Does Vietnam have a digital nomad visa?

Short answer: not in the simple sense that Thailand, Spain and Portugal do. The longer answer is more useful — here is what Vietnam actually offers, what is in policy discussion, and what remote workers should verify.

Published 2026-05-21· 6 min read· Vietnam Knowledge

Last reviewed: 21 May 2026Report outdated info

Short answer

No — Vietnam does not have a general-purpose digital nomad visa equivalent to Thailand's DTV, Spain's nomad visa, or Portugal's D7 / D8, as of the last-reviewed date below.

What Vietnam has:

Tourist e-visa up to 90 days (single or multiple entry).
Visa-free entry 15–45 days for citizens of specific countries.
Special visa-exemption categories (sometimes labelled UĐ1 / UĐ2) for invited specialists — not a general remote-worker route.
Work permit + TRC for foreigners with a Vietnamese employer.
Investor visa (DT1–DT4) for foreigners owning a Vietnamese company.
Marriage visa (TT) for spouses of Vietnamese citizens.

For a typical foreign remote worker employed by a foreign company, none of those is a perfect fit.

Why this question gets confused

Two reasons.

1. Thailand's DTV. Thailand launched the Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) in 2024 — five-year multi-entry, designed for remote workers and digital nomads. It is well-publicised. Articles online sometimes describe a "Vietnamese DTV" with similar characteristics. That is a mix-up. Vietnam did not launch the same visa.

2. Talent-visa discussion. Vietnamese authorities have discussed and partially introduced special visa-exemption categories for high-skill specialists, scientists and individuals making outstanding contributions to Vietnam. These are real categories — but they are narrow: invited specialists, recognised talent, not general remote workers. The Vietnamese terms UĐ1 / UĐ2 or miễn thị thực đặc biệt sometimes appear in policy documents.

The combination of these two threads has produced a lot of incorrect online content claiming "Vietnam has a 5-year digital talent visa for remote workers." We have not been able to corroborate this against official Vietnamese sources. Treat such claims as unverified.

What does this mean for an actual remote worker?

If you are, say, a London-based product designer employed by a Berlin company and you want to live in Đà Nẵng for six months, your options are:

Plan	How
Quick visit	E-visa, 90 days max per entry.
Six-to-twelve months	Cycle e-visa entries (exit + re-enter) or qualify for one of the formal long-stay categories below.
Long stay	Marry a Vietnamese citizen (TT), be hired by a Vietnamese company (LD work permit), or set up + capitalise a Vietnamese company (DT investor visa).
High-skill specialist route	If you are an invited specialist or have outstanding qualifications in a Vietnamese priority sector, look into UĐ1 / UĐ2 visa-exemption categories — verify eligibility with the Vietnamese embassy or a qualified agent.

The honest middle ground for six-to-twelve months is the e-visa cycle. Many remote workers do this. It works. It is a legal grey zone, because the e-visa is technically a tourist/business-meetings visa. Vietnam has historically been relaxed about it; that is not the same as formal authorisation to work.

What you must verify

Your nationality's current visa-free / e-visa status at evisa.gov.vn.
Tax residency consequences if you spend 183+ days in Vietnam in any 12-month rolling period.
Whether your specific situation fits a special visa exemption by contacting the Vietnamese embassy in your country.
Insurance — many policies exclude motorbike riding and long-stay; check the small print.

Tax warning

Spending 183+ days in Vietnam in any 12-month rolling period makes you a Vietnamese tax resident with worldwide-income reporting obligations. This applies regardless of which visa class you are on. See Vietnam tax residency.

What we wrote before — and corrected

An earlier version of this content described a "Vietnamese DTV / 5-year Digital Talent Visa" as a settled fact. That was incorrect; it conflated Thailand's DTV with Vietnam's situation. We rewrote the long-form page at /visa/dtv-five-year-visa and added this shorter reality-check page as the canonical answer to the question.

Official sources

evisa.gov.vn — for short-stay applications.
Vietnam Immigration Department.
Your country's Vietnamese embassy — the authoritative answer for your specific case.