A temporary residence card, thẻ tạm trú or TRC, is a plastic card from the immigration office that replaces your visa for up to 2, 3, 5 or 10 years. You get one if you work in Vietnam with a work permit, invest here, study here, or are the close family of a Vietnamese citizen or of another card holder. A tourist visa or e-visa does not qualify. Your sponsor files the application: an employer, your company, or a Vietnamese spouse. It takes 5 working days and costs $145 to $165. The step people trip on is the address: the immigration office checks that your current home is registered for tạm trú, and that registration is your landlord's job. This is a description of practice, not legal advice; before filing, check with your sponsor or the immigration office.

A card, a visa and tạm trú are three different things

A visa is the right to enter and stay for a set time. The card is a longer residence document issued inside Vietnam, and by law it works as a visa: while it is valid you leave and come back without applying again.

Tạm trú, the temporary residence declaration, is something else. It is a record of where you sleep, filed by whoever houses you each time you move in, card or no card. The two get mixed up because the words are almost the same in Vietnamese. How the declaration works, and what to ask your landlord for, is in our guide to temporary residence registration.

Who can get a card

The card follows the visa you hold. The law lists the visa types that can be turned into a card, and each type has its own maximum term. The card always ends at least 30 days before your passport expires.

Visa type Who it is for Card for up to
LĐ1, LĐ2 Employees with a work permit or a confirmed exemption 2 years
ĐT1 Investors with the largest investments 10 years
ĐT2 Investors, middle tier 5 years
ĐT3 Investors, smaller tier 3 years
UĐ1, UĐ2 High-skilled digital technology workers and other preferential cases, and their spouse and children (from 01.07.2026) 10 years
TT Spouse or child under 18 of the holders above; parent, spouse or child of a Vietnamese citizen 3 years
DH Students and trainees 5 years
NN1, NN2 Heads of representative offices and branches of foreign companies and organisations 3 years
LS Foreign lawyers licensed in Vietnam 5 years
PV1 Resident foreign press 2 years

Diplomats and officials have their own types (NG3, LV1, LV2). Tourists, e-visa holders and visa-exempt visitors get a stamp for their stay at the border, not a card, and there is no digital nomad or retirement visa in Vietnam as of 2026.

If you are on an e-visa now

The card cannot be issued on a tourist visa or an e-visa. Your sponsor first gets you a visa of the right type, for example LĐ once the work permit is ready, or TT if you are married to a Vietnamese citizen. Whether this can be done without leaving the country depends on your case, so ask the sponsor or the immigration office before booking a visa run.

A practical point for renters: the 90-day e-visa is enough to sign a lease and move in. Many people rent first, get the work permit, and apply for the card from their new address.

How to apply: documents, time, fee

The application is filed by your sponsor, not by you.

  1. Sponsor. A company or organisation files form NA6, a private person such as a Vietnamese spouse files form NA7.
  2. Documents. Your passport; form NA8 with your details; the sponsor's form NA6 or NA7; proof that you qualify, such as the work permit, the investment certificate or the marriage certificate; two photos 2×3 cm.
  3. Where. The immigration office of the city police where the sponsor is registered, or online through the national public service portal or the Ministry of Public Security portal, with documents certified digitally and the passport sent by post.
  4. Time. 5 working days from a complete file. Preparing the work permit or translations takes longer than the card itself.
  5. Fee. Up to 2 years $145, over 2 to 5 years $155, over 5 to 10 years $165, under Circular 25/2021/TT-BTC as amended. Paid in dollars or in dong at the bank rate.

The official procedure, with the forms and the legal basis, is on the Ministry of Public Security portal (procedure 1.003460).

A card or visa runs: what you gain

Pros of the card

  • No visa runs or extensions for 2 to 10 years.
  • You leave and come back on the card while it is valid.
  • One fee of $145-165 instead of a new visa every few months.
  • A long lease and a fixed address become easier to arrange around one document.

Cons of the card

  • You need a sponsor and a qualifying status: work, investment, study or family.
  • The card is tied to that status. A new employer or a new work permit usually means a new card.
  • The paperwork behind it, the work permit above all, takes weeks.
  • Every move still needs a new tạm trú declaration at the new address.

The address step in Da Nang

When the sponsor files, the immigration office looks at where you live. If your apartment has no tạm trú record, the application stalls or you are sent to register first. Since July 2026 the landlord declares a foreigner online at the moment you arrive, or on paper within 12 hours (Circular 87/2026/TT-BCA); the fine for not doing it falls on the landlord, 3 to 5 million dong.

So before your sponsor applies, make sure the declaration for your current flat exists. Ask the owner for the confirmation, or check it as described in the registration guide. When you rent through us, we register tạm trú for you, so the record is in place when the card application goes in.

After you get the card

The card replaces the visa, so you travel on it until it expires. Each time you change apartment, the new landlord files a new tạm trú declaration with the card details. When the term ends, the sponsor applies again; an expired card can be renewed on the same grounds.

If you are moving with a family, the spouse and children usually get TT cards on your status. Schools, areas and family apartments are covered in Da Nang with kids; how a lease and deposit work here is in lease and deposit in Vietnam.