Dependent Visas: Spouses and Children of Long-Stay Foreigners

When you obtain a long-stay Vietnamese visa — a work permit + LD, investor DT visa, marriage TT visa, or student DH visa — your spouse and minor children can apply for dependent visas to accompany you. These are issued in the TT class, run on a parallel cycle to the primary visa, and can be converted into a TRC for residency benefits.

Rules current as of 2026-05-17. Confirm with the relevant Vietnamese embassy or the Provincial Immigration Department.

Who qualifies as a dependent

• Legal spouse of the primary visa holder (marriage must be legally recognised — Vietnamese or apostilled-foreign marriage certificate)
• Minor children under 18 — biological, adopted, or step-children with documented legal relationship
• Parents in some cases — for primary holders with substantial visa status (DT1, certain TRC categories); narrower than spouse/child

Same-sex spouses are a grey area in Vietnam: same-sex marriage is not legally recognised, so a foreign-issued same-sex marriage certificate may not be accepted as the basis for a TT dependent visa. Some same-sex couples manage by having each partner hold their own primary long-stay visa (work permit, investor, student) rather than relying on dependent status. Confirm individually before relying on this.

Documents for the dependent visa

For children's birth certificates: both parents' names must appear; single-parent or step-parent cases require additional documentation (custody order, deceased-parent certificate, etc.).

Validity

The dependent visa cannot exceed the primary holder's visa duration. Common scenarios:

When the primary visa is renewed, dependent visas are renewed in parallel — usually as a single dossier.

Process

1. Primary holder has their long-stay visa or TRC in place.
2. Dependent's documents (marriage cert, birth certs) are apostilled in the home country, translated and notarised in Vietnam if not already in Vietnamese.
3. Apply for the dependent visa:
   • From outside Vietnam: at a Vietnamese embassy or consulate.
   • From inside Vietnam: at the Provincial Immigration Department (PA61 HCMC, PA72 Hanoi).
4. For long-term stays, apply for the dependent's TRC (TRC) — runs on the same cycle as the primary's TRC.

Cost

• Dependent visa fee: ~$25–155 each, depending on duration
• TRC for dependent: $145–175 each, depending on duration
• Apostille / legalisation: $20–200 per document in home country
• Vietnamese translation/notarisation: ~$30–80 per document
• Immigration agent (optional): $200–800 per dependent if you use one

For a family of four (two adults, two children), realistic total professional fees can run $2,000–5,000 on top of government fees for the first cycle. Renewals are cheaper.

What the dependent visa lets the dependent do

• Reside in Vietnam for the validity period
• Multiple entry / exit during validity
• Enrol children in school — international schools generally accept dependent TT-class TRC as proof of residency
• Spouse access to non-work activities — gym memberships, banking, leases, etc.

What it does not do

• Authorise the spouse to take paid employment in Vietnam. For that, the spouse needs their own work permit sponsored by a Vietnamese employer, or their own investor or marriage visa.
• Confer Vietnamese tax residency independently — that's based on the 183-day rule for each individual (tax residency).
• Provide automatic permanent residency — long-term residency follows the primary's pathway.

Children's school enrolment

International schools in HCMC, Hanoi, Đà NẵngĐà Nẵng (Da Nang)dah nangMajor coastal city in central Vietnam, known for its beaches, the Marble Mountains, and modern infrastructure., and Hội An typically require:

• Dependent's TRC (or at minimum, valid TT visa)
• Birth certificate (apostilled, translated)
• Previous school transcripts (apostilled if from non-English-speaking country)
• Vaccination record
• Parents' visas/TRCs

Application timing is usually 3–6 months before the school year. International schools in HCMC and Hanoi run August/September starts; some international schools follow the British academic calendar.

When the spouse should consider their own primary visa instead

If your spouse:

• Plans to work in Vietnam → their own work permit
• Is married to a Vietnamese citizen (rather than to you) → marriage visa
• Has significant business investment → investor visa
• Is enrolling in study → student DH visa

The dependent route is for spouses and children who are not themselves taking long-term Vietnamese employment.

Common pitfalls

• Birth certificate without both parents' names. Some US states and other jurisdictions issue short-form birth certificates that omit one parent. Get the long-form certificate and apostille that one.
• Marriage registered abroad but not recognised in Vietnam. The marriage certificate should be apostilled AND registered ("note ghi chú kết hôn") at the Vietnamese Department of Justice for clean visa applications.
• Children turning 18 during a dependent visa cycle. The dependent class no longer applies; the child needs to convert to their own visa class (commonly student or work permit).
• Address registration form NA17 missing. Same trap as for the primary holder.

What this does NOT let you do

• Take paid employment with a Vietnamese employer — a TT dependent visa grants residency only. The spouse needs their own work permit (and the underlying LD or other sponsored visa) before working legally; you may need to verify exact permit categories with the Provincial Immigration Department.
• Enrol in a Vietnamese university or language-school programme as a credited student — student status requires the dependent to hold their own DH student visa; the TT class does not cover this independently.
• Sponsor a third party for any visa — only the primary long-stay holder (the LD, DT, or marriage-visa holder) can act as the sponsoring basis; a TT dependent cannot chain-sponsor another person's visa.
• Remain in Vietnam if the primary holder's visa lapses or is revoked — the dependent visa's legal basis disappears if the primary status ends; overstay penalties apply from the next entry or renewal attempt.
• Access Vietnam's public healthcare or social-insurance system as a local contributor — entitlements tied to employment-based social insurance do not flow to dependents holding TT visas; private health cover is the practical route.
• Convert directly to permanent residency — long-term residency must follow the primary holder's own pathway; the TT class does not accumulate toward any independent permanent-residency count.

Refer to the digital nomad reality check or the retirement reality check where remote work or retirement comes up — Vietnam has no confirmed general route for either.

Verify before acting. Visa rules change. Confirm with the Vietnamese embassy in your country or evisa.gov.vn before relying on any specific limitation here.