Regulations on deportation in Vietnam

What is deportation?

Essentially, deportation is a measure to deal with violations of the law by foreigners and stateless persons discovered and handled by Vietnamese authorities by forcing these people to leave the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Deportation is enforced against those who are subject to punishment.

In what cases are foreigners deported?

Foreigners who commit administrative violations or criminal offenses may be expelled from Vietnam by a competent authority. Specifically:

Deportation for criminal offenses

Article 37 of the 2015 Penal Code stipulates on deportation as follows:

Deportation is forcing a convicted foreigner to leave the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Expulsion is applied by the Court as a main or additional penalty in each specific case.

The penalty of expulsion in Article 37 of the Penal Code is a separate penalty for criminals who are foreigners or stateless persons.

In cases where the Court has imposed other penalties other than expulsion, the Court may, however, impose expulsion as an additional penalty if deemed necessary.

Deportation for administrative violations

Foreigners in Vietnam when participating in social relations will sometimes also commit administrative law violations.

In addition to being subject to administrative sanctions such as warnings, fines, etc., foreigners who commit administrative violations may also be deported from Vietnam.

Specifically, Article 27 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations stipulates on deportation as follows:

1. Expulsion is a form of punishment that forces foreigners who commit administrative violations in Vietnam to leave the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Based on the above provisions, it can be seen that deportation in criminal and administrative law has many common similarities. However, compared to the penalty of deportation in criminal proceedings:

- The consequences of administrative violations are less than the consequences of criminal offenses.

- In the criminal field, the competent authority to decide to deport foreigners who have committed criminal offenses is the Court. In the administrative field, the competent authority to decide to deport is the Director of the provincial police agency and the Director of the Immigration Department.

A criminal who is expelled from Vietnam by a court decision is considered to have a criminal record. However, if they are subject to the sanction of expulsion in the administrative field, they are not considered to have a criminal record.

Deportation without work permit in Vietnam

According to Article 153 of the 2019 Labor Code, foreign employees are responsible for presenting work permits when requested by competent state agencies.

If foreign workers work in Vietnam without a work permit, they will be forced to leave the country or deported according to the provisions of law.