Moving to Vietnam from the US, Canada or the UK

For people weighing a long stay, a job or a life with a Vietnamese partner. What the 90-day e-visa does and doesn't do, how work permits and residence cards work, and the visas Vietnam does not offer.

Vietnam draws people with its low costs, its food and its cities. Its visa system is less suited to a long stay than its neighbours’. There is no retirement visa and no digital nomad visa. The ways to live in Vietnam for years run through a job, a business investment or a Vietnamese spouse.

This guide is honest about that. If you want to work remotely for clients back home or retire on a pension, compare Vietnam with Malaysia or Thailand, which have visas built for those plans.

The main ways in

90-day e-visa. Since 15 August 2023, citizens of every country can get an e-visa valid for up to 90 days, with single or multiple entry. Vietnam’s fee schedule lists USD 25 for a single-entry visa and USD 50 for a multiple-entry visa valid up to 90 days. The schedule does not name e-visas separately. Apply on the government portal, evisa.gov.vn.

The e-visa is for visits and trial stays. It does not allow work, and it is not a residence permit. People who stay for months on end do it by leaving and applying again. That is a gap in the rules, not a plan, and the rules can change.

UK citizens can also enter without a visa for up to 45 days under Resolution 44/NQ-CP. The policy runs from 15 March 2025 to 14 March 2028. US and Canadian citizens are not on that list and need a visa.

Work permit. This fits experts, managers, executives and technical workers hired by an employer in Vietnam. Your employer applies, not you. Under Decree 219/2025/ND-CP, the authority decides within 10 working days of receiving a complete file. A refusal comes with written reasons within 3 working days. The detailed criteria for each category, such as degrees and years of experience, come from law firm summaries in our table. Confirm them with your employer. Work permit holders then apply for a temporary residence card. Our table’s details on card length come from law firm summaries too.

Investor visa. This fits people who put capital into a Vietnamese company. Larger investments give longer residence cards. It needs a real business and company registration, not a passive deposit. We have not read the investment thresholds in the law itself, so treat the figures in the routes panel below as a guide and confirm them with a Vietnamese lawyer.

Spouse visa. This fits people legally married to a Vietnamese citizen. It is the most practical long-stay route for retirees with a Vietnamese partner. Your spouse sponsors you, and you apply for a temporary residence card. The rules on card length and on permanent residence for spouses come from secondary commentary, so confirm them with the immigration authorities.

What Vietnam does not offer

We looked for these and found none in Vietnam’s visa categories.

• No retirement visa. There is no visa for living on a pension or savings.
• No digital nomad visa. No visa covers remote work for foreign employers. The work permit is for jobs with employers in Vietnam.
• No citizenship by investment. Investing in a company gives a residence card, not a passport.
• No clear path to permanent residence from work or investment. Vietnam issues permanent residence cards, but we found no route to one from a work permit or an investor card. Secondary sources describe a path for spouses.

Money, tax and cost of living

Government fees are set in US dollars by Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC, in force from 1 April 2026:

Work permits, legalised documents, translations and any agent or lawyer cost extra.

We could not confirm Vietnam’s personal income tax rules on an official page. Law firm guides say people in Vietnam for 183 days or more in a year become tax resident and are taxed on worldwide income. If you will stay that long, talk to a tax adviser who knows both countries first.

US citizens stay subject to US tax on worldwide income wherever they live. Canadians and Britons generally stop being tax resident at home only if they cut their residence ties there.

For a sense of what your money buys, see the cost of living in Vietnam or try the cost of living calculator. Our visa cost calculator does not price Vietnam’s routes yet.

Your first steps

1. Start with a visit. Use the e-visa, or visa-free entry if you hold a UK passport, to see where you want to live.
2. Decide what your stay rests on. A job, an investment or a marriage. Without one of these, Vietnam has no long-stay visa for you.
3. For a job, let your employer lead. The employer files the work permit with the local authority. Ask early which documents you need, such as degree certificates and a criminal record certificate, and how they must be legalised.
4. Apply for a residence card. Work permit holders, investors and spouses apply for a temporary residence card in Vietnam after their permit or visa.
5. Renew before expiry. Residence cards and work permits have end dates. Start renewals early.

What catches people out

• Look-alike websites. Some e-visa sites look official but are run by agents. The government portal is evisa.gov.vn.
• Remote work on an e-visa. No Vietnamese visa is designed for it. Do not count on a tourist stay to cover it.
• Fees change. The current schedule, Circular 28/2026, took effect on 1 April 2026. Check it again before you pay.
• Official legal texts are hard to read from abroad. Several government legal portals did not load for us. Where our table relies on legal publishers, we say so.

This is general information, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Confirm each requirement with the Vietnamese embassy or the Immigration Department before you apply.