Vietnam has been quietly building one of Southeast Asia’s most ambitious digital government systems. The good news is that it is genuinely getting more connected and more convenient. The less obvious news is that if you are not plugged in to the right platforms, things that should be straightforward can get stuck very quickly.
This is the first of a two-part guide to Vietnam’s essential government portals. We cover the four platforms that form the personal and compliance backbone of life here: VNeID, Cong Dich Vu Cong (Public Services Portal), the immigration portals, and VssID.
1. VNeID: Your Digital Identity in Vietnam
What it is and who runs it
VNeID is Vietnam’s national electronic identification app, developed and managed by the Ministry of Public Security. It launched for Vietnamese citizens in 2022 and was extended to foreign residents holding valid residence cards under Decree 69/2024/ND-CP, which took effect on July 1, 2024, with the nationwide Level 2 rollout for foreigners starting on July 1, 2025. Think of it as your digital identity hub: a single app that stores your ID documents, authenticates you for government services, and increasingly replaces the need to physically visit any government office.
We have written a full breakdown of VNeID in an earlier piece, including how it works, how to register, and what it means for your daily life in Vietnam. You can read it here: Vietnam’s VNeID Explained. This section picks up the most important points for individuals and businesses navigating the system in 2026.
Why you need it
For daily life, the practical uses are already significant. VNeID stores digital versions of your ID card, driver’s license, vehicle registration, health insurance card, social insurance record, and passport. From December 2025, Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air began accepting VNeID for domestic flight check-in without physical documents. Banks require VNeID-linked biometric verification for account maintenance. Criminal record certificate requests, residence registration, and driver’s license renewals can all be initiated through the app, with results returned electronically.
For businesses with foreign staff or foreign legal representatives, there is an additional layer. The company’s corporate e-ID, required to access the National Public Service Portal for work permits, tax filings, and licensing, can only be registered once the legal representative holds a personal Level 2 VNeID. If your company’s director is a foreign national, this becomes a business-critical first step before almost anything else.
Who is eligible and how to register
Foreign nationals aged 6 and above who hold a valid Temporary Residence Card (TRC) or Permanent Residence Card are eligible to register for Level 1 and Level 2 VNeID accounts. Foreigners on short-term visas, e-visas, or tourist visas are not eligible. This changes on September 28, 2026, when Decree 320/2026/ND-CP extends electronic identification accounts to foreigners who have entered or reside in Vietnam lawfully and stops dividing foreigners’ accounts into levels. Level 1 can be registered through the app directly. Level 2 requires an in-person visit to the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security or any provincial police immigration office, for biometric capture and form completion. Processing takes three to seven working days. The app is available on iOS and Android in both English and Vietnamese. Registration is free.
After the initial registration window launched in July 2025, all new TRC holders are now expected to register for VNeID shortly after receiving their card as part of standard procedure.
2. Cong Dich Vu Cong: The Main Window for Official Procedures
What it is and who runs it
Cong Dich Vu Cong Quoc Gia, accessible at dichvucong.gov.vn, is Vietnam’s National Public Service Portal. Under Decree 310/2026/ND-CP, in force since August 5, 2026, it is built, managed, and operated by the Ministry of Public Security, and it serves as the centralized platform for administrative procedures across ministries and provinces. Before June 2025, you might have had to deal with separate provincial portals, a Ministry of Labor portal, a tax portal, an immigration portal, all with different logins and different submission formats. From June 27, 2025, most of those were brought together in this single system.
The portal handles thousands of procedures: work permit applications and renewals, business licensing, social insurance registration, immigration paperwork, tax declarations, criminal record certificate requests (Phieu Ly Lich Tu Phap), health insurance registration, land administration, and much more. It is now the main national gateway, although some procedures still run on dedicated portals, such as dichvucong.bocongan.gov.vn for temporary residence cards, evisa.gov.vn for e-visas, and tbltkbtt.bocongan.gov.vn for foreigners’ temporary residence declarations.
Who needs it, and when
If you are a business operating in Vietnam, this portal is where your company’s formal administrative life happens. Work permit submissions for foreign employees, which as of August 2025 must go through this system under the latest labor decree, are a regular use case. So are business license updates, corporate tax declarations, and the issuance of criminal record certificates that most work permit applications require.
For individuals, the portal is relevant for tasks like residence registration, applying for a police clearance certificate, and managing personal public service requests that used to require a trip to a government office. If you have a VNeID account, you already have your login.
Eligibility and how to access
Access for individuals is through your personal VNeID account. For companies, access can be through a USB token or a corporate e-ID, which is registered through VNeID by the company’s legal representative.
3. Vietnam Immigration Portals: Entry, Residence, and Everything In Between
What it is and who runs it
Matters related to legally entering, staying, and residing in Vietnam are handled by the Immigration Department under the Ministry of Public Security, across a few official portals. The department’s site at immigration.gov.vn now only shows a notice directing e-visa users to evisa.gov.vn and thithucdientu.gov.vn. Temporary residence card applications are filed by the sponsor, either online through dichvucong.gov.vn or dichvucong.bocongan.gov.vn, or in person at the provincial police immigration office.
For the e-visa specifically, applications go through evisa.gov.vn or thithucdientu.gov.vn, which replaced evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn on November 11, 2024. Both are accessible in English and Vietnamese, with an FAQ section and a clear application interface.
Who needs it, and when
If you are entering Vietnam, your first encounter with this system is likely the e-visa application. Vietnam’s e-visa allows up to 90 days of stay with single or multiple entry and is available to citizens of all countries and territories. The legal processing limit is three working days, and the fee is USD 25 for single entry and USD 50 for multiple entry.
For expats already living in Vietnam, temporary residence declaration is one of those requirements that catches people off guard. Under Circular 87/2026/TT-BCA, in force since July 24, 2026, the accommodation establishment where you stay declares your temporary residence on the Ministry of Public Security system at tbltkbtt.bocongan.gov.vn as soon as you arrive. If the paper form NA17 is used instead, it must reach the commune police within 12 hours, or 24 hours in remote areas. Fines for non-compliance range from VND 500,000 to VND 5,000,000, and repeated violations can affect future visa extensions. If you want a full breakdown of how Vietnam’s residence framework works, including the differences between short-term stay, temporary residence, and permanent residence, and who is responsible for each, we have covered it here: Staying in Vietnam: Here Is What You Need to Know About Short-Term Stay, Temporary Residence, and Permanent Residence.
For foreign investors and business owners, the TRC application is filed through the sponsor channels described above. The TRC is the document most long-term expats eventually aim for because it replaces the need for ongoing visa management. It is tied to your work permit or investment status, and once you have it, the administrative cycle of visa renewals largely disappears.
Eligibility and how to access
For the e-visa: citizens of all nationalities are eligible, except for a small list of restricted cases. Apply at evisa.gov.vn with a valid passport, a passport-sized photo, and a credit or debit card for the application fee.
For the TRC: eligibility depends on your visa category. LD2 work visa holders with a work permit valid for 12 months or more are generally eligible, as are DT1, DT2, and DT3 investment visa holders. The application requires a valid passport with at least 13 months of remaining validity, the work permit or investment license, and documentation from your sponsoring organization. The official processing time is five working days from a complete application.
Most of these immigration procedures can be handled by a licensed agency on your behalf, for a service fee. If you would rather avoid working through the document checklist yourself, especially in Vietnamese, that is often the faster and far less stressful route.
4. VssID: Your Digital Social Insurance Dashboard
What it is and who runs it
VssID is the official mobile app and web portal of Vietnam Social Security (VSS), available on iOS and Android. It is the digital tool for accessing and managing your social insurance (SI), health insurance (HI), and unemployment insurance (UI) records. Think of it as your personal window into the social security system, a place where you can see exactly what has been contributed on your behalf, verify your health insurance status, and access benefits information without needing to walk into a VSS office.
Who needs it, and when
Anyone who is enrolled in Vietnam’s social insurance system needs this app. That includes Vietnamese employees, foreign employees on qualifying labor contracts, and employers who need to track the contribution status of their workforce.
For foreign employees specifically: from July 1, 2025, under the Social Insurance Law 2024, foreign workers on fixed-term labor contracts of 12 months or more are required to participate in compulsory social insurance, unless they fall under a specific exemption such as being an intra-company transferee or having reached retirement age. If you are working legally in Vietnam under a contract of that length, your employer is deducting social insurance from your pay each month, and VssID is where you verify that the record matches what you expect.
A practical reason this matters: when you eventually leave Vietnam, or when your contract ends, you are entitled to a lump-sum withdrawal of your accumulated social insurance contributions. The amount is calculated based on your contribution history as recorded in the system. Gaps or errors in that record directly reduce what you can claim back. Checking VssID periodically, especially at the start of a new job, is one of the best ways to catch discrepancies before they become problems.
For employers and HR teams, VssID gives real-time visibility into employee contribution records, which is useful both for payroll audits and for supporting employees who need to access benefits like sick leave or maternity coverage.
How to access and key features
Download VssID on iOS or Android, then log in using your VNeID account. Since late 2023, VssID integrated VNeID login, so there is no need to maintain separate credentials. Once inside, you can review your full contribution history for SI, HI, and UI; access your digital health insurance card, as paper cards stopped being the default from June 1, 2025; look up nearby social insurance offices and authorized healthcare facilities; and initiate certain online procedures directly.
For a detailed guide to how Vietnam’s social insurance system works, including contribution rates, what foreign workers can claim, and how to process a lump-sum withdrawal, see our dedicated article: Vietnam Social Insurance (BHXH) in 2026: Everything You Should Know Before It Surprises You.
One concept worth knowing about: Bao Hiem Xa Hoi Tu Nguyen, or Voluntary Social Insurance, is a separate scheme open to Vietnamese nationals who are not covered by compulsory social insurance, such as freelancers and self-employed workers. Under the 2024 reforms, the voluntary scheme was expanded to include maternity benefits for the first time, and the minimum contribution period for pension eligibility was reduced from 20 years to 15 years. Currently, this scheme is available only to Vietnamese nationals. Foreign residents cannot participate in the voluntary scheme, though they may be covered under the compulsory scheme based on their employment status.
Where This Leaves You
These four platforms are not standalone tools. VNeID is the authentication backbone for Cong Dich Vu Cong, and both VssID and an increasing number of immigration services have integrated VNeID login, making it the common identity layer across the system. The data behind these platforms is increasingly shared in real time. What this means in practice is that the whole system moves with you as one connected layer, provided you are set up on it correctly.
Getting VNeID right is the starting point. Everything downstream follows from there.
The platforms are navigable once you understand the landscape, but the compliance requirements behind them, the document lists, the deadlines, the language barriers, are a different layer of challenge.
That is where Easytiger connects you with verified specialists who know this system from the inside and can handle the details that matter.
