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Are you going to pay the staff legally, which means you will need to also pay social insurance. Why not just apply for a 1 year business visa which they seem to be handing out at the moment.

If you are a  business owner which  is registered under Vietnamese Enterprises Law, then you are eligible to obtain a TRC (Temporary Residence Card) for 3-5 years which is both multiple entry visa and residence permit.

The problem will be that he is not earning any money in Viet Nam.

Things appear to have improved since I last looked at this. I much prefer legally so would happily include social insurance.
I guess I had better check out TRC.

Oh, I would simply be transferring funds from Aus to cover salaries, rent internet etc

You mean a representative office?

colinoscapee wrote:

The problem will be that he is not earning any money in Viet Nam.

If you are going to pay salaries you will have to be a registered company with the DPI and the tax department. Charmavietnam would have more info than me as he operates a successful business here.

Are you wanting to set up an office or operate from home, if it's from home then maybe you can work your way around things as you aren't actually doing business here in VN just having people assist you, if you know what I mean.

Work from home initially and then if it works which iot will, set up an office

Unless you register company here in Vietnam( whether it is representative office or full company), you are not eligible to get any WP exemption or TRC for investors. So I think you should follow colinoscapee's instruction and obtain a 1 year multiple entry visa.

The problem is that you will be employing people, therefore you should register some type of business. I would get the correct info from a lawyer, they are cheap to talk to and should give you better advice. Dont try and do it without a license, as you may find one of your staff will do their civic duty and inform the police.

You have all been very helpful.
WP: Work permit?
TRC?
A 1 year multiple entry visa sounds ideal.
I do not wish to break laws

Yeah, that's right.
TRC = Temporary Residence Card

If your company is legally registered in Australia, you should try to get an APEC card, which allows you freely entry for countries with Apec agreement in 3 years.

Doesn't Vietnam only allow a certain period of time per visit.

Yes. 90 days per visit free visa for 3 years. It's only good when the OP plans to go back and forth between Vietnam, Australia and other countries for business.

The problem with 1 year visa is you need a sponsorship from a company in Vietnam right? Like business invite letter or labour contract?

Ngan Khanh wrote:

Yes. 90 days per visit free visa for 3 years. It's only good when the OP plans to go back and forth between Vietnam, Australia and other countries for business.

The problem with 1 year visa is you need a sponsorship from a company in Vietnam right? Like business invite letter or labour contract?

That used to be the rule, but now it seems they are handing out the 1 year business visa like the old 1 year tourist visa.

What I know is,, the visit visa for American is six months now.  Before only three months.

Hello,  please take many responses here as just opinions though some may be correct yet some others are not good advise.

If you attempt to 'run' your biz in VN without properly establishing yourself legally to do said in VN then you are asking for problems.  It's illegal to do business in VN in your own name without a legal status and proper taxation/filings.  [BTW: It is possible to have a VN corporation w/o a VN partner but it takes a few months, more docs and it involves $20K USD minimum investment in VN.]

If you 'hope' that you will be OK remember the ole saw...'Hope' is a four letter word.

Let me clarify an example but I think you already get it.   Employing a local VN to clean your house, tend your children, manage your garden, be your personal assitant, be your girlfriend...?  No problem! no issues! and you can do so with any valid visa [BTW I know of no 1 year tourist visa, so we really taking about a biz visa].

Now let me say up front, if you can operate your 'aussie biz' and NOT hire any locals then you are fine to do whatever you want and the VN have no complaint.

But the moment you start doing business in VN and employing VN or other persons [watch out employing foreigners living in VN on tourist visa, they are not supposed to work] for the purpose of making a profit 'anywhere' then you are doing business in VN and I can't imagine the VN believing you if you try to explain you're NOT doing business in VN.  The VN get really, really up your backside when they find or suspect a foreigner is doing business directly in VN without proper corporate/business status.  WHY?  Because they know they are about to get a big pay day!  BIG PAYDAY that the VN immigration system lives for!

What happens?  Sooner or later you will get a visit from the immigration police [and / or local police] as all it takes is a local VN or legal foreigner ratting you out and then you will have a problem.  If you are operating your 'aussie biz' or employ VN workers in a foreign biz on an tourist visa then you are open to a 40.000.000 VND [2,000 usd approximate but the amount may differ from officer to officer ..city to city] fine, plus possible deportation, and you can expect to pay 20.000.000 VND $1,000 USD of that fine [why 50%, so that they can shake you down for more under the table, read on... if you paid the full amount then they would have to do an official thingy and maybe deport you...if they just shake you down then they know they can come back later is see if you are still operating and shake you down again....] PLUS you will have your passport/visa seized in the process and regardless of paying your 'fine' above you will get shaken down for another 20.000.000 VND [1,000 usd approximate] 'secret fee' to enable the returning of your passport/visa OR they will deport you so you don't have much choice as you broke the law.   Note that there will be other fees and you will have to locate an intermediary to negotiate and deliver your 'secret fee' as the police will not do the transaction with you to protect themselves from bribery stings/complaint.   Lastly, IF you get deported you will now have a red stamp on your passport and you will be in the system as deported and your VN dream is over...done...toast.  Even after you pay the fine to avoid deportation you will now have an open file 'suspected of doing business illegally in VN' with the immigration and secret police.  That file will probably never get closed and you stand the chance of periodically being hunted down and interrogated again by the same folks as they want to see if they can extract another bribe for your infraction and lack of compliance if you were so gullible to beleive that your 'fine' was paid and now they would look the other way.

In short you better just do it right and get and stay legal.

Anyone who says what I have submitted above is bunk does not know anything and don't listen to anyone who tells you that you can do what you are saying you want to do w/o proper legal/biz status.

If you want/need a legit legal biz VN associate/partner so that you can do your VN corporation etc. you can try contact firms that offer said servcies....if you want to contact me, then feel free to PM me and I may be able to refer you to a legitimate source.

Yoiks, I am committed to doing things the right way as I do not want the above headaches,

David:  Setting up a representative office is the way to go for you.