Intra-company transfer: prove 12 months first

In plain termsNĐ 219 (Decree 219/2025) lets some intra-company transferees skip a work permit. The usual price is proof: at least 12 months of prior employment in the group, then a real transfer into the Vietnam entity. Org-chart slides do not count.

Start here — three checks

Confirm the Vietnam role is a transfer inside the same corporate group, not a new local hire dressed as mobility
Count 12 months of prior employment ending at the transfer date, with one identity across contracts and payroll
Collect group-relationship evidence (ownership, assignment letter) before the employee books flights

Decision map

Signal	Lock now	If skipped
Employee has 12+ months at the overseas affiliate	Export contracts, payroll, and social-insurance or tax traces that cover the same period.	The assignment letter is the only document and the file looks invented.
Employment was with a sister company, not the parent	Prove the corporate link to the Vietnam entity with share or control documents.	Labour officers treat it as a brand-name coincidence, not a group transfer.
Role in Vietnam does not match the overseas function	Rewrite the assignment to a function the person already performed, or leave the ICT (intra-company transfer) route.	You used mobility language for a brand-new local job.
Gap, contractor period, or group-company hop inside the 12 months	Explain the gap with dated evidence or admit the 12-month limb fails.	Officers subtract the gap and the exemption collapses.
ICT exemption looks real	Still calendar the employer notification duty. Exemption is not “tell no one.”	You skip the permit and also skip the notice window.

Common wrong movesWhere people lose time on this exact question.

Counting months at a vendor or unrelated JV as “group employment.”
Issuing a Vietnam labour contract first, then calling the person an intra-company transferee.
Using a 12-month story based on total career length, not employment in this group.

If this fails, do this nextRecovery order — not a generic legal memo.

Stop treating the person as exempt. Park start date until the route is reclassified.
If 12-month proof is weak, switch to a normal work-permit (expert/manager) dossier.
If they already started, freeze duties and file the lawful route plus any notice that is still possible.

Work permit hubExemption limbs and filing windows in one place.Exemption notificationICT exemption still has a notice duty.Work-permit evidence packHow to assemble identity, role, and group docs.

Common questions

How do I prove 12 months for an intra-company transfer to Vietnam?

Show continuous prior employment in the same corporate group, dated through to the transfer, plus documents that prove the Vietnam host is in that group. Assignment letters without payroll history are weak.

Does the 12 months have to be immediately before the Vietnam start date?

Plan for prior employment that is actually prior. Gaps, contractor wrapping, and last-minute group hires are the usual failures. Do not invent continuity.

If ICT exemption fails, can we still hire the person?

Yes, on a different limb: typically a work permit as manager, executive, or expert under NĐ 219, with that route’s evidence. Do not keep using ICT labels after the proof failed.