VietnamTeacher: first 30 days in Vietnam
In plain termsA school offer is not a labour status. In the first month you lock a work permit (or a real NĐ 219 exemption), a stay document that matches that school, and a tax-day count that already started when you landed. Curriculum week is not a legal week.
Start here — three checks
- Confirm the school is the sponsor on both the work-permit file and the TRC (Temporary Residence Card) plan
- Do not teach on a tourist stamp while “HR processes it. ” Start dates exist so you can wait.
- Start a day log on arrival day. Teachers with year leases trip tax residency even when they feel temporary.
Decision map
| Signal | Lock now | If skipped |
|---|---|---|
| Contract signed, permit not issued | Keep training unpaid-and-unworked, or delay start. Observation weeks that include teaching are work. | You taught illegally inside a licensed school. |
| Degree and teaching certificates still in legalisation | Expert/teacher evidence must match the subject you will teach. Do not start while the diploma is in the mail. | The school files an empty expert pack against a live classroom. |
| You already taught for another Vietnam school this year | Run sponsor-change. The old permit and TRC do not follow you to the new campus. | Two schools, one leftover card. |
| Housing is a 12-month apartment the school found | Read the lease term. 183+ days is a tax abode trigger even if the school calls it “teacher housing.” | Payroll uses non-resident 20% on a person with a year-long home. |
| You will tutor privately on evenings | Private tutoring is separate work. The school permit does not cover a second employer. | A clean day job plus unlawful side hours. |
Common wrong movesWhere people lose time on this exact question.
- Doing “demo lessons” for real students while the permit is pending.
- Letting the school hold your passport as if that were a filing.
- Ignoring the apartment term because the job is “just one semester.”
If this fails, do this nextRecovery order — not a generic legal memo.
- Stop classroom work until this school is on a real labour file.
- If an old sponsor is still on the TRC, run sponsor-change before more payroll.
- Open the tax-residency proof pack if a long lease or TRC address already exists.
Evidence to prepareChecklist before you file or walk in.
- Signed school contract with start date and campus address.
- Work-permit status: filed / issued / exemption limb named.
- Degree and teaching certificates, legalised as required, mapped to the subject.
- Passport, current visa symbol, and TRC plan naming this school.
- If previous Vietnam school: old permit return / sponsor-end proof.
- Lease or school housing contract with term in days.
- Arrival stamp and a running day-count sheet.
- NĐ 86/2018 question if it is an FDI or foreign-curriculum school — the employer’s licence is not your permit, but you should know which door they used.
- Emergency HR owner for labour filing, not only the academic principal.
Work permit hubExpert thresholds and filing windows.Sponsor-change playbookIf this is not your first Vietnam school.Lease tax triggerWhy the teacher apartment is a PIT fact.
Common questions
What should a foreign teacher do in the first month in Vietnam?
Lock work authorisation with this school, match stay/TRC to that sponsor, and start day-count plus lease review. Timetables do not replace those three.
Can I start teaching while the work permit is processing?
Do not. Demo or cover lessons for students are still work. File inside the NĐ 219 window and start when the route is real.
Does a school-provided apartment affect tax?
A 183-day-or-longer lease is a habitual-abode signal. Teacher housing is still a dwelling. Count it.