Vietnam's temporary residence card for Aussies

Short answer: once you have a work permit and the right visa, your sponsor applies for a temporary residence card, and that one card replaces your visa until it expires or your job ends.

The short version

A temporary residence card (TRC, thẻ tạm trú) stands in for a visa. While it's valid you can leave and re-enter Vietnam without applying for a new visa each time [1].
You can't apply on your own. Your sponsor, usually your employer, files the application with the immigration office where it is based [1][3].
How long the card lasts depends on your visa type: up to two years for work visas, three for most family and smaller investor visas, and longer for big investors [1].
Since early 2026, Ho Chi Minh City wants to see a valid work visa (LD1 or LD2) before it will accept a work-based TRC application. Arriving on a business visa and converting later no longer cuts it [4].
The card is tied to your sponsor. Change jobs and you're looking at a new work permit, a new visa and a new card.

What the card is, and what it isn't

Back home, your Australian visa usually lives as a digital record you check on VEVO. Vietnam does it the old-fashioned way: a plastic card, issued by the immigration authority under the Ministry of Public Security, that's valid in place of a visa [1].

For Australians working in Saigon, the practical difference is huge. Without a TRC you're living visa to visa, paying each time and hoping nothing changes at the border. With one, you can fly home for Christmas, pop to Bangkok for a weekend and come back in on the same card.

What it doesn't do:

It isn't a work permit. Your work permit (or a certified exemption) is what makes your job legal. The TRC just lets you live here for as long as that permit supports [4].
It isn't permanent residence. It expires, and it can be cancelled when the reason you hold it ends.
It doesn't replace your address registration. Your landlord or hotel still has to declare where you're staying. Our moving guide covers that rule.

Who qualifies

Eligibility follows your visa code. Under the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners (Law 47/2014, amended in 2019), foreigners on these visa types can get a card [1][2]:

Your situation	Visa code	Maximum card validity
Large foreign investor	DT1	Up to 10 years
Mid-sized investor	DT2	Up to 5 years
Smaller investor	DT3	Up to 3 years
Worker with a work permit or exemption	LD1, LD2	Up to 2 years
Spouse or child of a foreigner here on a qualifying visa	TT	Up to 3 years
Spouse or child of a Vietnamese citizen, or of senior officials	LV1, LV2	Up to 5 years
Head of a foreign representative office or project	NN1, NN2	Up to 3 years
Lawyer licensed to practise in Vietnam	LS	Up to 5 years
Student or intern	DH	Up to 5 years
Resident journalist	PV1	Up to 2 years

Two catches apply to everyone. The card must expire at least 30 days before your passport does [1], and in practice providers advise having at least 13 months left on your passport when you apply [2]. If your Australian passport is getting old, renew it at the Consulate first. It costs far less hassle than a card cut short.

Investor tiers depend on how much capital you've put in. The smallest investor category, DT4, isn't on the list at all, so very small investments don't lead to a card. Business visas (DN1, DN2) and tourist e-visas don't qualify either.

Families

Your partner and kids get dependent TT visas first, then their own cards [4]. Their cards normally can't outlast yours, because their right to be here hangs off your status. Bring an apostilled or legalised marriage certificate and birth certificates from Australia. The Australian Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh City offers some notarial services, but your originals come from the registry in your home state [7].

The paperwork

The core file is short. The hard part is having everything underneath it in order.

Document	Who provides it
Written request from the sponsor	Your employer or sponsoring organisation
Form NA8, the information declaration with a photo	You and your sponsor
Your passport, original	You
Two 2 x 3 cm photos	You
Proof of eligibility, such as a work permit or exemption certificate	Your employer
Proof of your temporary residence (address) registration	Your landlord or the ward police record

Sources: [1][2]. Sponsor companies also lodge their own registration papers with immigration, usually once, before they sponsor anyone.

Since early 2026 the HCMC office also wants evidence of a valid work visa for work-based applications [4].

The process in Ho Chi Minh City

Where to file

The rule that trips people up: the file goes to the immigration office where your sponsor is headquartered, not where you live or work [3]. If your company's head office is in the city, that means the Ho Chi Minh City Immigration Office under the city police, or the national Immigration Department's office in the city. Since the July 2025 mergers, the old Binh Duong province is part of Ho Chi Minh City, so companies based there now file in the city too [3].

Step by step

Get your work permit or exemption. Your employer handles this. See our guide to working in Vietnam for how the 2025 rules work.
Get the right visa. With the permit in hand, your employer applies for your LD1 or LD2 work visa. If you came in on an e-visa or business visa, this is where it gets converted [4].
Register your address. Make sure your landlord has declared you. Immigration checks this.
Lodge the TRC file. Your sponsor submits in person or online through the National Public Service Portal, signing with a company digital signature [2].
Pay the fee and wait. The law allows five working days from a complete file [1]. In practice, queries and missing papers add time, so don't book flights around it, and expect delays around Tết.
Collect the card. Pick it up on the date on your receipt, or have it posted [2]. Check every letter of your name and passport number before you leave the counter.

What it costs

The government fee depends on validity. As published by Thao & Co in 2026 [2]:

Card validity	Fee per card
Under 2 years	US$145
2 to 5 years	US$155
5 to 10 years	US$165

Fees are paid in VND at the day's rate. Many employers use a service agent, which adds a fee on top. Ask your employer who pays before you start; it's usually them for the main applicant, but not always for family members.

Changing jobs, quitting or leaving

Here's where Australians get caught out. Your card is linked to the sponsor who requested it.

If you change employer

You can't just keep using your old card for a new job. The new employer needs to get you a new work permit, then a new work visa, then a new TRC, in the same order as before [4]. Meanwhile, your old employer is expected to notify immigration that your contract has ended so the old card can be cancelled. Vietnamese guidance has long said that using a still-valid card after the job behind it ends is against the rules [5].

In practice:

Line up the new permit before you resign if you can. Gaps are where problems start.
Ask your old employer what they've filed with immigration and when. If they cancel your card, you may need an exit visa or a short-term visa to stay legally while the new paperwork runs.
Don't keep working on an old permit. Smartraveller warns that working without a valid permit can mean fines, detention and an exit ban [6].

Renewing

Renewal follows the same process. Start at least a month before expiry, because your work permit usually has to be renewed first, and that has its own lead time.

Leaving Vietnam for good

When your contract ends and you're heading home, your employer should return or cancel the card. Settle your tax before you go, too. Our moving back to Australia checklist covers the Australian side.

Australian angle: what's different and what helps

No shortcuts for Aussies. Australia and Vietnam are close partners, but there's no special residence track for Australians. You go through exactly the same system as everyone else.
Keep your passport. The card is valid only with a valid passport. Smartraveller is blunt: never hand your passport to an employer, even for safekeeping [6]. Hand it over at the immigration counter, get it back the same day or with the card, and keep it yourself.
Lost passport, same card? If you lose your passport, your card details need to be moved across once you have a new one. The Consulate-General can issue an emergency passport, then you deal with immigration [7]. Our guide to consular help and legal trouble in Vietnam walks through it.
Your status at home. Holding a Vietnamese TRC doesn't decide if you're still an Australian tax resident. That's a separate test, covered in our guide to Australian tax residency after moving.

Want to hear how long the HCMC office is taking this month? Join Cooee Vietnam, our Facebook group for Australians in Vietnam, and ask people who've just been through it.

Vietnam's temporary residence card: who gets a TRC and how it works in Saigon