Vietnam Investment Visa is granted to foreign investors or representatives of foreign organizations who invest or contribute capital to enterprises, companies in Vietnam. The Investment Visa is an important basis for foreigners to apply for a temporary residence card in Vietnam, with a validity period ranging from 1 to 10 years.
Foreign investors who are granted an Investment Visa (DT) will be able to reside long-term in Vietnam. When the DT visa expires, it can be extended. In the case of investors with DT1, DT2, DT3 visas, they will be considered for the issuance of a temporary residence card with a validity period of 1-10 years (also known as a long-term visa). Investors with DT visas/temporary residence cards will be able to sponsor their relatives to apply for a visitor visa/temporary residence card with a validity period not exceeding 3 years, based on their own visa/card validity period..
How many types of Investment Visa and their validity periods
According to the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam No. 51/2019/QH14, there are four types of investment visas in Vietnam. These four types of investment visas have different validity periods depending on the value or nature of the investment activity.
| Type of investment visa | Validity period |
Eligible recipients |
| Visa ĐT1 | Max 5 years | Issued to foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam with a contributed capital of 100 billion VND or more; OR investing in industries, trades with investment incentives, or in areas with investment incentives as decided by the Government. |
| Visa ĐT2 | Max 5 years | Issued to foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam with contributed capital from VND 50 billion to under VND 100 billion; OR investing in encouraged investment sectors and areas as decided by the Government. |
| Visa ĐT4 | Max 3 years | Issued to foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam with contributed capital from VND 3 billion to under VND 50 billion. |
| Visa ĐT4 | Max 12 months | Issued to foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam with contributed capital under VND 3 billion. |
Foreign investors with visa types ĐT1, ĐT2, and ĐT3 should apply for a long-term visa (also known as a temporary residence card) instead of extending their visa multiple times when it expires.
Conditions to apply for an Investment Visa in Vietnam
Conditions to apply for an investment visa in Vietnam include:
- A valid passport
- The foreign investor must have a sponsoring agency or organization in Vietnam (the foreigner contributes capital to that sponsoring agency or organization);
- Proof of investment, which can include:
- A business license / investment license
- Certificate of capital contribution/shareholding in a company; or
- Other relevant documentation that proves the foreigner’s investment status according to Vietnam laws and regulations.
Where to apply for an Investment Visa?
The Immigration Department of Vietnam considers investment visa applications. Foreigners wishing to obtain a visa should go to the Vietnamese representative office in their home country to complete the visa application process.
* Foreigners with an investment visa will be issued a temporary residence card in Vietnam by the immigration authorities.
To apply for an investment visa, a foreigner must have a company in Vietnam as a sponsor. There are two ways to apply for an investment visa: 1) An e-visa for investment (see the list of 80 countries eligible for e-visa to Vietnam); 2) Applying for an investment visa through an invitation letter (companies can do it themselves or use reputable visa services).
Investor visa application procedure for foreigners
* For investors about to enter Vietnam (to apply for an investment visa)
Step 1: Apply for the Entry Letter for Investment – Form NA2
The entry letter is an approval document from the Immigration Department allowing the foreign investor named in the letter to apply for an Investment Visa and enter Vietnam officially.
Currently, submitting the application for the entry letter in person is no longer applicable, instead it will be processed online on the public service portal. You can refer to the Online procedure for foreigners to apply for an entry letter on PNVT website here.
The processing time is 05 days from the date of receipt of a valid application. The agency, organization or enterprise can receive the result at the Immigration Department by receipt or electronically through the public service portal. Then, the entire entry letter needs to be scanned and sent to the foreign investor to proceed with the next step of applying for an Investment Visa (ĐT visa).
Step 2: Obtain the Investment visa sticker
After receiving the scanned entry letter, the foreign investor needs to go to the Vietnamese Embassy/Consulate in the foreign country or arrive at the Vietnamese entry checkpoint to obtain the DT investment visa sticker on their passport and complete the process of entering Vietnam under investment status. When applying for the visa sticker, they need to prepare:
- A valid passport with at least two blank pages;
- 02 photos (4×6 cm) with white background;
- A printed copy of the entry letter issued by the Vietnamese Immigration Department etc.
* For investors currently residing in Vietnam to extend their stay (renewal of investment visa)
In this case, it is also called the renewal of investment visa. When the investment visa expires, foreigners can exit, apply for a new entry permit and have the investment visa sticker reissued. However, this process takes a lot of time, effort, and expenses. Therefore, extending the investment visa to stay in Vietnam is the optimal and cost-saving solution..
Step 1: Prepare and submit documents to the Immigration Department or the Immigration Management Office of Vietnam
The inviting organization, agency, or enterprise guarantees for the foreign investor to prepare a set of documents to apply for a DT investment visa, including the following papers:
- NA5 form – Application for visa or temporary residence permit extension;
- NA16 form – Introduction letter with stamp and signature;
- A copy of one of the following documents: Business registration certificate, Investment registration certificate, Establishment decision of the organization, etc;
- Passport, Investment visa or valid temporary residence card for investment purposes;
- A copy of documents proving the foreign investor’s identity: Investment certificate, Certificate of capital contribution, shareholding in the guaranteed organization, enterprise, etc;
- Confirmation of temporary residence from the local police where the investor is currently residing;
- Introduction letter (if any)
Step 2. Receive the result
After 05 days from the date of receiving a complete and valid application, the applicant goes to the immigration management office where the dossier is submitted to receive the result.
Investment visa application fee
The visa application fee for investment visas is regulated in Circular 25/2021/TT-BTC. This is the amount of state fee that needs to be paid to the agency handling the procedures. The visa application fee may change depending on the regulations from time to time.
To know the details of the state fee and service fee for investment visa application at the current time, please call PNV HOTLINE for advice and support.
Conversion of current visa to investment visa
According to Article 7, Clause 4 of the 2014 Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam, amended and supplemented in 2019, visas cannot be converted for different purposes, except in cases where there is documentation proving that the individual is an investor or representative of a foreign organization investing in Vietnam according to Vietnamese law etc.
Conversion of visa purposes is a form of foreigners changing their residence purpose compared to the initial entry purpose when coming to Vietnam.
Note that when converting to an investment visa, foreigners must be guaranteed by their initial company to carry out the procedures for converting to an investment visa (with the same company as guarantor).
Please call PNVT for advice on the procedures and documents required for converting visas in Vietnam.
Can I apply for an investment visa in Vietnam by myself?
Foreign investors and agencies, organizations, and enterprises can apply for an investment visa by themselves. However, if it is the first time applying for investment visa, you may encounter many difficulties, such as:
- Not knowing the sections of the investment visa application;
- Not understanding the procedures;
- Language barriers making the procedure more difficult
To overcome these difficulties, you can research and choose for yourself a reputable visa service provider, such as PNVT – one of the trustworthy visa service companies that 99% of customers choose for investment visa. We specialize in supporting and providing investment visa application services for foreign investors in Ho Chi Minh City.
Investment visa service at PNVT
With 15 years of experience in the field of requesting entry permits and visas for foreign nationals, PNVT is always among the top trusted, and chosen continuously by our regular customers. When using PNVT’s services, you will:
- Be consulted and specifically supported by experienced specialists for each case.
- Have all cases handled, especially difficult ones such as visa conversion, visa extension for difficult nationalities, advice on handling expired visas, etc.
- Have your applications processed quickly with minimized revisions or additions.
- Be advised on the optimal solutions for foreign investors and businesses.
- Enjoy the most reasonable and competitive costs with no extra fees incurred during the process.
- Have your customer information kept confidential.
To get consultation and quotation immediately, please contact our HOTLINE.