Spain vs Vietnam

Score comparison table

DimensionSpainVietnam
Lucky Nomads World Index
7.06 / 106.43 / 10
SafetyShield Index
8.5 / 108.2 / 10
Affordability Index
6.3 / 107.9 / 10
Entry Ease Index
6.6 / 104.6 / 10
Tax Freedom Index
3.3 / 105.4 / 10
WiFi Index
8.6 / 108.6 / 10
Admin Ease Index
8.0 / 105.9 / 10
Healthcare Index
8.7 / 107.3 / 10
City Comfort Index
8.8 / 107.5 / 10
WeatherComfort Index
7.3 / 105.1 / 10
Banking Index
8.8 / 105.0 / 10
GeoStability Index
7.8 / 107.3 / 10
Justice & Order Index
7.8 / 104.6 / 10
Quality of Life Index
8.2 / 107.4 / 10
Open Society Index
8.7 / 104.4 / 10
Flight Index
7.1 / 104.6 / 10
Environmental Quality Index
8.5 / 106.2 / 10
English Index
5.7 / 104.9 / 10
Wealth Protection Index
5.8 / 106.9 / 10

Tax, economy, and demographics

DimensionSpainVietnam
Corporate income tax
25%Very high
20%High
Corporate tax basis
WorldwideWorldwide
WorldwideWorldwide
Personal income tax (marginal)
47%High
35%Moderate
Personal tax basis
WorldwideWorldwide
WorldwideWorldwide
Population49.6 M
102.2 M×2.06
Area
505,990 km²×1.53
331,212 km²
Population density98 /km²308 /km²
CapitalMadridHanoi
CurrencyEUR (Euro)VND (Vietnamese dong)
Main airportMAD (Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport)SGN (Tan Son Nhat International Airport)
Phone code+34+84
Internet TLD.es.vn

Visa access controls

Your access

Pick your nationality above to see how long you can stay in each country and whether you need a visa.

Passport power

Mobility strength of each country's passport, useful if you are weighing it as a future citizenship.

Spain passport

#4

Henley rank

185

Visa-free destinations

  • Schengen visa-free
  • UK visa-free
  • US ESTA
  • Canada eTA
  • Australia eTA

Vietnam passport

#85

Henley rank

48

Visa-free destinations

Verdict

For professionals who prioritize open society index, Spain leads with 8.7 / 10 versus 4.4 / 10 for Vietnam. On banking index, Spain is at 8.8 / 10 compared with 5.0 / 10 for Vietnam.

Who should choose which country

Who should choose Spain

  • Professionals who prioritize banking index (accessible, stable banking for expats)
  • Professionals who prioritize city comfort index (high urban quality of life)
  • Professionals who prioritize healthcare index (strong healthcare access and quality)

Who should choose Vietnam

  • Professionals who prioritize wifi index (high-quality connectivity for remote work)
  • Professionals who prioritize safetyshield index (high personal and institutional safety)
  • Professionals who prioritize affordability index (competitive cost of living)

Frequently asked questions

  • Spain

    Can foreign residents open bank accounts and deploy capital in Spain without friction?

    Spain is a European Union (EU) and euro-area banking jurisdiction operating under the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), in which the European Central Bank (ECB) directly supervises significant institutions while the Banco de España oversees less significant banks and macroprudential policy, the Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV) supervises securities markets and investment services, and Sepblac acts as the financial intelligence unit and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervisory authority. The largest domestic banks by assets are Santander, CaixaBank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Sabadell and Bankinter, followed by Unicaja, Abanca, Kutxabank and Ibercaja and a layer of cooperative and rural banking groups, while international institutions such as HSBC, Citi, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas operate mainly through corporate, institutional, private banking and wealth management arms rather than full mass-retail networks. Spain applies the EU anti-money laundering framework through Ley 10/2010 of 28 April, with the new EU package of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 and Directive (EU) 2024/1640 taking effect mainly from 10 July 2027 under phased transposition and application dates. Foreign residents and non-residents can open Spanish accounts, but onboarding is risk-based rather than frictionless, with institutions requiring identity documents, proof of resident or non-resident status, the Numero de Identidad de Extranjero (NIE) where applicable, proof of address and evidence of economic activity, and higher-value, private banking, complex-structure, foreign-wealth or politically exposed profiles triggering enhanced due diligence with source-of-funds and source-of-wealth evidence. Processing times are not fixed by law and depend on the institution, the client profile and the completeness of documentation. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and Common Reporting Standard (CRS) reporting is fully operational. Cryptoassets are legal and taxed under ordinary Spanish rules, and the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework applies, with the CNMV as the competent authority for crypto-asset service provider authorization and the Banco de España retaining functions over e-money and asset-referenced token issuers. The Banco de España legacy provider registry stopped accepting new entries on 30 December 2024, and the Spanish transition window for pre-existing providers runs to 30 June 2026. Capital movements within the EU and between Spain and third countries are free under Article 63 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), subject to anti-money laundering controls, sanctions and tax reporting. Physical means of payment, meaning cash and bearer instruments, must be declared on form S-1 under Article 34 of Ley 10/2010 from EUR 10,000 when entering or leaving Spain and from EUR 100,000 for internal movements within Spanish territory, while bank transfers are not subject to this cash declaration. Spanish tax residents may also face the Modelo 720 informative return on foreign assets above EUR 50,000 per reportable category, covering foreign accounts, securities and rights, and real estate, and the Modelo 721 informative return on cryptoassets situated abroad above EUR 50,000, meaning cryptoassets custodied by non-resident providers, with self-custody wallets outside its scope. Foreign nationals can acquire Spanish real estate without a general nationality-based prohibition, subject to the NIE, tax, anti-money laundering, notarial and land registry formalities. The main exception is the restricted foreign-ownership zones under Ley 8/1975 and Royal Decree 689/1978, which require military authorization and are far broader than isolated military perimeters, covering insular territories, Cartagena, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Bay of Cadiz, the Portuguese and French border areas, Galicia and the Spanish territories in North Africa, with EU citizens exempt from this authorization and European Economic Area (EEA) nationals generally treated as equivalent in practice. Agricultural land carries no general nationality-based restriction but remains subject to ordinary land, planning, environmental and defense-zone rules. Mortgage financing is available to foreign buyers as a matter of market practice rather than right and is profile-dependent, with EU non-residents commonly accessing 60 to 70 percent loan-to-value and non-EU buyers more often 50 to 60 percent, under fixed, variable or mixed structures rather than only Euribor-linked pricing. Capital deployment into Spanish equities, bonds and funds is open to non-residents through regulated intermediaries, and withholding tax can be reduced under an applicable double tax treaty, although treaty relief requires a certificate of tax residence and is not automatic.

  • Vietnam

    Can foreign residents open bank accounts and deploy capital in Vietnam without friction?

    The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) regulates the banking sector under the Law on Credit Institutions 2024 (Law No. 32/2024/QH15). Major domestic retail banks include Vietcombank (Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade), VietinBank, BIDV, Agribank, MB Bank, Techcombank, VPBank, and ACB. Foreign-incorporated banks operate through licensed subsidiaries or branches, with HSBC Vietnam, Standard Chartered, Shinhan Bank Vietnam, and United Overseas Bank (UOB) active in retail. ANZ exited retail banking in Vietnam after selling its retail business to Shinhan Bank Vietnam in 2017 and now maintains only an institutional and corporate presence. The baseline account-opening requirement for a foreign individual is a valid passport together with a valid visa or residence document such as a Temporary Residence Card (TRC). Banks may additionally request a local address, proof of income, source-of-funds documentation, and in-person biometric verification depending on the account type, residency status, and anti-money laundering risk profile. Account-opening lead times are bank-specific rather than set by regulation and vary widely between institutions and customer segments. Vietnam implements the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) through a Model 1 Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) signed on April 1, 2016 and in force since July 7, 2016, under which Vietnamese financial institutions report United States account holders to the local authority for onward exchange. Vietnam is not a participating jurisdiction under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and has not commenced automatic exchange of individual financial account information, although it joined the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters in 2023 and signed the country-by-country reporting Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement in January 2025 for corporate group reporting. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed Vietnam on its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, commonly called the grey list, in June 2023 over anti-money laundering deficiencies, and Vietnam remained listed at the February 2026 FATF plenary, with remediation under the Anti-Money Laundering Law 2022 (Law No. 14/2022/QH15) ongoing. Vietnam maintains active foreign exchange controls under Ordinance 28/2005/PL-UBTVQH11 as amended. The Vietnamese dong is not freely convertible, and foreign currency may be held in onshore accounts but used within Vietnam only in permitted cases. Foreign residents may operate foreign-currency accounts and remit lawful post-tax income abroad through licensed banks against supporting documents, while foreign investors may repatriate lawful profits and recovered capital from direct investment through dedicated capital accounts. Circular 20/2022/TT-NHNN governs one-way outward transfers and current-account payments, but its personal transfer categories such as study, medical treatment, support for relatives, inheritance, and settlement abroad are framed under Article 7.2 of Decree 70/2014/ND-CP around residents who are Vietnamese citizens rather than foreign residents generally, so it should not be read as the universal outbound regime for all foreign individuals. The International Financial Center (IFC) regime under Resolution 222/2025/QH15 adds a targeted carve-out for IFC members, including freer use of foreign currencies between IFC members and simplified capital flows, which is not a general liberalization of the capital account for all foreign residents. Foreign investors face restrictions on real estate. Foreign individuals may purchase apartment units in eligible commercial housing developments capped at 30 percent of any one building and 250 landed houses per ward-equivalent area, with ownership rights generally limited to 50 years and renewable once for up to 50 more years subject to provincial People's Committee approval rather than automatic renewal. Land remains under all-people ownership administered by the State and cannot be held freehold by foreigners, and agricultural land is closed to foreign ownership. On digital assets, Law No. 71/2025/QH15 on Digital Technology Industry, effective January 1, 2026, recognizes crypto assets as property that can be owned, traded, and inherited, ending years of legal ambiguity, while cryptocurrency remains barred as a means of payment and is not legal tender. A controlled five-year pilot under Resolution 05/2025/NQ-CP running from 2025 to 2030 governs issuance, trading, and supervision, with all crypto trading and settlement denominated in Vietnamese dong, and the Ministry of Finance began accepting licence applications from Vietnamese crypto service providers in January 2026.

  • Spain

    How does taxation apply to residents and foreign-source income in Spain?

    Spain operates a worldwide taxation system for both companies and individuals, modulated by a dense network of special regimes and the 95 percent participation exemption mechanism. The general corporate income tax (CIT) rate is 25 percent under Ley 27/2014, the Corporate Income Tax Law (LIS), but Ley 7/2024 added a transitional reduced-rate schedule under the new Disposicion Transitoria 44 LIS effective 1 January 2025: microenterprises with turnover below EUR 1 million are taxed on a progressive scale (21 percent on the first EUR 50,000 and 22 percent on the rest in 2025, falling to 17 and 20 percent from 2027), and small companies with turnover below EUR 10 million move from 24 percent in 2025 down to 20 percent by 2029. Emerging companies certified by the Empresa Nacional de Innovacion (ENISA) under Ley 28/2022 are taxed at 15 percent for the first profitable year plus the 3 following, with deferral of CIT payment for the first 2 profitable years and exemption from fractional payments. The Canary Islands Special Zone (ZEC) under Ley 19/1994 applies a 4 percent corporate rate on income from activities materially carried out in the Canary Islands, capped at EUR 1.8 million plus EUR 500,000 per additional employee above the statutory minimum, requiring at least one Canary-resident director, EUR 100,000 (Tenerife, Gran Canaria) or EUR 50,000 (other islands) of fixed-asset investment within 2 years and 5 or 3 jobs created within 6 months, with new entity registrations authorized until 31 December 2026 and tax benefits available until 31 December 2032 subject to the EU State aid framework. The Patent Box under Article 23 LIS grants a 60 percent reduction on net income from licensing or sale of qualifying intangibles (patents, utility models, legally protected designs and models, and advanced registered software derived from research and development), excluding trademarks, ordinary software, secret formulas and procedures and commercial know-how, under the OECD Modified Nexus Approach, dropping the effective rate to approximately 10 percent. The Entidad de Tenencia de Valores Extranjeros (ETVE) holding regime under Articles 107 to 108 LIS combined with the Article 21 LIS participation exemption taxes qualifying foreign dividends and capital gains at approximately 1.25 percent (5 percent of 25 percent) and exempts outbound distributions to non-resident shareholders. Personal income tax is progressive. The state scale tops at 24.5 percent above EUR 300,000 of general income, and adding the autonomous community scale produces a combined top rate of 47 percent under the default reference, ranging by region from 45 percent in Madrid to 50 percent in Catalonia, 51.5 percent in La Rioja and 54 percent in the Valencian Community. Savings income (dividends, interest, capital gains) is taxed at 19 percent up to EUR 6,000, 21 percent up to EUR 50,000, 23 percent up to EUR 200,000, 27 percent up to EUR 300,000 and 30 percent above, the top bracket having risen from 28 to 30 percent under Ley 7/2024 effective 1 January 2025. The Beckham Law under Article 93 of the Personal Income Tax Law (LIRPF), expanded by Ley 28/2022 effective 1 January 2023, allows qualifying inpatriates with no Spanish tax residence in the prior 5 tax years to be taxed under Non-Resident Income Tax (IRNR) rules at a flat 24 percent up to EUR 600,000 and 47 percent above for 6 tax years. Employment and entrepreneurial business income is taxed wherever it arises, while foreign-source passive income such as dividends, interest and capital gains stays outside the Spanish tax net. The 2023 reform extended Beckham to employee digital nomads, entrepreneurs with ENISA certification and highly qualified professionals serving startups, plus spouses and children under 25. Spain levies wealth tax on worldwide assets above EUR 700,000 (with a EUR 300,000 primary residence allowance) and progressive rates from 0.2 to 3.5 percent, with material autonomous community variation. Madrid and Andalusia maintain a 100 percent rebate that neutralizes ordinary wealth tax for net worth below the large-fortune threshold, but since 2023, under Madrid Ley 12/2023 and the equivalent Andalusian measure, that rebate becomes a variable one for taxpayers liable to the federal large-fortune tax, so net worth above EUR 3 million is effectively taxed regionally rather than escaping wealth taxation. The Balearic Islands raised their exemption to EUR 3 million effective 1 January 2024 and Valencia to EUR 1 million, while Catalonia maintains a EUR 500,000 exemption with the highest progressive rates. The Impuesto Temporal de Solidaridad de las Grandes Fortunas (ITSGF), introduced for the 2022 and 2023 tax years as a federal anti-arbitrage floor on net worth above EUR 3 million and extended by Real Decreto-ley 8/2023 until wealth taxation is reformed within the regional financing system, applies regardless of region with credit for regional wealth tax paid. Inheritance and gift tax applies with major regional variation, effectively near-zero for close family in Madrid, Andalusia and the Valencian Community (the last through a 99 percent bonus on Groups I and II since 28 May 2023 under Ley 6/2023), while Catalonia and a few other communities such as Asturias can remain materially more expensive for larger estates depending on the relationship and estate size. Capital gains on principal residence sale are exempt under reinvestment rules. Spain has an extensive double tax treaty network covering all major OECD jurisdictions, comprehensive Latin American coverage given language and historical ties, and full Parent-Subsidiary and Interest-Royalties Directive access within the EU.

  • Vietnam

    How does taxation apply to residents and foreign-source income in Vietnam?

    Vietnam taxes individual tax residents on their worldwide income, while non-residents are taxed only on Vietnam-source income. Tax residency for individuals arises after 183 days of presence in a calendar year, or with a permanent residence in Vietnam, or with a leased accommodation for at least 183 days under Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC. Residents are taxed on worldwide employment income at a progressive scale topping at 35%. The current 7-bracket schedule (5/10/15/20/25/30/35%) triggers the top rate above VND 80 million per month. Personal Income Tax (PIT) Law No. 109/2025/QH15, passed December 10, 2025 and effective July 1, 2026 with employment provisions applying from tax year 2026, simplifies the schedule to 5 brackets (5/10/20/30/35%) and raises the top-rate threshold to VND 100 million per month. The same law raises the personal deduction from VND 11 million to VND 15.5 million per month and the dependent deduction from VND 4.4 million to VND 6.2 million per month. Non-residents pay a flat 20% on Vietnam-source employment income only. Securities transfers such as shares are taxed at 0.1% of the transfer price, while transfers of capital contributions are taxed at 20% on the net gain, or 2% of the transfer price where the acquisition cost and related expenses cannot be determined. Vietnam levies no net wealth tax and has no separate estate or inheritance tax, but inheritances and gifts of covered assets are taxable under personal income tax at a flat 10% on the portion above VND 10 million, rising to VND 20 million under the new law, with transfers between close family members exempt. The double tax treaty network covers approximately 80 jurisdictions including most OECD members and major Asian economies. Vietnamese-incorporated enterprises are subject to corporate income tax (CIT) on their worldwide income, with a credit for foreign tax paid, while foreign enterprises are taxed on Vietnam-source income. The standard CIT rate is 20% under Article 10 of Law No. 67/2025/QH15 on Corporate Income Tax (effective October 1, 2025), with two reduced tiers for smaller companies of 15% (annual revenue under VND 3 billion) and 17% (revenue VND 3 to 50 billion). Article 13 grants a preferential 10% CIT rate for 15 years to new investment projects in priority sectors (high technology, research and development, software production, renewable energy, supporting industries, education, healthcare, environmental services, infrastructure, press agencies) or in extremely difficult socio-economic areas, hi-tech parks, high-tech agricultural zones, and centralized information technology zones. The 17% rate for 10 years applies to qualifying projects in standard difficult areas and selected manufacturing. Article 14 layers a 4-year exemption plus 50% reduction over 9 years on top of the 10% rate, producing 0% effective in years 1 to 4 and 5% in years 5 to 13. The Prime Minister may extend the preferential period by up to 15 additional years for strategic projects. Standard industrial parks are no longer incentivized locations in their own right under the 2025 Law, so a new project located in one qualifies for CIT incentives only if it independently meets a sector-based, project-based, or preferential-area criterion. The Vietnam International Financial Center (IFC), established under Resolution No. 222/2025/QH15 effective September 1, 2025 and detailed by Decree No. 323/2025/ND-CP on establishment and Decree No. 324/2025/ND-CP on financial policies (both dated December 18, 2025), offers IFC members in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang a 10% CIT rate for 30 years with the same 4-year exemption plus 9-year reduction architecture. It also provides a personal income tax exemption through end of 2030 on salaries and wages earned from work performed in the IFC by qualifying managers, experts, scientists, and highly skilled professionals, both Vietnamese and foreign, subject to prescribed conditions, plus a personal income tax exemption on income from transfers of shares, capital contributions, or capital contribution rights in IFC members through end of 2030, excluding transfers of stocks or warrants of public companies or listed or trading-registering organizations. Eligible sectors include capital markets, banking, asset and fund management, fintech, green finance, digital assets, insurance, family offices, and aviation finance. Resolution No. 107/2023/QH15 implements the OECD Pillar Two Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (QDMTT) effective January 1, 2024, which can materially reduce the benefit of Vietnam's 10% headline incentive rates for in-scope multinational enterprise (MNE) groups with consolidated revenues above EUR 750 million in 2 of 4 preceding years, because a domestic top-up tax applies where the Vietnam effective tax rate falls below 15%.

  • Spain

    What long-term residence options exist in Spain for internationally mobile individuals?

    Spain offers four particularly relevant long-term residence routes for internationally mobile non-EU nationals, following the abolition of the Golden Visa on 3 April 2025 by Ley Orgánica 1/2025 of 2 January 2025, which left Articles 63 to 67 of Ley 14/2013 without content rather than formally repealing them. The Digital Nomad Visa (DNV), created by the Ley 28/2022 Startup Act in force since 23 December 2022 and codified in Chapter V bis of Ley 14/2013, is the canonical route for non-EU remote workers and freelancers serving foreign companies. It requires a 2026 minimum income of EUR 2,849 per month for the main applicant, equal to 200 percent of the Spanish minimum wage (SMI) on its annualized 12-payment basis of EUR 1,424.50 per month, the SMI itself being set at EUR 1,221 per month over 14 payments by Royal Decree 126/2026, with EUR 1,069 added for the first dependent and EUR 356 for each additional family member. Applicants must hold a degree from a recognized institution or document at least 3 years of relevant professional experience, and salaried applicants may work only for companies located outside Spain while self-employed applicants may bill Spanish clients for no more than 20 percent of their total professional activity. The DNV consular visa under Article 74 quater is valid for up to 1 year, and within 60 calendar days before its expiry the holder may apply in Spain through the Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos (UGE-CE) for the residence authorization under Article 74 quinquies, valid for up to 3 years and renewable in 2-year periods, with eligibility for long-term residence after 5 years of continuous legal residence. The Non-Lucrative Visa, now governed by Articles 61 to 64 of Royal Decree 1155/2024, the general immigration regulation in force since 20 May 2025 that replaced Royal Decree 557/2011, targets retirees and financially independent individuals with sufficient savings, assets or periodic income and no work permitted in Spain. It requires 400 percent of the Indicador Público de Renta de Efectos Múltiples (IPREM), equal to EUR 28,800 per year, plus 100 percent of the IPREM, equal to EUR 7,200 per year, for each dependent. Initial validity is 1 year and renewals run in 2-year periods, with renewal conditioned since the 2025 reform on having resided in Spain for more than 183 days in the calendar year under Article 64.2.f of the regulation. The Highly Qualified Professional permit under Article 71 of Ley 14/2013, as amended by Ley 11/2023 transposing Directive (EU) 2021/1883, is the fast-track salaried route, processed by the UGE-CE within 20 working days with approval by positive administrative silence if no decision is issued, valid for 3 years and renewable for 2 years, the 2023 reform having removed the former employer size and turnover thresholds. The Entrepreneur Visa under Article 69 of Ley 14/2013 requires a favorable report from the Empresa Nacional de Innovación (ENISA) assessing the innovation, scalability and viability of the project. There is no fixed statutory minimum capital, the authorization is valid for 3 years and renewable for 2 years, and family members may apply jointly and obtain residence and work rights, with their status remaining linked to the principal holder. All four routes count toward long-term residence after 5 years of continuous legal residence and toward Spanish citizenship after 10 years, reduced to 2 years for nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal and Sephardic Jews of Spanish origin, provided the residence is legal, continuous and immediately prior to the application. Existing Golden Visa holders are unaffected by the abolition, since applications filed before 3 April 2025 continue under the prior rules and authorizations already granted retain their validity and may be renewed under the rules in force at the time of the original grant.

  • Vietnam

    What long-term residence options exist in Vietnam for internationally mobile individuals?

    Vietnam offers a tiered investor visa system under Law No. 47/2014/QH13 (as amended by Law No. 51/2019/QH14 and Law No. 23/2023/QH15) with four DT categories indexed on capital contribution. The DT1 visa (capital of VND 100 billion or more) carries a 5-year visa term and a Temporary Residence Card (TRC) up to 10 years. DT2 (VND 50 billion to under 100 billion) grants a 5-year visa and a TRC up to 5 years. DT3 (VND 3 billion to under 50 billion) grants a 3-year visa and a TRC up to 3 years. The DT4 tier (under VND 3 billion) is limited to a 12-month visa with no investor TRC eligibility and no family sponsorship rights. DT1, DT2, and DT3 holders may sponsor spouses and minor children under 18 for TT (Tham Than) dependent visas under Article 8 of the Immigration Law, while common-law partners and adult children are excluded. Work-based pathways include the LD1 visa (work permit exempt) and the LD2 visa (work permit holders), both valid up to 2 years and convertible to a TRC up to 2 years. The governing framework is now Decree 219/2025/ND-CP, effective August 7, 2025, which replaced Decree 152/2020/ND-CP and Decree 70/2023/ND-CP, merged the foreign labour demand approval and the work permit application into a single online dossier, decentralized approval to provincial People's Committees, and shortened the statutory work permit timeline to 10 working days. It did not merge the work permit with the visa application, which remain separate steps. Foreign lawyers practicing in Vietnam under the Law on Lawyers obtain the LS visa with a 5-year term. The Special Visa Exemption Card (SVEC) under Decree 221/2025/ND-CP, in force from August 15, 2025, is a multi-entry waiver of up to 5 years capped at 90 days per stay per entry, reserved for international elites including executives of the world top 100 enterprises by market capitalization, holders of prestigious international science and technology awards, and globally top-ranked athletes. From July 1, 2026, under Law No. 118/2025/QH15, two preferential visa symbols become available, the UD1 for high-quality digital technology industry personnel and other persons eligible for incentives under a law or a National Assembly resolution, and the UD2 for their spouses and children under 18. Under the general regime, amended Article 9 caps the UD1 and UD2 visa at 5 years, while amended Article 38 sets the matching UD1 and UD2 Temporary Residence Card at up to 10 years, the same ceiling as the DT1 investor card. Within the Vietnam International Financial Centre (IFC), Decree 327/2025/ND-CP lets the UD1 visa itself reach 10 years rather than the general 5-year visa cap, with a UD1 TRC up to 10 years and a matching UD2 for spouses and children under 18, for key investors, experts, managers, and highly skilled staff of IFC-headquartered organizations. Outside the IFC framework, Vietnam offers no general DT investor pathway to permanent residence. The Permanent Residence Card (PRC) under Article 39 of Law 47/2014 is restricted to four narrow categories, namely meritorious persons recognized by State decoration, scientists or experts sponsored by ministerial-level authority, spouses or children or parents of Vietnamese citizens with at least 3 years of continuous residence, and stateless persons resident since 2000, with a 10-year renewable validity. Decree 327/2025/ND-CP introduces a separate IFC-specific permanent residence route for key investors, experts, scientists, persons of special talent and senior managers who have worked continuously for at least 3 years at an organization headquartered in the IFC. On nationality, Law No. 79/2025/QH15, effective July 1, 2025, broadened the dual citizenship exceptions beyond the prior near-total prohibition. Retention of foreign nationality on naturalization is now possible for applicants with a Vietnamese spouse, child, parent or grandparent, for those making meritorious contributions or whose naturalization is deemed beneficial to Vietnam, and for minors naturalizing alongside a parent, in each case subject to Presidential approval and compliance with the law of the foreign country. A separate 10-year Investor Golden Visa announced in May 2025 remains under government review and is not yet enacted as of May 2026, with no draft law published and no application channel open.

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