DT Investor Visa and Temporary Residence Card (Vietnam): Requirements
Vietnam residence route
DT Investor Visa and Temporary Residence Card
The only realistic long-term route for a foreigner without a Vietnamese family tie: investing in and registering a Vietnamese company.
- Income threshold
- No income test
- Minimum age
- None
- Validity
- One to ten years depending on the investment tier, issued as a temporary residence card.
- Permanent residence
- Permanent residence in Vietnam is available in principle after three years of temporary residence but is granted rarely and is not a realistic plan.
- Processing
- 3 to 6 months
The financial test in detail
No income test. The DT categories are tiered by the size of the capital contribution, running from modest amounts for the shortest validity up to very substantial investments for the longest. Only the higher tiers produce a multi-year temporary residence card.
What the status gives you
- Renewal
- Renewable while the investment is maintained and the company remains in good standing.
- Work rights
- Within the business you have invested in.
- How much time you must spend there
- No formal minimum, but the company must be genuinely operating.
- Citizenship
- Effectively unavailable.
- Government fees
- Visa: 155 USD. Residence permit: 145 USD.
Your document checklist for this route
8 documents in total, of which 2 need authentication: 1 through the U.S. Department of State and 1 through a Secretary of State. All authenticated documents also need certified translation into Vietnamese.
- U.S. passport Identity and the physical book the visa is placed in. Lead time: Routine renewal takes weeks; check current published times
- Passport-format photographs Every application. Specifications differ by country and are enforced strictly. Lead time: Same day
- National long-stay visa application form The core filing. Almost always country-specific and often only valid if printed from the consulate portal. Lead time: Same day
- FBI Identity History Summary (background check) U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications (federal) Apostille Almost every retirement and long-stay residence visa requires a national-level police clearance. For Americans that means the FBI Identity History Summary, not a local police letter, because consulates want a federal record covering all 50 states. Lead time: 1 to 10 days to obtain, then federal authentication
- Certified birth certificate Secretary of State for the issuing state Apostille Proves identity, nationality and, where relevant, family relationships for dependants. Lead time: 3 to 20 days depending on state
- Bank and brokerage statements Proof of savings or liquid assets, used either instead of income or alongside it. Lead time: 1 to 10 days
- Private international health insurance certificate Nearly universal. Schengen countries usually require a minimum of EUR 30,000 of coverage valid across the zone; other countries set their own floor. Lead time: 1 to 3 days
- Certified translation of the authenticated set Non-English-speaking destinations require the document and its apostille translated by a translator they recognise. Lead time: 2 to 7 days
Why applications on this route fail
- This is a business route, not a retirement route. It comes with Vietnamese accounting, tax filing and corporate compliance obligations that continue for as long as you hold it.
- Investment tiers have changed and the lower tiers no longer produce long residence cards.
Apply here
- Vietnam Immigration Department Visa categories and temporary residence cards.
- 1 Obtain the record Order certified copies from the issuing authority. Do not use photocopies, scans or hospital souvenir certificates.
- 2 Notarise if required Letters and affidavits need a notary acknowledgement before any state can authenticate them. Government-issued vital records do not.
- 3 County clerk (some states) A handful of states require the county clerk to certify the notary commission before the Secretary of State will act.
- 4 Authenticate State-issued documents go to the Secretary of State of the issuing state. Federal documents go to the U.S. Department of State Office of Authentications.
- 5 Apostille or legalise Hague Convention destination: an apostille finishes the chain. Non-Hague destination: the document then goes to that country embassy or consulate for legalisation. For Vietnam the apostille ends the chain.
- 6 Certified translation Translate the document together with its apostille. Translating first means paying twice.
- 7 File with the consulate Book the appointment at the consulate with jurisdiction over your state of residence and bring originals plus copies.
The expensive mistake: translating before the document is authenticated. The apostille or legalisation certificate is itself part of what the receiving government reads, so it has to be inside the translation. Do it the other way round and you pay for the same translation twice.
DT Investor Visa and Temporary Residence Card: common questions
How much income do I need for the DT Investor Visa and Temporary Residence Card?
There is no published income test on this route. No income test. The DT categories are tiered by the size of the capital contribution, running from modest amounts for the shortest validity up to very substantial investments for the longest. Only the higher tiers produce a multi-year temporary residence card.
Can I work on this visa?
Within the business you have invested in. This is the field applicants most often misread, and in several countries remote work for a U.S. employer counts as work performed locally.
What documents need an apostille?
For this route we count 2 documents needing authentication: 1 federal, through the U.S. Department of State, and 1 state-issued, through the Secretary of State of the issuing state. Vietnam is a Hague Convention country, so an apostille completes the chain.
How long does it take?
3 to 6 months
How much time must I spend in the country?
No formal minimum, but the company must be genuinely operating.
Does it lead to permanent residence?
Permanent residence: Permanent residence in Vietnam is available in principle after three years of temporary residence but is granted rarely and is not a realistic plan.. Citizenship: Effectively unavailable..
Verified Sep 7, 2026
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This resource is provided free by Federal Apostille as an educational tool. It is not legal, tax, immigration or financial advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by using it. Immigration rules, income thresholds, fees and processing times change frequently and often without notice, and consulates apply them differently. Always confirm current requirements with the official government source and the specific consulate that has jurisdiction over your U.S. state of residence before you act. Every figure on this site carries the date we last verified it and a link to the primary source.
