Having a license but still doing illegal things
Mr. Nguyen Van Cao, from Duc Tho district (Ha Tinh) introduced himself to an acquaintance, to meet a representative of a company headquartered on Hai Trieu street, Ben Nghe ward, (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) with the promise to go to Australia to work in the agricultural sector. Mr. Cao was met with the company representative in Ha Tinh city in early March 2025.
At the meeting, Mr. Cao was "reported" the price of the entire package to Australia of 175 million VND including departure costs, visas, health check-ups, and air tickets. The company promised to support the deposit of fees in advance by 80%, equivalent to 140 million VND. Each month, employees pay the company 11,660,000 VND, gradually paying for 12 months. The remaining 20% of the amount, equivalent to 35 million VND, the employee will pay the company when they have completed the visa and received the flight schedule, said Mr. Cao.
According to Mr. Cao, during the meeting, the company representative showed him the business registration certificate, the service license to send workers to work abroad and showed him some photos on the phone about the times the company representative took a leave of absence at the airport. Trusting him, Mr. Cao agreed to go and make an appointment to return to worry about money and then return to meet the company representative to sign a contract. During the time of money turnover, Mr. Cao was advised by a relative to ask the authorities about the company and the program to work in Australia.
"Thanks to relatives asking through the Department of Overseas Labor Management (Ministry of Home Affairs), I was surprised that this company has a license to operate a service to send workers to work abroad but is not on the list of businesses that are allowed to send workers to Australia to work," said Mr. Cao.
Mr. Cao is just a typical example for many workers in recent times who have accessed inaccurate information, are at risk of being scammed, and many have been scammed out of hundreds of millions of VND to "deposit" without being able to get it back.
Recently, the Department of Overseas Labor Management has continuously issued warnings about scams aimed at workers who wish to work abroad.
The Department also received many recommendations and feedback from workers and service enterprises sending Vietnamese workers to work abroad under contracts (service enterprises) about subjects impersonating officers and employees of service enterprises to defraud and collect money from workers.
Management agency recommends workers
The Department of Overseas Labor Management recommends that workers who wish to work abroad should contact directly the service businesses or labor agencies where they reside for advice, support and procedures.
Employees only pay service fees directly at the enterprise after signing a contract to send employees to work abroad (not at the enterprise's branch); Request the service enterprise to issue a receipt or invoice with the following contents: Full name of the enterprise, date of issuance of the document, name of the person paying the money, amount and content of payment, accounting name, cashier name and enterprise stamp (clearly state the full name, title and signature). Workers need to compare and check business information to ensure that they are licensed service enterprises (name, address, tax code...).
Speaking with Lao Dong, Mr. Dang Huy Hong - Director of the Overseas Labor Center - Colab (Ministry of Home Affairs) said that in the past, Colab has signed many labor supply contracts with partners in Japan and the Federal Republic of Germany.
The successful negotiation and signing of supply contracts with partners in early 2025 is a very good sign of opening up attractive job opportunities with good income for Vietnamese workers. Colab's programs are implemented in a non-profit form, the cost of transportation is very low, some programs are also received by partners, employers support training costs, accommodation... so they are especially suitable for workers in mountainous areas, poor districts, coastal communes and policy beneficiaries.
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