VietnamRemote worker in Vietnam: first 30 days
In plain termsVietnam has no remote-work visa. A tourist or e-visa stay plus a foreign laptop is a common plan and a stacked risk: immigration (you are working), and PIT (personal income tax) residency if days, a lease, or a TRC-shaped life appear. Month one is to stop pretending the laptop is invisible.
Start here — three checks
- Name the stay stamp you actually hold. Tourist/exemption days still count, and they do not authorise local work.
- Decide whether you will still be here past a 183-day test or on a 183+ day lease. If yes, tax residency is already a live file.
- Do not take a local client who pays a Vietnam invoice unless you have a lawful vehicle. Freelance on the ground is not a tourist hobby.
Decision map
| Signal | Lock now | If skipped |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign employer, you just “work from a café for a month” | Immigration still sees work. Keep the stay honest and short, or get a real labour/sponsor path. | A quiet month becomes a pattern of entries that looks like residence-plus-work. |
| You signed a 12-month apartment because it was cheaper | That lease is a tax abode trigger. Open residency analysis in week one. | Visa is 30 or 90 days; tax story is a year. |
| You want a TRC “for convenience” without a sponsor | TRC needs a host. There is no nomad TRC. Do not buy a fake employment story. | You attach yourself to a paper employer you will also owe labour compliance to. |
| Local startup wants you to “help out” | That is Vietnam work. They need a permit path; you need a category. Café invoices do not fix it. | Foreign remote plus local work is two violations. |
| Days this year already look close to 183, including this stay | Start the tax proof pack now. Arrival day counts. | You notice at day 190 with no CoR and a long lease. |
Scenario triage
| Scenario | Looks safe | Real risk |
|---|---|---|
| 90-day e-visa, foreign payroll, Airbnb monthly | I’m a tourist who happens to answer Slack. | Repeated entries plus a home-like stay become immigration and tax facts. The laptop is visible to both. |
| One-year lease, 60 days in, planning to “stay under 183” | I will fly out in month five. | The lease already talks. Foreign CoR may not exist. Exit theatre does not delete abode. |
| Vietnam company offers a contractor QR payment | It’s only a side gig. | Local source work on a tourist stay, plus tax, plus a second employer the foreign job never knew. |
Common wrong movesWhere people lose time on this exact question.
- Calling tourist-visa remote work a product Vietnam sells. It does not.
- Signing a year lease to save rent while planning a non-resident tax year.
- Letting a friend “sponsor” a work permit for a job you will not perform.
If this fails, do this nextRecovery order — not a generic legal memo.
- If you already worked locally, stop. Classify that work or drop the client.
- If the lease is long, build the tax-residency pack this week.
- If you need to stay and work lawfully, you need an employer or investment vehicle — not a better café.
Evidence to prepareChecklist before you file or walk in.
- Current visa/e-visa and every entry stamp this year.
- Running 183-day sheet (calendar year and 12-month window).
- Any lease or co-living contract, with term in days.
- Foreign employment contract stating work location if it names Vietnam — or if it is silent, a note that silence is not permission.
- List of local clients or Vietnam-source payments, even “tiny.”
- Bank/fintech accounts opened with a Vietnam address.
- Plan: leave date, or a lawful sponsor path — not “see how it goes.”
- Foreign tax-residence certificate status if you will claim another home.
Published gapWhat we do not invent on this page.
There is no published remote-work visa symbol. We will not invent one. Stay stamps and tax tests are the two files you actually have.
Common questions
Is it legal to work remotely from Vietnam on a tourist visa?
Vietnam does not offer a remote-work visa. A tourist or exemption stay is not labour authorisation. Tax residency can still attach through days or a lease even if immigration has not knocked yet.
What should a remote worker check in the first 30 days?
The stamp you hold, whether a long lease or 183-day count is forming, and whether any Vietnam client has appeared. Those three decide if this is a visit or a compliance year.
If I only work for a foreign company, is Vietnam tax irrelevant?
No. If you become a PIT resident, worldwide income — including that foreign salary — is in scope. Payer location does not switch it off.