Citizeo
Pathway

Vietnam Spouse or Family Visa

Vietnam Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

Vietnam's TT category covers a foreign parent, spouse, or child of a Vietnamese citizen and a spouse or child under 18 of certain qualifying foreign visa holders. A TT visa may be valid for up to 12 months; an eligible TT Temporary Residence Card may be valid for up to 3 years. A separate five-year visa-exemption certificate is available to overseas Vietnamese and to specified foreign spouses and children.

TT visa
Up to 12 months
TT residence card
Up to 3 years for an eligible holder
Five-year exemption
Separate family or overseas-Vietnamese document; generally up to 180 days per entry
Long-term status
Work authorization, permanent residence, and citizenship are separate applications
What it gives
A TT visa permits family-based entry and temporary stay.
Main limit
Neither TT status nor a five-year visa-exemption certificate automatically authorizes employment.

Summary

Vietnam has several different family-based immigration tools. They should not be described as one “spouse visa” because they serve different purposes and have different stay rules.

The correct route depends on the family relationship, the sponsor's exact status, whether the goal is repeated visits or residence, and whether the applicant needs separate permission to work.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

TT based on a Vietnamese citizen may fit a foreign national who is the Vietnamese citizen's:

The relationship must be legally established and supported by civil-status records. A marriage certificate, birth record, adoption record, or other relationship document issued abroad may need translation and consular legalization or another accepted authentication process. A Vietnamese authority may also require the foreign civil event to be recorded or annotated under Vietnam's civil-status rules. Applicants should confirm the current requirement rather than assuming that a foreign document is automatically usable or that every foreign marriage must be re-registered.

TT based on a foreign principal is narrower. The applicant must be the principal holder's spouse or child under 18, and the principal must hold one of the categories named by law: LV1, LV2, LS, ĐT1, ĐT2, ĐT3, NN1, NN2, ĐH, PV1, LĐ1, or LĐ2. A ĐT4 investor, short-stay visitor, or holder of another unlisted status cannot be assumed to support TT family status.

The principal's immigration status must remain valid, and the TT document normally cannot extend beyond the passport or the status and sponsorship that support it. The sponsor or inviting organization must complete the current immigration filing.

The five-year visa-exemption certificate can fit:

The applicant must prove the Vietnamese citizenship or Vietnamese-origin link and the marriage or parent-child relationship. Under Decree No. 82/2015/ND-CP, the certificate can be valid for up to five years but must expire at least six months before the passport or international travel document expires. Each entry normally permits a temporary stay of up to 180 days; if the certificate has less than 180 days left, the stay is limited to the certificate's remaining validity. A further temporary-stay extension may be considered in Vietnam when the person has a sponsor and a valid reason, but it is a separate decision rather than an automatic extra six months.

Permanent residence through Vietnamese family is another application. The eligible relationship is a foreign parent, spouse, or child sponsored by a Vietnamese citizen who permanently resides in Vietnam. The applicant must also have lawful accommodation and a stable means of living in Vietnam. The residence-history rule is generally shown by at least three years of temporary residence in Vietnam during the four years immediately before the permanent-residence application, based on immigration entry and exit records. Meeting the time period does not guarantee approval.

What This Route Allows

A TT visa permits family-based entry and temporary stay. A TT Temporary Residence Card can reduce the need for repeated visa extensions and allows residence and re-entry while the family basis, sponsor, passport, and card remain valid.

The five-year visa-exemption certificate is useful for repeated family visits because it removes the need to obtain a visa for each qualifying entry. It is especially different from a TRC: the certificate may remain valid for years, but each admitted stay is limited.

An approved Permanent Residence Card is a separate, more durable immigration status. It can also become relevant to naturalization: the standard naturalization residence period is counted from the Permanent Residence Card, not from the TT visa, TT TRC, or five-year exemption certificate.

Family status can also support other distinct processes. For example, a spouse or biological child of a Vietnamese citizen can receive specified naturalization waivers. Naturalization still requires its own dossier and decision, and a spouse applicant must still be permanently resident in Vietnam when applying under that waiver.

What This Route Is Not

Neither TT status nor a five-year visa-exemption certificate automatically authorizes employment. A family member who will work in Vietnam must separately qualify for a work permit or a work-permit exemption and use the immigration status appropriate to that work.

The five-year certificate does not authorize one continuous five-year stay and is not a Temporary Residence Card. A TT visa is not automatically valid for one year, and a TT TRC is not automatically valid for three years; those are statutory ceilings, and the issued period can be shorter.

Marriage does not automatically produce permanent residence or citizenship. Permanent residence has separate statutory conditions and security review. Naturalization remains discretionary and usually involves a foreign-citizenship decision; retention of another citizenship requires a qualifying exception and Presidential permission.

Finally, wanting to live near a relative is not enough. The relationship and sponsor must match an exact legal category and be proven with acceptable records.

Next Steps

  1. Identify the sponsor precisely. Record whether the sponsor is a Vietnamese citizen, an overseas Vietnamese person, or a foreign principal, and collect proof of that status.
  2. Choose the document that matches the goal. Use TT for family residence under a qualifying sponsor, the five-year exemption for qualifying repeated entries, or the separate permanent-residence process only when its conditions are met.
  3. Verify a foreign principal's symbol. Check the exact visa or TRC category; do not assume every work, investor, or visitor status can sponsor TT.
  4. Prepare the relationship record. Obtain full marriage, birth, adoption, name-change, divorce, or custody records as relevant. Ask the filing authority about translation, legalization, and Vietnamese civil-status recording.
  5. Check passport and sponsor validity. The family document will be limited by the supporting passport and immigration status. Resolve an expiring passport before seeking a long document.
  6. Use the current immigration forms and filing channel. Circular No. 70/2026/TT-BCA changed Ministry of Public Security immigration forms and procedures from 1 July 2026.
  7. Separate work from family residence. Before starting employment, have the employer confirm the work-permit or exemption route and any required status change.
  8. For permanent residence, document the full four-year window. Keep entry/exit history, temporary-residence registration, accommodation, sponsor, and stable-income evidence; do not rely only on a marriage date.
Compare your options

Other routes in Vietnam.

Sources