Where can Vietnamese citizens move to?
Ranked by what the move actually takes on a Vietnamese passport specifically, not in general. Every rating below comes from the same verified data as the full guide it links to.
You keep your Vietnamese passport if you naturalise in 9 of these 12. Naturalising in Japan, the Netherlands and Spain would mean giving it up.
Open to you in Australia and New Zealand. Usually age-capped, so it closes quietly.
Easiest to keep driving on in Costa Rica, Portugal and Thailand. Each guide has the exact terms. Elsewhere expect more steps, often a full local test.
An apostille is accepted in 11 of these 12. Thailand still needs the full consular legalisation chain, so start earlier.
Straightforward 1 of 12
Moderate 10 of 12
- AustraliaVietnamese nationals arrive through a long-established student-to-skilled-visa pipeline and family reunion, building on one of Australia’s oldest and largest refugee-origin communities.Moderate
- CanadaVietnam ranks around seventeenth for permanent residents, mainly through study permits and provincial nominee streams.Moderate
- IrelandVietnamese nationals come to Ireland mainly through study (often at further-education and university level) with a smaller employment-permit cohort in food and hospitality.Moderate
- ItalyVietnamese nationals mostly arrive through the Decreto Flussi work-permit quota in manufacturing and food processing, or as students on visas that convert into post-study work permits.Moderate
- JapanThe dominant route is Technical Intern Training or the Specified Skilled Worker visa in construction, manufacturing, and caregiving.Moderate
- New ZealandVietnamese migration to NZ runs mainly through international study leading to post-study work and Skilled Migrant Category residence, plus a growing working-holiday stream.Moderate
- PortugalVietnamese nationals arrive in very small numbers, mostly through work visas and family links; this is one of the least-travelled corridors on this list.Moderate
- SpainA student-visa-to-work pathway and family reunification through the existing Vietnamese community are most common; direct work visas require employer sponsorship.Moderate
- ThailandAs fellow ASEAN neighbors, Vietnamese nationals move to Thailand mainly through Thai-employer work permits in manufacturing, food service and trade, alongside a growing DTV freelance/remote-work segment.Moderate
- United StatesFamily-based sponsorship remains the dominant channel (a legacy of post-1975 refugee resettlement networks), alongside a smaller but growing F-1 student-to-H-1B pipeline.Moderate
Complex 1 of 12
Ratings weigh entry class, working-holiday access, licence exchange, dual citizenship and document legalisation. Each is checked against the issuing government. Open any destination for the full guide written for Vietnamese citizens.