A foreign-qualified nurse can potentially work in Vietnam, but an overseas nursing degree or registration does not automatically authorize clinical nursing practice in the country.
Vietnam treats nursing as a regulated healthcare profession. Nurses practising in medical examination and treatment facilities fall under the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, which requires an appropriate Vietnamese practising licence, registration of practice and compliance with language and health requirements.
Foreign workers also face a separate employment question. Even if a nurse is professionally eligible to practise, the person generally needs the appropriate immigration and work authorization for the job under Vietnam's rules for foreign workers.
The practical route therefore involves two different systems: healthcare professional licensing and foreign-worker authorization.
Can foreigners work as nurses in Vietnam?
Yes. Vietnamese law does not create a blanket rule preventing foreign nationals from becoming licensed nurses.
The 2023 Law on Medical Examination and Treatment specifically lists nurses as one of the professional titles requiring a practising licence. The same licensing framework includes provisions for foreign practitioners and recognition of professional licences issued abroad.
However, being an experienced registered nurse in another country is not enough on its own.
A foreign nurse may need to deal with:
- Recognition of an overseas professional licence
- Verification of the nursing qualification
- Vietnamese professional licensing requirements
- Language requirements
- Registration of professional practice
- Employer credentialing
- Work permit or an applicable exemption
- Immigration status permitting employment
These are related processes, but they are not interchangeable.
Nursing is a licensed healthcare profession in Vietnam
Vietnam's Law on Medical Examination and Treatment identifies several professions that require a practising licence, including doctors, physician assistants, nurses, midwives, medical technicians, clinical nutritionists, out-of-hospital paramedics and clinical psychologists.
A person practising clinical nursing in a Vietnamese healthcare facility therefore needs to fit within the applicable professional licensing framework.
The law also states that a person providing medical examination or treatment generally needs:
- A valid practising licence
- Registration of practice
- Compliance with healthcare language requirements
- Sufficient health to practise
- No applicable legal prohibition on practice
This distinction is important for foreigners considering employment in an international hospital. Working in an English-speaking hospital does not remove Vietnamese professional regulation.
For background on how private and public care operate locally, Medical Tourism in Vietnam: A Step-by-Step Guide provides additional context on Vietnam's healthcare sector and international-patient services.
Can Vietnam recognise a foreign nursing licence?
Vietnamese law provides a mechanism for recognising practising licences issued by competent authorities abroad, but recognition is not automatic for every licence from every country.
Under Article 29 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, an overseas practising licence may be considered for recognition when the legal conditions are satisfied. These include the licence remaining valid and the foreign professional title being equivalent to a regulated healthcare profession in Vietnam.
Recognition also depends on the relevant international framework or on the foreign licensing authority being accepted under the Ministry of Health's recognition process.
A nurse should therefore not assume that holding registration with a regulator in the UK, Australia, the United States, Canada, the Philippines or another country automatically converts into Vietnamese registration.
Confirm recognition with the competent Vietnamese health authority before relocating for a clinical job.
Why recognition of your foreign licence matters
Recognition can significantly affect the pathway.
Vietnamese law provides that a practitioner whose foreign practising licence is recognised may be exempt from some requirements that otherwise apply to applicants, including the standard practice period and professional competency assessment specified in the law.
If the foreign licence cannot be recognised directly, a different licensing route may apply.
This is why two foreign nurses with similar experience can face different administrative processes depending on:
- Where they trained
- Which authority issued their professional licence
- Whether that licence remains valid
- The exact professional title
- Whether the issuing authority falls within Vietnam's recognition framework
The safest approach is to obtain an official answer based on your own credentials rather than relying on another foreign nurse's experience.
Do foreign nurses need to pass a competency examination?
Vietnam is introducing professional competency assessments under the 2023 healthcare law, but the system includes transitional periods for different professions.
For nurses and midwives applying from 1 January 2024 through 31 December 2027, the law states that applicants are not required to undergo the new professional competency assessment that will apply under the full licensing framework.
That does not mean foreign nurses can work without a licence or without having their qualifications reviewed.
It means that, during this transition period, the specific competency-test requirement is not applied to nurse applicants in the same way it will be after the transition.
Because this timetable is important and can change with implementing rules, anyone planning to apply close to 2028 should confirm the current process before submitting an application.
Do foreign nurses need to speak Vietnamese?
Language is one of the most important practical issues.
Vietnamese is the standard language used in medical examination and treatment. However, the law contains specific provisions for foreign healthcare practitioners.
A foreign practitioner may use another registered language in certain circumstances, including when treating a patient who shares that language or a foreign patient who can communicate in it.
Current Ministry of Health procedures also provide mechanisms involving Vietnamese-language proficiency or a qualified medical interpreter, depending on the circumstances and applicable licensing route.
This means that lack of fluent Vietnamese does not necessarily make professional practice legally impossible in every situation.
However, from an employment perspective, Vietnamese ability can still be extremely important because nurses need to communicate with:
- Vietnamese patients
- Family members
- Doctors
- Other nurses
- Pharmacists
- Laboratory teams
- Administrative staff
Medication safety, handovers, consent, emergency communication and documentation can all depend on accurate communication.
International hospitals may use English extensively with foreign patients, but English-speaking patients are only one part of the clinical environment.
Can you work only with foreign patients?
Vietnamese law allows foreign healthcare practitioners to use a language other than Vietnamese with certain patients, particularly foreign patients or patients who share the registered language.
This can make foreign nurses particularly relevant to hospitals and clinics with large international patient populations.
Potential settings may include:
- International hospitals
- Private hospitals
- International patient departments
- Specialist clinics
- Rehabilitation centres
- Medical tourism services
But limiting your work primarily to international patients does not remove the requirement to hold the professional authorization required for nursing practice.
A hospital's marketing language should also not be confused with the actual language used across its clinical teams. How to Choose an English-Speaking Clinic in Vietnam explains why individual professional communication should be verified rather than assumed from an English-language website.
What documents should a foreign nurse prepare?
The exact licensing file depends on the route being used, but foreign applicants should prepare comprehensive professional documentation before moving.
Useful documents can include:
- Passport
- Nursing degree or diploma
- Academic transcript
- Detailed curriculum or programme information
- Current overseas nursing licence
- Evidence of professional registration status
- Employment certificates
- Clinical experience records
- Specialty certificates
- Continuing professional education records
- Documents relating to previous professional practice
- Health documentation where required
- Criminal-record documentation where required
Foreign documents may need authentication, consular legalization or certified translation depending on the procedure.
Do not assume that the diploma itself provides enough information. A regulator may need to understand the professional level and scope represented by the qualification.
Where is a Vietnamese practising licence issued?
The competent authority depends on the healthcare facility in which the professional will practise.
Under the current law, the Ministry of Health can issue, renew, reissue or adjust practising licences for regulated professionals working at healthcare facilities under its management.
Provincial health authorities handle licensing for professionals falling within their jurisdiction, while the Ministry of National Defence and Ministry of Public Security manage facilities under their respective systems.
For a foreign nurse applying for a normal private or civilian hospital position, the prospective employer should be able to identify which health authority handles the professional file.
This is another reason to involve the employer early rather than trying to complete every licensing step independently before knowing where you will work.
Do you need a work permit as well?
Usually, yes, unless you fall within a specific exemption.
Vietnam's current foreign-worker framework is governed by Decree 219/2025/ND-CP, which took effect on 7 August 2025.
The work-permit system is separate from the healthcare practising licence.
A nurse can therefore face two different questions:
- Are you legally qualified to perform professional nursing duties?
- Are you legally authorized as a foreign national to work for this employer in Vietnam?
Obtaining a professional licence does not automatically answer the second question.
The employer is normally central to the foreign-worker process because the employment position and the legal basis for hiring the foreign worker are part of the application framework.
Do not begin clinical duties on the assumption that a business visa, residence status or professional licence by itself authorizes employment.
What changed for foreign workers in 2025?
Vietnam replaced the previous principal foreign-worker framework with Decree 219/2025/ND-CP.
The decree regulates work permits, reissuance and extension of permits, work-permit exemptions and the employment of foreign nationals in Vietnam.
Foreign nurses planning a move should therefore be cautious with older internet guides based entirely on Decree 152/2020/ND-CP, because the current framework changed in 2025.
Hospitals recruiting international professionals should be working with the current rules, but candidates should still ask exactly what immigration and work-permit support the employer provides.
Can you start as a nurse while the licence is being processed?
Do not assume so.
Vietnamese law generally requires regulated healthcare practitioners to have the appropriate professional authorization before independently practising within that scope.
There are specific exceptions and supervised situations in healthcare law, but these should not be treated as a general way for an overseas nurse to begin ordinary clinical employment without licensing.
An employer might have a genuinely non-clinical role that uses a nurse's healthcare background without involving regulated nursing practice.
Examples could include:
- International patient coordination
- Healthcare administration
- Patient relations
- Medical tourism coordination
- Healthcare operations
- Clinical education roles that do not involve independent patient care
Whether a position is regulated depends on the actual duties, not simply the job title.
A role called "patient coordinator" should not quietly involve medication administration or other professional nursing tasks if the person is not authorised to perform them.
Where might foreign nurses find work?
The strongest opportunities are likely to be in healthcare organisations that already work extensively with international patients or foreign professionals.
In practice, that makes Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi the most obvious markets to investigate first because both have large private hospital sectors, international medical services and significant expatriate populations.
Da Nang also has a growing private healthcare and international resident market, although the overall number of large employers is smaller.
Instead of asking a hospital simply, "Do you hire foreigners?", ask more specifically:
"Do you currently employ foreign nurses in clinical positions under Vietnamese practising licences?"
That question distinguishes genuine foreign nursing employment from international administrative or customer-service roles.
International hospitals are not automatically easier
A hospital serving expatriates may value overseas nursing experience, English ability or additional languages.
However, an international brand does not create a parallel licensing system outside Vietnamese law.
Foreign candidates still need to satisfy the professional and employment rules applicable to their position.
International hospitals may actually have rigorous internal credentialing because they serve complex patients, insurers and international clients.
Employers may verify:
- Professional registration
- Employment history
- Clinical references
- Specialty experience
- Professional conduct history
- Language ability
- Training certificates
For someone unfamiliar with local healthcare, Sick in Vietnam? What to do and where to go to get better gives a useful overview of the different types of medical facilities operating in Vietnam.
Is English enough to get a nursing job?
English can be a major advantage, especially in international-patient services, but it is rarely the only professional skill that matters.
A hospital needs nurses who can work safely within the complete clinical team.
Depending on the role, valuable additional experience may include:
- Intensive care
- Emergency nursing
- Operating theatre nursing
- Oncology
- Pediatrics
- Maternity care
- Rehabilitation
- Infection prevention
- International accreditation environments
Additional languages can also be useful when the hospital serves patients from Korea, Japan, China, Europe or other regional markets.
Still, language ability does not replace professional licensing.
What about nurse salaries in Vietnam?
Salary should be assessed separately from licensing eligibility.
Vietnamese nursing salaries vary according to public or private employment, city, professional experience, specialty, shift work and the individual employer.
A foreign applicant should not assume that an international hospital will pay a Western nursing salary simply because the candidate was trained overseas.
When comparing an offer, look at the whole package:
- Base salary
- Shift and night-duty payments
- Overtime
- Housing or relocation support
- Private health insurance
- Work-permit support
- Professional licensing costs
- Flights or home-leave allowance where offered
- Tax treatment
An overseas nurse may sometimes be more commercially valuable in an international-facing position, but that does not establish a standard foreign-nurse salary.
Should you move to Vietnam before getting a job?
It is possible to be in Vietnam while researching opportunities, but relocating on the assumption that clinical licensing will be straightforward can be risky.
Before making an employment-dependent move, try to establish:
- Whether your foreign professional licence can be recognised
- What documents the competent health authority requires
- Whether you satisfy the current language arrangement
- Whether additional practice requirements apply
- Whether the hospital has previously employed foreign nurses
- Whether the employer will sponsor the required foreign-worker process
Recovering university curricula, professional-status letters and legalized documents from another country after moving can delay an application significantly.
A practical pathway for a foreign nurse
A sensible sequence is:
- Keep your home-country nursing licence current. Do not let it expire while planning the move if it may be needed for recognition.
- Collect detailed qualification records. Obtain your diploma, transcript, curriculum and evidence of clinical training.
- Identify potential Vietnamese employers. Focus on hospitals and healthcare organisations that genuinely employ international clinical staff.
- Ask which professional licensing route applies to your credentials. Foreign licence recognition can materially change the process.
- Clarify the language requirement. Determine whether you need demonstrated Vietnamese proficiency or an approved interpreter arrangement for the proposed scope of practice.
- Complete the professional licensing process through the competent health authority.
- Complete the foreign-worker process with the employer under the current rules.
- Start clinical work only once the required professional and employment authorizations are in place.
The exact order can overlap because an employer may assist with several stages.
What should you ask a hospital before accepting an offer?
Before signing a contract or relocating, ask:
- Have you previously employed foreign registered nurses?
- Which authority will handle my practising licence?
- Can my current foreign nursing licence be submitted for recognition?
- Who handles translations and legalization of documents?
- What language will I use with patients and staff?
- Is an interpreter arrangement relevant to this position?
- Who pays licensing and work-permit costs?
- Does employment begin only after both approvals are complete?
- What clinical scope will I actually have?
- What happens if my professional licence is delayed or refused?
A clear employer should be able to distinguish professional licensing from immigration paperwork.
Working in Vietnam is different from treating foreign patients temporarily
Vietnamese law contains specific exceptions for foreign healthcare professionals participating in humanitarian medical programmes, medical training involving clinical practice or professional technical transfer.
Those exceptions should not be confused with ordinary long-term hospital employment.
A foreign nurse joining a short approved clinical programme under an institutional arrangement may therefore be operating under a different legal framework from a nurse moving permanently to Vietnam for a salaried hospital position.
Always confirm which framework applies to the actual work being proposed.
What to remember
Foreign nurses can potentially practise clinically in Vietnam, but foreign registration does not simply transfer automatically.
Nursing is a regulated professional title under Vietnam's Law on Medical Examination and Treatment. A foreign nurse needs the appropriate professional authorization, must meet the applicable language rules and must separately comply with Vietnam's foreign-worker requirements.
A valid overseas practising licence may qualify for recognition in Vietnam under certain conditions, which can simplify the professional pathway. During the current transition period, nurse applicants through the end of 2027 are not subject to the new competency-assessment requirement introduced by the 2023 law, although the other licensing conditions still apply.
For someone seriously considering the move, the most useful first step is not sending dozens of generic job applications. Contact prospective hospitals and the relevant Vietnamese health authority with your exact qualification and current nursing licence, then establish which licensing route applies before committing to relocation.
Frequently Asked Questions
The questions below cover common searches about working as a foreign nurse in Vietnam.
Can a foreigner work as a nurse in Vietnam?
Yes. Vietnam's healthcare law provides a professional licensing framework that includes foreign practitioners. However, an overseas nursing qualification does not automatically authorize clinical nursing practice in Vietnam.
Does Vietnam recognise foreign nursing licences?
Foreign practising licences can be considered for recognition when the conditions in Vietnam's Law on Medical Examination and Treatment are satisfied. Recognition is not automatic for every country or licensing authority.
Do foreign nurses need to speak Vietnamese?
Vietnamese is the standard language of healthcare, but the law provides specific language arrangements for foreign practitioners, including use of another registered language in certain situations. Current procedures can also involve qualified medical interpreters. Employers may still require Vietnamese for practical clinical communication.
Do foreign nurses need a competency exam in Vietnam?
The 2023 Law on Medical Examination and Treatment provides a transition period under which applicants for nurse and midwife licences from 1 January 2024 through 31 December 2027 are not required to undergo the new professional competency assessment. Other licensing requirements still apply.
Does a foreign nurse need a Vietnamese work permit?
Professional healthcare licensing and authorization to work as a foreign national are separate. Foreign nurses generally need to comply with the work-permit framework under Decree 219/2025/ND-CP unless a specific exemption applies.
Can I work in an international hospital without a Vietnamese nursing licence?
An international hospital does not create an exemption from professional regulation. A genuinely non-clinical position may have different requirements, but performing regulated nursing duties requires the appropriate professional authorization.
Sources
Writer
Tan Nguyen
Medical writer for Vietnam Clinic. MD, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City.
