From tourist visa to " Strategic" visa
The latest report from the General Statistics Office said that with favorable visa policies, tourism promotion and advertising programs being promoted along with activities to celebrate major national holidays has attracted more and more international visitors to Vietnam.
In July 2025, international visitors to our country reached 1.56 million, an increase of 6.8% over the previous month and an increase of 35.7% over the same period last year. In the first 7 months of 2025, international visitors to Vietnam reached 12.23 million, an increase of 22.5% over the same period last year.
The visa exemption program currently implemented plays a very big role in the above impressive growth rate.
However, feedback from service companies also shows that many investors and experts have difficulty applying for visas to Vietnam. There are cases where foreign entrepreneurs have opened a business, have employees and do business, but their investment visa application is still rejected for unknown reasons. Even to get to work in Vietnam, they have to "go around" through a package tour that is both expensive and time-consuming.
At the group discussion at the 9th Extraordinary Session of the 15th National Assembly, in mid-February 2025, discussing the draft Resolution on piloting a number of policies to remove obstacles in scientific, technological and innovation activities, Politburo member and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said: "It is necessary to create a mechanism to attract human resources. Not only attracting workers from outside the State sector to work in the State sector, but it is necessary to attract them to develop private enterprises, attract human resources from outside to Vietnam to contribute to promoting the development of science and technology, innovation. It is necessary to create an attraction mechanism through tax, fee, charge mechanisms, housing policies, land, visas, labor contracts, etc.
"We cannot let foreign experts and scientists come to Vietnam, but we have to wait for visas" - the Prime Minister emphasized.
The key to attracting, welcoming capital flows and high-quality intelligence
With Decree 221, effective from August 15, this visa exemption policy has entered a new phase: From a tool to support the tourism industry to a strategic lever to attract talent and high-quality capital flows.
Advanced economies all apply preferential visa policies for global talent. Singapore has a "Employment Pass", the UAE has a "Golden Visa".... Vietnam, with Decree 221, has officially entered this "race" with a clear message: Creative minds, technical hands and leading managers will be welcomed as development partners.
In particular, the group of human resources in the digital technology industry, including artificial intelligence experts, software engineers, microchip designers, and cybersecurity experts - is considered a key force for Vietnam to realize the goal of becoming a digital nation by 2030. When visa barriers are removed, technology corporations and international research institutes will easily bring elite personnel to Vietnam to implement projects, transfer technology, and train domestic human resources.
Scholars, professors, and scientists coming to Vietnam not only bring knowledge, but also bring a global cooperation network.
A long-term visa will help them consider Vietnam as a "base" to implement the idea, instead of just a short-term stop. International investors always consider the business environment not only in terms of taxes and infrastructure but also in terms of mobility. A country where corporation leaders and technical experts can enter and exit easily, without having to worry about complicated visa procedures, will score a big point in the eyes of the business world.
The visa exemption for leaders of large corporations and enterprises, along with their key personnel, creates conditions for quick surveys, negotiations and signings. This helps shorten the investment cycle, increase the disbursement and implementation of projects - a decisive factor in the context of increasingly fierce competition to attract FDI. Expanding visas to investors, experts, and high-tech human resources is a step to concretize the action program of Resolution 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in the development of science, technology, innovation, and national digital transformation.
Notably, Resolution 57 has opened a new chapter for foreign technology investors with three key pillars: Strategic consensus, institutional reform and market potential. In particular, Vietnam aims to attract at least 7 of the world's leading technology corporations to have headquarters, research and development (R&D) centers or manufacturing facilities in Vietnam by 2030. This is not only an orientation goal, but is also concretized by "nscale" incentives and flexibility in the legal framework.
In the era of global competition for high-quality human resources, with Resolution 57, Decree 221, Vietnam has sent a strong signal: The door is always open for those who can work with Vietnam to create a prosperous future.
If we know how to take advantage of and go hand in hand with reforms in the business environment, investment in science - technology and innovation, this policy will become a "golden key" for Vietnam to break through, becoming a leading destination for talent and high-quality investment capital on the world map.
According to Decree No. 221/2025/ND-CP, some subjects exempted from visas are foreigners, including: Scholars, experts, scientists, professors of universities and research institutes; general engineers; high-quality digital technology industrial human resources; Investors, corporation leaders, leaders of large enterprises in the world; People working in the fields of culture, arts, sports, and tourism have a positive impact on the public; Other cases that need visa exemption incentives for foreign purposes or to serve socio-economic development are decided by the Minister of Public Security based on the proposal of agencies and organizations.
The above subjects are allowed to use special visa exemption cards to enter Vietnam many times during the visa exemption period. The visa exemption period is not more than 5 years and is at least 30 days shorter than the remaining period of the passport.
