Relocating to Ho Chi Minh City for a VIFC role

Confirmed status of the Ho Chi Minh City hub

The Vietnam International Financial Centre is one legal entity operating through hubs in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. Ho Chi Minh City officially launched its VIFC hub on 11 February 2026. That establishes hub status; it does not establish that every advertised office, employer, financial activity or administrative service in the city is within the VIFC framework.

For context only, Ho Chi Minh City ranked 84th of 120 centres in GFCI 39 in 2026, rising 11 places. It ranked third in ASEAN behind Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and was among 15 centres expected to expand influence over the following two to three years. This benchmark describes the city’s assessed financial-centre position; it does not prove that a particular VIFC service is operational or that an individual relocation will succeed.

A decision framework for senior finance, legal and technology professionals

Start with mandate fit, not the city. A finance leader should identify the regulated or commercial activity, reporting framework, control responsibilities and employing entity. A legal leader should identify governing-law, licensing, privilege, dispute, data and professional-practice questions. A technology leader should identify the employing entity, product or infrastructure remit, regulated-data responsibilities, cybersecurity accountability and where duties will be performed.

Next, test the organisation. Obtain evidence that the exact contracting or employing entity is a VIFC member. A group brand, future membership plan or city office is not enough. Confirm whether the individual will legally work for that member and whether a secondment, dual contract, group payroll, consultancy or professional-employer arrangement is accepted.

Then test the person and package. Record the proposed title, actual duties, professional evidence, work locations, compensation components and requested duration. Seniority does not by itself establish high-level expert status, work-permit exemption, UD1 eligibility or tax qualification. Ask the employer to state which legal category it expects to use, what evidence supports that position and who bears the risk if an authority decides differently.

Finally, run a two-gate approval. Gate one is legal feasibility: member connection, work route, residence route, family route and tax analysis. Gate two is practical feasibility: family requirements, travel pattern, housing, schooling, healthcare and day-to-day logistics.

Employer, work authorization and residence boundaries

The relevant legal connection is eligible work for a VIFC member organisation, not simply employment in Ho Chi Minh City. Eligible foreign nationals working for member organisations may receive work permits or exemptions and work authorization for up to 10 years. Foreign experts meeting high-level criteria set by the specialised one-stop Executive Agency may qualify for a work-permit exemption. The title “executive,” “counsel,” “engineer” or “expert” is not sufficient without the applicable classification and evidence.

Eligible applicants may receive a UD1 temporary residence card for up to 10 years, subject to eligibility and guidance. The maximum is not a promised first-card term. Work authorization and residence are connected but separate outcomes; neither should be assumed from the other.

Before accepting the offer, obtain a written responsibility matrix. It should name the entity supporting each filing, the adviser, expected route, evidence owner, translation and authentication responsibility, submission sequence, renewal owner and response if the role, employer, hub or member status changes. It should also address the consequences of termination. Decree No. 293/2026/ND-CP takes effect on 11 September 2026 and may affect authentication of some foreign public documents; confirm the current route before commissioning relationship documents.

Decree No. 283/2026/ND-CP takes effect on 10 September 2026 and introduces updated administrative-penalty rules that include foreign-worker and employer compliance. It does not replace the individual eligibility analysis under Decree No. 325/2025/ND-CP. Employers should recheck the applicable penalties and duties before work begins.

Family residence and practical relocation boundaries

A qualifying principal applicant’s spouse and children under 18 may receive UD2 temporary residence cards for the same duration as the principal’s UD1 card. The family term therefore follows the period actually granted to the principal; it is not an independent 10-year guarantee.

UD2 residence does not by itself establish permission to work. Decree No. 325/2025/ND-CP expressly excludes accompanying family members from the Article 5(1) work-permit-exemption category. A spouse who may take employment needs a separate assessment before beginning duties; any separate route must be confirmed under the applicable rules.

Treat the household plan as a separate due-diligence file. Record each person’s passport position, education or care requirements, health needs, travel constraints and timing.

Tax boundaries before compensation is agreed

Decree No. 324/2025/ND-CP was issued on 18 December 2025 and took effect on 17 January 2026. Article 7(2)(a) covers qualifying managers, experts, scientists and individuals with high professional qualifications working at the International Financial Center, and only salary and wage income earned from work at the International Financial Center, through the end of 2030. Article 7(2)(b) separately addresses certain transfers to IFC members. This is not a blanket exemption for every VIFC employee, every UD1 holder or every part of an executive package.

Test the person, role, work-at-the-International-Financial-Center connection and income elements separately. A title does not settle manager, expert, scientist or high-professional-qualification status. A group-company or contractor arrangement does not automatically establish the statutory work-at-the-IFC connection. Equity, allowances, benefits, deferred compensation, carried interest, severance and investment returns are not within the Article 7(2)(a) salary/wage category merely because they appear in the same package.

Work patterns matter because the confirmed wording is salary and wage income earned from work at the International Financial Center. Travel, remote work, duties elsewhere in Vietnam, cross-hub responsibilities and overseas work may require allocation or different treatment.

The Vietnamese exemption does not determine total tax. Establish Vietnamese tax residence, home-country residence, treaty access, social-security exposure and foreign reporting separately with advisers covering each relevant jurisdiction. The confirmed incentive ends at the end of 2030; no extension, grandfathering or transition result should be assumed.

Ho Chi Minh City relocation checklist

• Obtain official evidence that the exact employing or contracting entity is a VIFC member and identify the Ho Chi Minh City hub connection.
• Write a role-and-duties statement for immigration, employment and tax analysis; map the candidate’s evidence to the proposed permit or high-level expert exemption.
• Separate work authorization from UD1 residence; confirm the route, sponsor, filing order, requested period and consequences of a shorter approval.
• List the spouse and every child under 18; prepare relationship records only after confirming format, translation, authentication, filing sequence and age rules.
• Review a working spouse’s position independently and obtain required authorization before duties begin.
• Break compensation into salary and wage income, bonuses and every other component; map duties by location and extend the model beyond 2030.
• Conduct household due diligence before commitments.
• Use a go/no-go meeting before travel or lease commitments: legal route confirmed, tax assumptions qualified, family plan workable, unresolved items assigned and contingency actions documented.