Vietnam guide
Money in Vietnam, made unremarkable.
How residents move money in, open a local bank account, and read the tax-residency line, without guesswork.
Wise and Revolut carry most residents through the first six months in Vietnam: ATM withdrawals at close to mid-market FX plus the sending bank’s flat fee, one- to two-day transfers in from a home account, and in some setups a virtual VND balance that spends at QR-accepting merchants. A local bank account becomes necessary once salary or contract payments start arriving from a Vietnamese-registered entity, when direct debit or full QR acceptance matters, or once monthly transaction volume outgrows Wise’s limits and fees. Underneath both is a single line that changes everything once crossed: 183 days in Vietnam in a 12-month period, past which worldwide income, not just Vietnamese-source income, becomes potentially taxable here.
Moving money in
For most short-to-medium stays, the home-country-bank-to-Wise-to-spend path handles the bulk of it: a Wise debit card or virtual VND balance for daily spending, an ATM withdrawal from a Vietnamese bank when cash is needed. It is the fastest path and the one with the least paperwork.
Money can also move directly into a Vietnamese bank account by SWIFT wire, which typically clears in three to five business days and costs 15 to 50 USD in sending fees. Banks sometimes ask for proof of source of funds on larger incoming amounts; a lease agreement and a work contract usually satisfy that.
For income from an employer abroad, three patterns are common. Wise or Payoneer to a personal account is the simplest. An Employer of Record (Deel, Remote, Oyster, Rippling, and similar) contracts the worker as a local Vietnamese employee, pays in VND, withholds Vietnamese personal income tax, and issues a local payslip. Direct invoicing as a freelance contractor is legal but carries tax obligations on both sides worth checking with a qualified adviser. Income from a Vietnamese employer is paid into a Vietnamese bank account by default, with personal income tax and social and health insurance contributions withheld at source.
Opening a Vietnamese bank account
A Temporary Residence Card (TRC) is the cleanest path to a full account. Some banks will open a limited account, with reduced limits, on a passport, visa, and lease alone, but the long-stay account generally requires the TRC.
Banks that handle foreign residents reasonably well:
- Techcombank, English-friendly digital banking and the strongest mobile app among Vietnamese banks; the common first choice.
- Vietcombank, the largest ATM network countrywide, a less polished app.
- VPBank, newer services aimed specifically at expats.
- HSBC Vietnam, Standard Chartered Vietnam, UOB, foreign-bank branches with easier paperwork for higher-income clients, offset by minimum-balance requirements.
- Shinhan, KEB Hana, MUFG, aimed primarily at Korean and Japanese citizens, though some accept other nationalities.
Typical documents: a passport (original and copy), a visa or TRC (original and copy), a temporary residence registration receipt, a lease agreement, a work contract or other proof of source of funds for higher-tier accounts, a local phone number for the OTP, and a minimum opening deposit that varies by bank, from around 200,000 VND to a few million.
The process itself is usually a branch visit with an international counter if the branch has one, a form filled out in Vietnamese with the officer translating, same-day card issuance at some branches and five to ten days at others, and mobile-banking activation by SMS code. Bring originals and copies of everything; English at the counter is hit or miss, so a Vietnamese-speaking friend or a translation app helps. The first visit can run 90 minutes, so plan for it, and confirm the account accepts incoming international wires before routing any payroll through it.
FX and daily spending
Cash still covers street food, markets, taxis off-meter, small shops, and motorbike fuel at some stations. Cards work at supermarkets, malls, chain restaurants, and mid-range cafes. QR payment (VietQR, VNPay, MoMo, ZaloPay) is the modern default at most city merchants, but it generally requires a Vietnamese bank account or a topped-up e-wallet tied to a Vietnamese phone number; foreign cards rarely scan.
On foreign exchange: ATM withdrawals from a Vietnamese bank via Wise or Revolut land close to mid-market, plus the home bank’s flat fee. Withdrawing directly from a home account at a Vietnamese ATM can cost a 2 to 4 percent spread on top of fees and is worth avoiding. Bank exchange counters run about a 1 percent spread, cash only, daylight hours. Gold shops, the traditional cash-exchange route, sometimes beat bank rates and are common practice, though it sits in a legal grey zone; use a shop with a track record.
Tax residency: the 183-day rule
The rule itself: staying in Vietnam 183 days or more in a 12-month period, or holding a permanent residence here (rented over 90 days, or owned), makes a person a Vietnamese tax resident for that year.
The consequence is broad. Vietnamese tax residents are taxed on worldwide income, not only Vietnamese-source income, at progressive rates:
| Monthly taxable income (VND) | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to 5,000,000 | 5% |
| 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 | 10% |
| 10,000,000 to 18,000,000 | 15% |
| 18,000,000 to 32,000,000 | 20% |
| 32,000,000 to 52,000,000 | 25% |
| 52,000,000 to 80,000,000 | 30% |
| Above 80,000,000 | 35% |
A personal allowance of 11,000,000 VND per month and a dependent allowance of 4,400,000 VND per dependent per month apply before the rate schedule. Staying under 183 days in any rolling 12-month window keeps a person a non-resident, taxed only on Vietnamese-source income at a flat 20 percent. Double-tax treaties exist with most major economies (the UK, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Australia, and others), which allow credit for tax already paid at home; the United States does not have a comprehensive treaty with Vietnam, which matters for US citizens given citizen-based taxation back home.
In practice, enforcement against residents whose only Vietnamese-source income is salary already withheld at source tends to be light; enforcement against unreported worldwide income is increasing. A single consultation with a Vietnamese tax adviser in the first year, typically a few million VND, is usually worth it once 183 days is a real possibility.
Sending money home
Wise or Revolut from a Vietnamese bank account back to a home account is the standard route, with competitive fees and FX. Wise’s outbound limits vary and are worth checking ahead of a large transfer; amounts above the limit split across months or move by bank wire instead. Source-of-funds documentation can be requested for transfers over 30 million VND in a month.
A SWIFT wire from a Vietnamese bank account is the alternative, subject to an annual remittance cap roughly tied to declared income for the year; amounts above that need additional documentation such as proof of an asset sale or a gift declaration. Fees run 15 to 50 USD plus the FX spread.
What this guide does not cover
This is general orientation, not tax or financial advice. Home-country tax rules (the US Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and FATCA reporting, the UK’s Statutory Residence Test, and each EU country’s own day-count and “centre of vital interests” tests) vary enough that they need a qualified adviser in the relevant country, ideally before 183 days in Vietnam is crossed. The same goes for investing while resident here, pension contributions back home, and crypto, which sits in a legal grey zone in Vietnam: not banned to hold, not recognized as a means of payment, and with tax treatment that remains unclear.
For visa and residence status, which interacts directly with the 183-day count, see the visa guide. Questions that don’t fit anywhere else are answered in the FAQ.