High-tech engineers work at a semiconductor assembly and testing plant in HCM City. — VNA/VNS

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Home Affairs is seeking public comment on a draft decree that would overhaul how Việt Nam recruits foreign experts, with proposals to open the door wider to highly skilled professionals in artificial intelligence, semiconductors and other emerging technologies.

The draft amends Decree 219, the existing regulation governing foreign nationals employed in Việt Nam, which authorities say has shown its limitations despite helping bring more than 162,000 foreign workers into the country and speeding up permit processing overall.

Officials identified several sticking points in the existing framework.

The most glaring is the definition of 'expert,' which relies on years of work experience, a blunt measure that ministry drafters say fails to capture talent in fast-moving fields like AI, quantum computing, semiconductors and education.

Other friction points include a rule requiring that medical certificates come exclusively from Vietnamese health facilities, forcing foreign workers to undergo redundant examinations after arrival rather than using documents from their home countries.

The revised decree, structured across five chapters and 37 articles, would drop the experience requirement for experts in certain technology and innovation fields.

It would also eliminate a provision that requires local governments to draw up their own priority sector lists and scrap the need for the Ministry of Education to certify certain categories of workers as exempt from permit requirements.

Under the draft, applicants would no longer need consular legalisation or notarisation of passports.

Documents already available in government-shared databases, including photographs, passport data and criminal background records, would not need to be resubmitted.

New additions include formal acceptance of health certificates issued by authorised medical facilities abroad, meaning workers could complete their paperwork before ever landing in Việt Nam.

The draft also decentralises authority significantly. Provincial-level People's Committees would receive expanded powers to issue and revoke work permits and to delegate those functions based on local conditions.

Employers and licensing agencies would be required to keep data current to feed a national workforce database described in the draft as "accurate, complete, clean, live, unified and shared."

The Ministry of Home Affairs will accept comments on the draft through June 9 before submitting the final version to the Government for approval. — VNS