT. Foreigners who are members of diplomatic missions or consular offices. People who come to work with departments, agencies and units directly under the Communist Party of Vietnam; Vietnamese state management agency. Foreigners come to work with socio-political organizations, foreign investors, and foreign lawyers.
Maximum duration	No more than 12 months. When the visa expires, you must apply for a visa extension or exit Vietnam.	No more than 5 years. When the temporary residence card expires, you must apply for a new temporary residence card.
Number of entry/exit times	Allowed to enter/exit once or multiple times depending on the choice when doing the visa issuance/renewal procedures.	Multiple entry/exit allowed.

If you have any questions regarding temporary residence cards for foreigners , don’t hesitate to leave a comment below! Oriental Visa  will answer immediately via HOTLINE 094 150 6226.