DECISION

PROMUGATING REGULATION ON IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERCONNECTED PROCEDURES FOR ISSUANCE OF CRIMINAL RECORD CERTIFICATES AND WORK PERMITS TO FOREIGNERS WORKING IN HO CHI MINH CITY

THE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE OF HO CHI MINH CITY

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of Local Administrations dated June 19, 2015;

Pursuant to the Labor Code dated June 18, 2012;

Pursuant to the Law on Criminal Records dated June 17, 2009;

Pursuant to Decree No. 111/2010/ND-CP dated November 23, 2010 on guidelines for the Law on Criminal Records;

Pursuant to Government’s Decree No.11/2016/ND-CP dated February 3, 2016 on guidelines for the Labor Code concerning foreigners working in Vietnam;

Pursuant to Government’s Decree No. 61/2018/ND-CP dated April 23, 2018 on implementation of single-window system or interconnected single-window system in administrative procedures;

Pursuant to Government’s Decree No. 140/2018/ND-CP dated October 8, 2018 on amendments to Decrees relevant to business and investment conditions and administrative procedures within scope of management of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs;

Pursuant to Circular No. 40/2016/TT-BLDTBXH dated October 25, 2016 of the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs on guidelines for Decree No. 11/2016/ND-CP;

Pursuant to Circular No. 18/2018/TT-BLDTBXH dated October 30, 2018 of the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs on amendments to Circulars relevant to administrative procedures within scope of management of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs;

At the request of Director of Department of Justice in the Statement No. 2419/TTr-STP dated May 25, 2020 and report of the Chief Officer of People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City on responses of members of People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City to consultation request in the Official Dispatch No. 5374/VP-NCPC dated June 29, 2020.

HEREBY DECIDES:

Article 1. Promulgate together with this Decision a Regulation on implementation of interconnected procedures for issuance of criminal record certificates and work permits to foreigners working in Ho Chi Minh City

Article 2. Entry in force

This Decision comes into force as of August 1, 2020.

Article 3. Implementation

The Chief Officer of People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, Director of Department of Justice, Director of Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, Director of Department of Home Affairs, Director of the Department of Finance, Heads of departments, agencies of the city, the Presidents of People’s Committees of districts and relevant entities shall implement this Decision./.

REGULATION

ON IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERCONNECTED PROCEDURES FOR ISSUANCE OF CRIMINAL RECORD CERTIFICATES AND WORK PERMITS TO FOREIGNERS WORKING IN HO CHI MINH CITY
(Issued together with Decision No. 16/2020/QD-UBND dated July 7, 2020 of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City)

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

This Regulation set forth the principle; procedures for receiving, processing applications and giving results; responsibilities of regulatory agencies and officials involved in the implementation of interconnected administrative procedures below:

1. Issuance of criminal record certificates and work permits to foreigners working in Ho Chi Minh City.

2. Issuance of criminal record certificates and work permits to foreigners working in Ho Chi Minh City in certain special cases.

Article 2. Regulated entities

1. Applicants for interconnected administrative procedures as prescribed in Article 1 of Regulation (hereinafter referred to as applicants).

2. Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City.

3. Department of Justice of Ho Chi Minh City.

Article 3. Principles of handling administrative procedures

1. The Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Department of Justice are responsible for settling each administrative procedure under their jurisdiction and cooperate in solving problems arising in the implementation of group of interconnected administrative procedures according to this Regulation.

2. It shall be at the choice of the applicant whether to apply a process of interconnected administrative procedures or not under this Regulation.  If the applicant chooses not to apply the interconnected procedure, the implementation will comply with current legal regulations for each type of administrative procedure.

Article 4. Responsibilities of agencies implementing interconnected administrative procedures

1. The Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs is the contact point which receives applications and gives final decisions concerning interconnected administrative procedures specified in this Regulation, is responsible for the completeness and validity of applications; collect fees and charges as prescribed; and issue work permits to foreigners working in Ho Chi Minh City.

2. The Department of Justice shall receive the applications for issuance of criminal record certificates forwarded by the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and handle them according to their competence.

Chapter II

INTERCONNECTION PROCESS AND COORDINATION MECHANISM

Article 5. Process of receiving, processing applications and giving results

1. Receiving applications:

The Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs is responsible for checking and receiving applications; collect fees and charges as prescribed and issue documents acknowledging the receipt and state the date of giving result to the applicant.

2. Procedures for processing an application:

Within 01 working day after receiving a duly complete application, Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall forward the application and the fee paid for issuance of criminal record certificate to the Department of Justice.

Within 15 working days after receiving the application from Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Department of Justice shall process it and forward the criminal record certificate to Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

Within 01 working day after receiving the criminal record certificate, Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall issue a work permit.

3. Giving result:

Within 17 working days after receiving a duly complete application, Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall give the result to the applicant, including a work permit and a criminal record certificate.

Article 6. Required documents

Individuals submit 01 application in person or by post to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs where they reside and pay fees and charges as prescribed.

1. Required documents in an application for issuance of criminal record certificate and work permit to foreigner working in Ho Chi Minh City:

a) An application form for issuance of criminal record certificate (using Form No. 03/2013/TT-LLTP; or Form No. 04/2013/TT-LLTP issued together with Circular No. 03/2013/TT-BTP if submitted by authorized person);

b) A certified true copy or copy enclosed with the original for comparison of ID card or citizen identification card or passport remaining valid of the applicant for the criminal record certificate.

c) A certified true copy or copy enclosed with the original for comparison of household register or temporary residence register or certificate of permanent or temporary residence.

d) A power of attorney, if the applicant authorizes another person to apply for issuance of the criminal record certificate No. 1 (no power of attorney is required if the authorized person is parent, spouse, or child of the principal). The power of attorney must be notarized or authenticated according to the provisions of Vietnamese law or the law of the country where the person is a citizen or permanent resident.  In case of authorization in accordance with the laws of the country in which that person is a citizen or permanent resident, the power of attorney must be consularly legalized in accordance with Vietnamese law and translated into Vietnamese.  Individuals applying for criminal record certificates No. 2 may not authorize other people to do the procedures on their behalf.

dd) An application form for issuance of work permit from the employer (using Form No. 7 issued together with Circular No. 40/2016/TT-BLDTBXH).

e) Fitness to work certificate issued by a competent health facility of a foreign country or Vietnam valid for at least 12 months, from the date of issue of that certificate to the submission date.

g) A proof of manager, chief executive officer, expert or technical worker, in which:

- Proof of expert includes one of the following: A document certifying that he/she is an expert of an overseas agency, organization or enterprise, including:  name of the certifying agency, organization or enterprise; information about the expert: full name, date of birth, nationality and occupation of the expert in accordance with the job position the foreign worker who is expected to work in Vietnam; a bachelor’s degree or higher or equivalent and have at least 03 years of experience working in a specialized field suitable for the job position that the foreign worker is expected to work in Vietnam; special cases shall be considered and decided by the Prime Minister.

- Proof of technical worker, including: a document proving or certifying by an overseas agency, organization or enterprise that the foreign worker has been trained in a technical field or another field for at least 01 year suitable to the job position that the foreign worker is expected to work in Vietnam; a document proving that the foreign worker has at least 03 years of working experience in a specialized field suitable for the job position that the foreign worker is expected to work in Vietnam.

- For a number of occupations, jobs, a document proving the qualifications of the foreign worker is replaced with one of the following papers:  Certificate of recognition as artisan for those tradition professions issued by a foreign competent authority; document proving experience of foreign football player; airline transport pilot license issued by the competent authority of Vietnam for foreign pilot; aircraft maintenance permit is issued by a Vietnamese competent authority to a foreign worker performing aircraft maintenance.

h) 02 color photos (size 4cmx6cm, white background, front view, bare head, no colored glasses), taken within 06 months until the date of application.

i) A copy of passport or other valid document replacing passport or another valid international travel document as prescribed by law.

k) A certified copy or photocopy enclosed with the original for comparison of papers related to the foreign worker.  In case of documents issued by a foreign country, they are exempt from consular legalization, but they must be translated into Vietnamese and authenticated according to the provisions of Vietnamese law, including:

- In case of internal employee transfers, there must be: Document of the foreign enterprise sending the foreign worker to work in the commercial presence of that foreign enterprise in the territory of Vietnam; document proving that the foreign worker has been recruited by that foreign enterprise at least 12 months before working in Vietnam (including one of the following papers:  the employer's written confirmation of the recruiting foreign worker; employment contract; foreign worker recruitment decision; foreigner's tax or insurance payment certification).

- For foreign workers performing various types of contracts or agreements on economy, trade, finance, banking, insurance, science and technology, culture, sports, education, occupation education and health care, there must be a contract or agreement signed between the Vietnamese partner and the foreign partner, including an agreement on the foreign worker working in Vietnam;

- For the foreign worker being a contractual service provider, there must be:  a service contract signed between the Vietnamese partner and the foreign partner; document proving that the foreign worker has worked for a foreign enterprise that has not had a commercial presence in Vietnam for at least 2 years (including one of the following papers: the employer's written confirmation of the recruiting foreign worker; employment contract; foreign worker recruitment decision; foreigner's tax or insurance payment certification).

- For the foreign worker offering services, there must be a document from the service provider that sends the foreign worker to Vietnam to negotiate on service contract.

- For the foreign worker working for foreign non-governmental organization, international organizations in Vietnam permitted to operate under the provisions of Vietnamese law, a certificate issued by the non-governmental organization of foreign country or international organizations permitted to operate in accordance with Vietnamese law is required.

- For the foreign worker responsible for establishing a commercial presence, there must be a document issued by the service provider to send the foreign worker to Vietnam to establish a commercial presence of the service provider.

- For the foreign worker who is manager, chief executive officer, expert, technical worker who participates in the operations of foreign enterprise that has established a commercial presence in Vietnam, there must be a written document proving that the foreign worker is allowed to participate in the operation of the foreign enterprise.

2. Required documents in applications for Issuance of criminal record certificates and work permits to foreigners working in Ho Chi Minh City in certain special cases:

a) For a foreign worker that has been granted a work permit which remains unexpired and works for another employer at the same job position stated in the work permit as prescribed by law, the application for a work permit shall include required documents specified at Points a, b, c, d, dd, h, i, k, Clause 1 of this Article and a work permit or a certified copy of the granted work permit.

b) For a foreign worker that has been granted a work permit which remains unexpired and works at a different job position but for the same employer stated in the work permit as prescribed by law, the application for a work permit shall include required documents specified at Points a, b, c, d, dd, g, h, i, k, Clause 1 of this Article and a work permit or a certified copy of the granted work permit;

c) For a foreign worker that has been granted a work permit which is expired as prescribed in Article 174 of the Labor Code and wishes to work at the same job position stated in the work permit as prescribed by law, the application for a work permit shall include required documents specified at Points a, b, c, d, dd, e, h, i, k, Clause 1 of this Article and a work permit or a certified copy of the granted work permit;

d) In case the foreign worker at Points a, b and c of this Clause has been granted a work permit, there must be a document proving the satisfaction of the requirements as prescribed:

- For the foreign worker expert in one of the following cases:  There must be a written certification of being an expert of a foreign agency, organization or enterprise; a bachelor’s degree or higher or equivalent and have at least 03 years of experience working in a specialized field suitable for the job position that the foreign worker is expected to work in Vietnam; special cases shall be considered and decided by the Prime Minister.

- For managers, chief executive officers who are foreign workers in one of the following cases:  Managers must be managers of enterprises as prescribed in Clause 18 Article 4 of the Law on Enterprises or head and deputies of heads of agencies or organizations; chief executive officer must be the head who directly runs a unit directly under an agency, organization or enterprise.

- For technical workers, they must have been trained in a technical field or another field for at least 01 year and have worked for at least 03 years in that specialized field.

Article 7.Charges and fees for handling administrative procedures and postal service charges

1. Fee for issuance of criminal record certificates:  the fee amount is specified in Circular No. 244/2016/TT-BTC dated November 11, 2016 of the Minister of Finance on regulations on fee for criminal record information, collection, payment, management and use thereof.

2. Fee for issuance of work permits to foreigners working in Ho Chi Minh City: the fee amount is specified in the Council's Resolution 11/2017/NQ-HDND dated December 7, 2017. The people of Ho Chi Minh City promulgating the fee for the issuance of work permits to foreigners working in Ho Chi Minh City.

3. Postal service charge:  If the application is submitted by post, the applicant shall pay all kinds of postage service charges according to the postage rate announced by the postal unit.

Chapter III

RESPONSIBILITIES OF COORDINATING AGENCIES

Article 8. Responsibilities of the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs

1. Fully and clearly publicize administrative procedures, post up at the place of receiving and giving results, composition of application, fee and charge amounts, and processing time of groups of administrative procedures stipulated in this Regulation.

2. Ensuring conditions for the implementation of the coordination regulation; estimate annual budget to ensure the implementation of this Regulation.

3. Hold training courses and guide the professional process, how to use the public service system to issue criminal record certificates to officials to perform interconnected administrative procedures of the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

4. Propagate in appropriate forms, widely spread regulations so that organizations and enterprises employing foreign workers and foreign workers can easily access and implement them when needed.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 9. Funding

1. Funding for the implementation of the interconnected single-window mechanism shall be set aside in the state budget and included in the annual budget estimates and other lawful funding sources according to regulations.

2. Annually, based on the tasks assigned in this Regulation, the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Department of Justice shall include an estimate of funding for the implementation of the Regulation in their budget estimates and then send it to the Department of Finance to balance, and the Department of Finance shall advise the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh to set aside budget estimate in accordance with regulations.

Article 10. The specialized divisions of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Department of Justice and related officials during the process of receiving and processing applications shall take responsibility and coordinate to process the application in due time.

Assign the Department of Justice to act as the contact point to collect results, difficulties and problems in the process of implementing the Interconnection Regulation; promptly report to the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City for resolution and further actions.

Article 11. Amending, supplementing, annulling and superseding the Interconnection Regulation

During the implementation, this Interconnection Regulation may be amended, annulled or superseded in conformity with applicable law and practical operation of Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and Department of Justice./.

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