If you hold a long-term Vietnamese residence basis yourself, such as a work card, an investor card, a representative office card, a press card or a study card, your legally married spouse and your children under 18 can usually be sponsored for TT visas and then TT temporary residence cards. Their cards rest on yours: they are typically issued for a period that fits within your own card, they end if your basis ends, and children lose eligibility on reaching 18. The sponsor is normally the organisation that sponsors you.
Families often plan the main holder's move carefully and leave the dependants' paperwork until later, which is how children end up on tourist visas for months. This guide explains how the dependant route works, what to collect before you leave home, the stages at which families get stuck, and how to plan for a child approaching adulthood. Confirm the current details with your sponsor and the provincial immigration office before you file.
How the dependant route is built
Vietnam's residence system attaches family members to a principal. The principal is the foreigner with the primary basis for being in the country: an employee holding an LD1 or LD2 card, an investor on DT1, DT2 or DT3, a head or staff member of a representative office on NN1 or NN2, a lawyer on LS, a journalist on PV1, a student on DH, or someone on certain diplomatic and international organisation symbols. The principal's spouse and children under 18 can then be sponsored for the TT symbol.
In practice, the organisation that sponsors the principal usually files for the family as well. That means the employer's HR team, or the representative office or school, prepares a request letter naming each family member and attaches evidence of the relationship. The family's applications can often be filed together with, or shortly after, the principal's card, and their cards are commonly issued for a term that does not run beyond the principal's.
This structure has a clear advantage: one sponsor, one set of dates, one renewal cycle. It also has a clear weakness. If the principal's job ends, the company closes, or the principal leaves Vietnam, every dependant's basis falls away at the same moment. Families should therefore think of their status as a single unit and plan job changes with that in mind.
The dependant route is also available to families of foreign students on DH cards, which surprises some people. A postgraduate student at a Vietnamese university who is married with young children can usually ask the university to sponsor TT visas and cards for the family, subject to the same proof of relationship. Universities vary in how familiar they are with this, so raise it during admission rather than after arrival.
Who counts as a dependant, and who does not
This summary reflects the usual interpretation of the TT category for families of foreign residents. Edge cases exist, so treat the right-hand column as a prompt to ask before relying on a route.
| Family member | Usually eligible for TT through you? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Legally married spouse | Yes | Marriage must be documented in a form Vietnam accepts; legalised and translated if issued abroad |
| Biological or legally adopted child under 18 | Yes | Birth certificate or adoption order, legalised and translated |
| Stepchild under 18 | Often, with proof | Proof of the marriage plus the child's relationship to your spouse; ask in advance |
| Child aged 18 or over | Generally no | Needs an independent basis such as study, work or investment |
| Unmarried partner | Generally no | TT is built on legally recognised marriage |
| Parents, siblings, in-laws | Generally no | Can visit on ordinary visas; no dependant route through a foreign worker |
| Domestic helper or nanny | No | A domestic worker would need their own lawful basis |
One sensitive point deserves plain mention. Vietnam's marriage law does not currently recognise same-sex marriage, so a same-sex spouse married abroad may not be accepted as a spouse for TT purposes. Couples in this position should take advice before relocating rather than discover the issue at the immigration counter.
What to gather before you leave home
Most delays in dependant applications trace back to documents that could have been prepared in the home country in an afternoon but take weeks once you are in Vietnam.
- Marriage certificate, ideally a recently issued official copy, legalised for use in Vietnam through the procedure your country and Vietnam use.
- Full birth certificates for each child, showing both parents' names, legalised the same way. Short-form certificates without parents' names often cause problems.
- Adoption or custody orders where relevant, especially if only one parent is relocating with the child. A consent letter from the other parent may be requested for travel and schooling.
- Passports with comfortable validity for every family member. Children's passports often have shorter validity, which caps their cards.
- Records you will need for schools, such as previous school reports and vaccination records, which are separate from immigration but needed at the same time.
- Certified Vietnamese translations, which can be arranged after arrival at a notary or translation service, but only once the legalised originals are in hand.
If you are not sure which legalisation route applies, ask the Vietnamese embassy or consulate in your home country. Doing this before departure is far easier than arranging it remotely later.
The sequence that works best
Ideally, the principal's work permit or investment documents are settled first, because they define the family's basis. The employer then sponsors TT visas for the spouse and children so that they enter Vietnam on the right symbol. Once everyone has arrived and their address has been declared, the employer files for the principal's card and the dependants' cards, often in one batch.
Real life is rarely so tidy. Many families arrive together on electronic visas while the work permit is still being processed. That is workable for the first weeks, but the family should not drift. Once the principal's permit is issued, ask the employer to arrange conversion or new visas for the dependants promptly, and plan the timing so that nobody's permission runs out in the gap.
Keep the family's dates aligned where possible. If the principal's card runs for two years and a child's passport expires in nine months, the child's card will be short. Renewing a child's passport early can save an extra round of paperwork mid-year.
Points where families get stuck
The spouse wants to work. A TT card is a family card. It does not permit employment. A spouse who finds a job needs a work permit or a confirmed exemption through the new employer, and in practice moves onto a work symbol sponsored by that employer. Plan this before accepting an offer.
A child turns 18. Eligibility as a dependant child ends at 18. A child who is finishing school in Vietnam, or starting university here, needs an independent basis, such as a DH study visa sponsored by a Vietnamese university. Start the conversation a year ahead.
The principal changes jobs. A new employer means a new work permit, a new principal card and, normally, new dependant cards sponsored by the new employer. Coordinate the timing so the family is never between permissions.
A baby is born in Vietnam. A child born in Vietnam to foreign parents has its birth registered with the local civil registry, then obtains a passport from the parents' embassy, then a visa and a card. The early weeks involve several offices; ask the hospital and your embassy about the order.
Moving provinces. If the family relocates, for example from Hanoi to Da Nang, address declarations need updating and the sponsor should check whether any notification is required.
A worked example: one family's first year
Consider a hypothetical family to see how the pieces fit. An engineer is hired by a manufacturing company in Bac Ninh, now part of the merged province of Bac Ninh, and plans to move with a spouse and two children aged 9 and 16. Before leaving home, the family obtains fresh, legalised copies of the marriage certificate and both full birth certificates, and renews the younger child's passport, which had only a year left.
The engineer's work permit is approved while the family is still abroad, so the employer sponsors an LD2 visa for the engineer and TT visas for the spouse and children. The family enters together, rents an apartment in Hanoi within commuting distance, and the landlord declares their stay to the commune police. In the second month, the employer files for the engineer's card and the three TT cards in one batch, using certified translations made locally. All four cards are issued with end dates that sit inside the engineer's work permit.
Two loose ends remain. The older child will turn 18 a few months before the cards expire, so the family starts asking universities about a study visa in good time. And the spouse, who is offered part-time teaching work, waits until the school arranges a work permit before starting. Nothing about this year is unusual; it works because each step was taken in order.
Life on dependant cards
Day to day, dependant cards make family life straightforward. The spouse and children can travel in and out with their passports and cards, schools can enrol children against documents that cover the whole school year, and families can sign leases that match their real plans. Many international and bilingual schools ask to see children's residence status at enrolment, and having cards in place removes an awkward conversation.
The most useful habit is to keep one family file: the principal's work permit or investment documents, everyone's cards and passports, the legalised certificates and their translations, and a note of every card's expiry date. Set one reminder for the whole family, triggered by whichever card expires first, and agree with the sponsor how far in advance renewal will start. Families who treat residence as a once-a-year household task tend to have quiet, uneventful stays.
It also helps to make sure both adults know where the family file is kept and understand the basics. If the principal is travelling for work when a school, bank or police officer asks a question about the children's status, the spouse should be able to answer it and produce the right copy without a phone call across time zones.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
Can my wife or husband get a TRC if I work in Vietnam?
Usually yes. A legally married spouse of a foreigner holding a work, investment, representative office, press, lawyer or study card can generally be sponsored for a TT visa and card, typically through the same organisation that sponsors the principal.
Can my children study in Vietnam on a TT card?
Yes. Children on TT cards attend school as residents. Schools set their own admission requirements, and many ask to see passports, residence status and previous school records at enrolment. The TT card itself is about residence; school admission is a separate decision by the school.
What happens to my child's card when they turn 18?
Eligibility as a dependant child ends at 18. A young adult staying in Vietnam needs their own basis, most often a DH study visa through a Vietnamese university or college, or later a job. Plan well before the birthday so there is no gap.
Can my spouse work on a dependant TT card?
No. The TT card covers residence only. To work, your spouse needs a work permit or a confirmed exemption arranged by their employer, and usually moves to a work symbol sponsored by that employer. Working on a TT card alone is not permitted.
Do dependant cards end if I lose my job?
Yes, in effect. Dependant cards are built on the principal's basis. If the principal's employment ends, the family's basis ends too. Talk to the employer and the immigration office promptly about next steps, whether a new sponsor or departure.
Can my parents join me on a dependant card?
Generally not. The dependant route for families of foreign residents covers spouses and children under 18. Parents can visit on ordinary visas. Parents of a Vietnamese citizen are a different case, covered under the TT category through that citizen.