Relocating to Vietnam with your family
Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi for families: work permits, international schools, and a birth certificate that does not confer Vietnamese citizenship.
Who this is suitable for
Families posted to Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, or setting up a real business there. Not a fit if the plan is a beach town without a school.
Visa and residence
The ordinary family path is a work permit for the employed parent and a temporary residence card, with dependants attached. Tourist visas and border runs are not how a child finishes a year at school. Counsel files the current category. The labels change.
Family residence
Dependants need their own temporary residence cards. They expire when the principal’s card expires. Put the date in the family calendar.
Work
A work permit is tied to a Vietnamese employer and a job that matches the degree. ‘I will work online’ is not a work permit. If that is the plan, say so, and let counsel say whether it is lawful this year.
Business
A foreign-invested company is a licensing process, not a form. We introduce counsel. We do not hold the investment certificate.
Schools
Ho Chi Minh City: BIS, ISHCMC, SSIS, and others. Hanoi: UNIS, BIS, Concordia. Fees are international. The campus decides District 2 or Thao Dien versus somewhere else. Places fill.
Healthcare
Family Medical Practice, Vinmec, and the international departments of large hospitals are the practical circuit. Serious cases are sometimes evacuated to Bangkok or Singapore. Insurance should say so in writing. A planned birth should name the hospital and the evacuation rule.
Housing
Serviced apartments are the usual first six months. Thao Dien in Ho Chi Minh City and Tay Ho or the western school districts in Hanoi are the family addresses. Leases are negotiable. Check air-conditioning, blackouts, and who holds the deposit.
Cost of living
Rent of a family apartment and school fees are the budget. Food and household help are less expensive than in Europe. School fees are not a bargain.
Family-friendly areas
Live where the school bus starts. A coastal weekend in Da Nang is not the address on the residence card.
Safety
The daily risk is traffic. Motorbikes and the school run need a rule the children understand. Political risk is not the planning problem for a family lease. Road risk is.
International schools
Ask about the waiting list for the specific grade, the bus to your district, and whether a child with limited English is accepted or parked in a language class.
Birth abroad
A child born in Vietnam to foreign parents is not Vietnamese. You receive a Vietnamese birth certificate so the birth is recorded. Citizenship comes from the parents’ countries, through the embassy.
Birth registration
The hospital papers go to the provincial justice department for the birth certificate. Then the embassy. The sequence has deadlines. Missing the embassy step is how families discover they cannot board a flight with a newborn.
Citizenship rules
No jus soli. No parental citizenship. Naturalisation as a Vietnamese citizen is not a service we offer or imply.
Parent immigration
The parents’ right to be in Vietnam is their work permit or other status. The birth does not create it.
Banking
Banks want a passport, a visa or residence card, and proof of address. Foreign-currency accounts are possible and regulated. We make the introduction. We do not move cash.
Property
Foreigners may own apartments inside statutory limits and for a leasehold term, not land. The project must be eligible. A lawyer reads the pink book. We will not let a developer’s brochure replace that.
Business setup
A real foreign-invested enterprise, with counsel, or not at all.
Transportation
A car with a driver is the family default, not a luxury. School buses exist. We book the airport arrival so the first hour is not a negotiation on the kerb.
Nanny and childcare
A nanny or a helper is common and is local employment. Agree days off and the language with the baby. We introduce. The contract is yours.
International health insurance
The policy must cover the hospital you named and evacuation if the birth or a paediatric emergency cannot be handled locally. Read that clause.
Timeline
Work permit plus residence card is often measured in months, and the school offer should not wait for the stamp. Start them together.
Estimated budget
Quoted for Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi and the number of school places. Serviced housing for the first term is a separate line from the later lease.
Documents
Passports, legalised civil documents, degrees if there is a work permit, school reports. Vietnam is strict about legalisation. Build the time in.
Professional partners
Vietnamese immigration and corporate counsel, the hospital international desk, the school, and an insurer who will confirm evacuation in writing.
Frequently asked questions
Will our baby be Vietnamese?
No. The birth certificate records the birth. Citizenship follows you, through your embassy.
Can we live at the coast?
Only with a school you have already visited. Otherwise choose Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi.
Is traffic really the issue?
Yes. Plan the school run as carefully as the visa.
Book a family assessment
Tell us the passports, the children’s ages, and whether a birth is part of the year. We come back with a plan, or with a no.
This is family orientation, not a visa grant and not legal advice. Licensed counsel in the country confirms the rule before you travel, sign, or give birth.
