Remote Work in Vietnam on a Tourist Visa: Rules and Fines

A tourist visa covers only tourism, and your activities must match your purpose of entry. A foreign worker in Vietnam requires a work permit or exemption confirmation. Working without one brings a fine of 15,000,000 to 25,000,000 VND. Remote work for an employer outside Vietnam remains unclear.

Hoạt động tại Việt Nam phải phù hợp với mục đích nhập cảnh

A foreigner who enters, exits or resides in Vietnam must carry out activities in Vietnam that match the purpose of their entry.

Law 47/2014/QH13, Điều 44 khoản 2 điểm b

Short answer

• Risk: Practising a profession or trade, or other activity, without permission is fined 15,000,000 to 20,000,000 VND. Activity outside your declared purpose of entry is fined 20,000,000 to 25,000,000 VND. Working without a work permit or exemption confirmation is fined 15,000,000 to 25,000,000 VND. Deportation can be added to any of these fines.
• Do now: Work in Vietnam as a foreign worker only with a work permit or an exemption confirmation, not on a tourist visa, which is issued for tourism.
• Lawyer: Hire an immigration lawyer before you rely on a tourist visa for remote work. The fine provisions do not say whether remote work counts.

Which case are you?

• If you only travel and do no work → a DL visa is issued for tourism.
• If you work in Vietnam as a foreign worker → you must hold a work permit unless you are exempt. Working without a permit or exemption confirmation is fined 15,000,000 to 25,000,000 VND. See work permit in Vietnam.
• If an organisation sponsors you to work and you hold a work permit or an exemption confirmation → you can change your visa’s purpose without leaving Vietnam.
• If you entered on an e-visa and hold a work permit or an exemption confirmation → you can change your visa’s purpose without leaving Vietnam.
• If you want a dedicated digital nomad visa → the law does not clearly provide one. A different visa symbol, UĐ1, is issued to high-quality digital technology industry personnel and is valid for up to 5 years.

Still open: whether remote work for an employer or clients outside Vietnam counts under the unpermitted-activity fine, the purpose-of-entry fine or the work-permit fine. See the Da Nang immigration office.

DL, LĐ1, LĐ2: what each visa symbol is for

Each visa symbol is issued for a stated purpose:

• DL is issued to a person entering Vietnam for tourism.
• LĐ1 is issued to a foreigner working in Vietnam who has confirmation of being exempt from the work-permit requirement, unless a treaty that Vietnam has joined says otherwise.
• LĐ2 is issued to a foreigner working in Vietnam who is required to hold a work permit.

Nothing in these three definitions describes working remotely for an employer or clients located outside Vietnam.

Can a tourist visa become a work visa without leaving the country?

A visa’s purpose generally cannot be changed. The law lists exceptions for people with documents proving that they are an investor or a representative of a foreign organisation investing in Vietnam. Another exception covers the parent, spouse or child of the individual who invited or sponsored you, with documents proving the relationship.

Two more exceptions concern work. Being invited or sponsored to work by an organisation while holding a work permit or a confirmation of work-permit exemption is one. Entering on an e-visa and holding a work permit or an exemption confirmation is the other.

Both work exceptions require a work permit or an exemption confirmation. Neither mentions remote work for a foreign company.

Who counts as a “foreign worker working in Vietnam”

The Labour Code applies to “a foreign worker working in Vietnam” as one of the groups within its scope. One condition the Code sets for that person is a work permit from the Vietnamese state agency authorised to issue it, with exceptions set out in the Code.

Decree 219/2025/NĐ-CP defines a foreign worker working in Vietnam as a foreign citizen who enters to work in a position set out in Article 3 of that decree. The decree lists these forms of work, among others:

• performing a labour contract
• an intra-company transfer
• performing contracts or agreements on economic or social matters
• a contractual service supplier
• offering services for sale
• being transferred from a foreign agency, organisation or enterprise to work in Vietnam, other than an intra-company transfer

None of the forms the decree lists mentions remote work for an employer or clients outside Vietnam.

What’s fined, and how much

Two different penalty provisions in Decree 282/2025/NĐ-CP, the decree on administrative penalties for security and public order, could matter, and they cover different conduct:

• Entering, practising a profession or trade, or engaging in another activity in Vietnam, without permission from a competent Vietnamese authority: fined 15,000,000 to 20,000,000 VND.
• Engaging, after entry, in activity inconsistent with the purpose or programme declared when applying for the visa, temporary residence card, or a stay extension: fined 20,000,000 to 25,000,000 VND.

These immigration fine amounts apply to an individual; an organisation found responsible for the same violation is fined at double the individual rate.

A third provision sits in the labour penalty decree, Decree 283/2026/NĐ-CP. A foreign worker working in Vietnam without a work permit or an exemption confirmation is fined 15,000,000 to 25,000,000 VND, and the decree provides for deporting that worker.

Deportation can be added as an extra penalty for a violation under either immigration fine above. Whether it is added depends on the nature, extent and consequences of the violation, the person who committed it, and any mitigating or aggravating circumstances.

What the law does not clearly address

Vietnamese law and official guidance do not clearly settle whether working remotely for a company or clients located entirely outside Vietnam falls under any of these fines. The candidates are the fine for unpermitted activity, the one for a mismatched purpose of entry, and the fine for working without a work permit. None of the definitions above mentions remote work for an employer or clients outside the country.

Vietnamese law also does not clearly provide a dedicated visa category for remote workers or “digital nomads”. Law 118/2025/QH15 added a new visa symbol, UĐ1. It is issued to foreigners who are high-quality digital technology industry personnel, and also to people given preferential treatment under a law, a National Assembly resolution or a resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee.

UĐ1 is valid for up to 5 years. Its definition does not mention remote work for a foreign employer, and does not say who counts as that personnel.

Working remotely from Vietnam is a separate question from your tax residency status.

Related routes

If you already have work lined up with a Vietnamese organisation, the sponsor-and-work-permit exception above is how the law lets you convert a visa in-country. See Work Permit Vietnam for Foreigners: Who Needs One and Who’s Exempt.

For the entry routes themselves, see Vietnam E-Visa: Eligibility, Cost and How Long It Lasts and Vietnam Visa Exemption Countries in 2026: Who Gets How Many Days. For how a fine under this same decree plays out in a different situation, see Vietnam Visa Overstay Fine: How Much You’ll Pay. For tax on foreign pay, see Vietnam income tax for remote workers, and for desks to rent, see coworking spaces in Da Nang.

More visa guides: the visa hub.

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Not confirmed: Whether remote work for an employer outside Vietnam counts under the unpermitted-activity fine, the purpose-of-entry fine or the work-permit fine: not stated in the law or in official guidance.

General information checked against the sources listed above, not legal advice for your situation. Rules and office practice change; confirm with the immigration office or a licensed adviser before you act. See how guides are checked.

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