Temporary Residence Card in Vietnam: How to Get One in Da Nang (2026)

A temporary residence card (TRC) is valid in place of a visa. Workers on LĐ1 or LĐ2 get up to 2 years; investors on ĐT3, ĐT2 or ĐT1 get up to 3, 5 or 10 years respectively. The fee is US$145 to US$165 and processing takes 5 working days. Sponsors in Da Nang file at 78 Le Loi Street.

The temporary residence card (TRC; thẻ tạm trú) is for a foreigner allowed to live in Vietnam for a fixed period. The immigration authority or a competent Ministry of Foreign Affairs office issues it to such foreigners, and it is valid in place of a visa.

Which case are you?

• If you work in Vietnam on an LĐ1 or LĐ2 visa → your employer files as sponsor, and the card runs up to 2 years with a fee of US$145.
• If you invest on an ĐT1 visa → your sponsor files and the card runs up to 10 years. The fee follows the term you are granted: US$145 for up to 2 years, US$155 for more than 2 and up to 5, and US$165 for more than 5 and up to 10.
• If you hold an NN1, NN2, ĐT3 or TT visa → the card runs up to 3 years. The fee is US$145 if the card is valid up to 2 years, and US$155 if it is valid for more than 2 years.
• If you are here as a tourist (DL visa) → tourism is not an eligible category, so no card. See how to extend a visa in Da Nang.
• If you entered on an e-visa (EV) → what counts is whether your stay fits a category eligible for a listed visa symbol; see the open question below.
• If you are a member of a diplomatic mission, consulate, UN office or intergovernmental organisation, or their spouse, child under 18 or domestic staff → you get an NG3 card. The mission, consulate or other authorised foreign body files the application with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Still open: which papers prove your case for UĐ1, UĐ2 and TT, and whether an e-visa holder can apply directly. Ask the Da Nang Immigration Management Division, 78 Le Loi Street, Hai Chau.

Which visas qualify for a TRC

If you belong to a foreign diplomatic mission, consulate, UN office or intergovernmental organisation in Vietnam, your card is marked NG3, and so is the card of a spouse, children under 18 and accompanying domestic staff during the posting.

Everyone else qualifies if they are staying in Vietnam and fall in a category eligible for one of these symbols: LV1, LV2, LS, ĐT1, ĐT2, ĐT3, NN1, NN2, DH, PV1, LĐ1, LĐ2, TT, UĐ1 or UĐ2. The card then carries a symbol matching the visa symbol. Law 118/2025/QH15, which took effect on 1 July 2026, expanded that list to cover the new UĐ1 and UĐ2. UĐ1 is the visa for high-quality digital-technology workers, while UĐ2 is for the spouse and children under 18 of a UĐ1 holder.

Either way, you first have to fall under one of the cases Article 36 sets out for who is entitled to a card at all.

How long each tier lasts

The longest card you can get depends on the visa symbol you hold. The terms below are maximums, and the card term must also be at least 30 days shorter than the time your passport has left.

• NG3, LV1, LV2, LS, ĐT2 and DH: up to 5 years
• NN1, NN2, ĐT3 and TT: up to 3 years
• LĐ1, LĐ2 and PV1: up to 2 years
• ĐT1, UĐ1 and UĐ2: up to 10 years; Law 118/2025/QH15 added UĐ1 and UĐ2 to this tier from 1 July 2026

When your card expires there is no automatic rollover, so you are considered for a fresh card.

Who files the application

You do not file this one yourself: your sponsor, the inviting organisation or individual, files the dossier directly with the immigration office where the organisation is based or the individual lives. The exception is NG3, where the mission, consulate or other authorised foreign body files with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For visas and stay extensions, a Vietnamese individual sponsor must be your grandparent, parent, spouse, child or sibling, and prove the relationship. For the card, the 2026 declaration form says the declaration is filed with the passport and either the sponsoring organisation’s official letter or a relative’s sponsorship letter. It is not clear whether the same list of relatives applies to the card.

What goes into the dossier

The law lists four items: your sponsor’s written request, the TRC declaration form with a photo attached, your passport, and papers proving you fall under an Article 36 case. The declaration is form NA8 in the 2026 edition under Circular 70/2026/TT-BCA, which took effect on 1 July 2026. Form NA8 takes two recent 2 x 3 cm photos on a white background, facing straight ahead with no hat or glasses: one stuck on the form, one loose.

Papers that prove your case include a work permit, a confirmation that you do not need a work permit, or other papers that prove you meet the conditions.

What it costs

The government fee follows the term of the card you are granted, not the maximum for your visa symbol. US$145 covers a card valid up to 2 years, US$155 one valid for more than 2 years and up to 5, and US$165 one valid for more than 5 years and up to 10. Your passport can shorten the term.

The fee is set in US dollars, and you may pay in dollars or in the dong equivalent converted from the dollar amount, which gives two ways to pay one fee rather than two prices. Diplomatic, consular and international-organisation staff and their spouse and children under 18 may be exempt on a reciprocal basis, provided they are not Vietnamese citizens and do not live permanently in Vietnam.

Keep in mind that the fee is not refunded if you are found ineligible or decline the result after paying, and that a lost, damaged or expired card that needs reissuing is charged the same as a new one. For every other visa and extension fee, see the Vietnam immigration fee table.

Processing time

Once your dossier is complete, processing takes 5 working days. The office receives dossiers from Monday to Saturday morning and hands out results Monday to Friday, with neither happening on Tet or public holidays.

The person who requested the card collects it in person at the provincial immigration office, so bring the appointment slip, an identity document and the fee receipt; you can also ask for the card to be posted instead.

Where to file in Da Nang

The official page for procedure 1.003460 lists a postal channel next to in person and online, but the filing steps describe only two routes: file at the office, or file online and post any extra papers. So post is not a third way to file. After an online filing, the passport must be sent to the office by public postal service.

If your sponsor is an organisation based in Da Nang or an individual living there, the sponsor files with the city’s Immigration Management Division at 78 Le Loi Street, Hai Chau. The office follows your sponsor, so a sponsor based or living elsewhere files at the provincial office for its own area.

For the mechanics of a related but separate procedure, see how to extend a visa in Da Nang and how the Da Nang immigration office works.

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Not confirmed: Which papers prove an Article 36 case for UĐ1, UĐ2 or TT. Whether an e-visa holder applies directly or first changes visa purpose.

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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