In Vietnam, control over foreigners will be tightened starting September 15
No new obligations are being introduced for foreigners; however, government agencies will more actively exchange data on visas, residence registration, work, study, and other grounds for staying in the country.
Starting September 15, 2026, Decree No. 286/2026/NĐ-CP comes into force in Vietnam, changing the mechanism of interaction between government bodies in monitoring foreign citizens.
The main innovation is closer digital information exchange between agencies. Migration authorities will be able to obtain and compare more quickly information on a foreigner’s entry and exit, visa, temporary or permanent residence, registration at place of stay, work permit, studies, investment activities, and other lawful grounds for being in Vietnam.
In practice, this means that government bodies will find it easier to detect discrepancies between data from different systems. For example, they will be able to more quickly verify whether a foreigner’s actual activities correspond to the type of visa and the grounds for their stay, as well as to information about work or place of residence.
At the same time, the decree does not introduce new visas, additional documents, or a separate registration procedure for foreigners. For those who are in the country legally and comply with migration requirements, nothing fundamentally changes.
At the same time, digitalization should also simplify matters for foreigners themselves: agencies will need to request less information that is already available in government databases, which could potentially allow administrative procedures to be processed more quickly.
Thus, from September 15, migration rules are not becoming new — enforcement of compliance with them is becoming more effective.
