Your Vietnam Social Insurance When You Move Abroad (2026)
Key takeaways
- Vietnam runs compulsory social insurance for employees and voluntary social insurance for others, both administered by Vietnam Social Security (VSS).
- Permanent emigration is an express ground for a one-time social insurance payment.
- The Law on Social Insurance 2024 (Law No. 41/2024/QH15) took effect on 1 July 2025 and reshaped one-time withdrawals going forward.
- Anyone who started contributing before 1 July 2025 keeps the traditional lump-sum grounds; new joiners face restrictions designed to keep contributions in the pension track.
- The minimum contribution period to qualify for a monthly pension fell from 20 years to 15 years under the new law.
- Foreign employees who paid compulsory social insurance in Vietnam can also claim a lump sum when their assignment ends and they leave.
How Vietnam’s social insurance is structured
Vietnam Social Security (baohiemxahoi.gov.vn) administers two schemes. Compulsory social insurance covers employees on contracts of the qualifying length and their employers, funding sickness, maternity, occupational-accident, retirement (pension) and survivorship benefits. The employee contribution is 8% of the salary base toward the retirement and survivorship fund, with the employer contributing more. Voluntary social insurance is open to Vietnamese citizens aged 15 and over who are not in the compulsory scheme, and covers retirement and survivorship. Both schemes build the contribution record that later determines your pension or your lump-sum entitlement.
When you emigrate, your accumulated contributions do not disappear. You can leave your record intact and, if you have enough years, draw a Vietnamese pension later; or you can close the account by taking a one-time payment.
What changed on 1 July 2025
The Law on Social Insurance No. 41/2024/QH15 replaced the 2014 law (Law No. 58/2014/QH13) with effect from 1 July 2025 (baohiemxahoi.gov.vn). Its headline reform concerns the routine “cash-out” of social insurance. For people who first join the scheme on or after 1 July 2025, the ordinary route of withdrawing a lump sum simply because you have stopped contributing for 12 months is closed — those contributions are locked into the pension track. For people who were already contributing before 1 July 2025, the previous grounds are preserved, so their acquired rights are protected.
Crucially for emigrants, settling abroad remains a qualifying ground for a one-time payment in both cases. The 2024 law kept emigration among the specific circumstances in which a lump sum may be paid, alongside reaching retirement age with too few contribution years, terminal illness, and severe loss of working capacity. So moving abroad permanently is not caught by the tightening aimed at routine cash-outs.
The one-time (lump-sum) payment for those settling abroad
If you are emigrating for permanent settlement, you may apply to Vietnam Social Security for a one-time social insurance payment. This is available whether you were in the compulsory or voluntary scheme. The claim closes your contribution record: you exchange your future pension entitlement for a single payment now. Consider carefully whether you are close to the 15-year pension threshold before giving up a lifetime pension for a lump sum.
Vietnam Social Security publishes the procedure and forms through its public service portal (baohiemxahoi.gov.vn and dichvucong.baohiemxahoi.gov.vn). The application is made to the provincial or district social security office holding your record, and you can often start it online before you leave.
How the lump sum is calculated
The one-time payment is based on your average insured salary and your number of contribution years. Under the established formula carried into the 2024 law, you receive 1.5 months of your average insured salary for each year of contribution before 2014, and 2 months of average insured salary for each year of contribution from 2014 onward. Part-years are rounded according to the regulations (a period of 1–6 months counts as half a year and 7–11 months as a full year). Because the calculation runs on your insured salary rather than your gross pay, the payout is often lower than people expect — another reason to weigh it against the pension option. Vietnam Social Security sets and applies the formula (baohiemxahoi.gov.vn).
Documents you must provide when settling abroad
A lump-sum claim on the ground of settling abroad requires proof of the move. Vietnam Social Security accepts, in addition to your social insurance book and application form, a notarised or consularised Vietnamese translation of one of the following: confirmation from a competent authority of renunciation of Vietnamese nationality; a foreign passport; a settlement (permanent-residence) visa issued by a competent foreign authority; a document certifying an application for foreign citizenship; or a foreign permanent-residence card or residence permit valid for five years or more. These requirements are set out in the social insurance legislation and Vietnam Social Security’s guidance (baohiemxahoi.gov.vn). Prepare the translation and notarisation early, as this is the step that most often delays payment.
Foreign employees leaving Vietnam
Foreign nationals who worked in Vietnam under a qualifying contract have paid compulsory social insurance too. When the assignment ends and the worker leaves the country, they may claim a one-time payment. Unlike Vietnamese participants who face waiting conditions for the routine cash-out route, a foreign worker whose contract has ended and who is leaving Vietnam does not have to wait a year to claim on that basis. The claim is made to Vietnam Social Security with the worker’s social insurance record and evidence that the contract has ended and they are departing (baohiemxahoi.gov.vn).
Keeping your record for a future pension instead
Taking the lump sum is not compulsory. If you have, or can reach, 15 years of contributions — the reduced minimum under the 2024 law — and you will reach retirement age, you may prefer to preserve your record and draw a Vietnamese pension, even while living abroad. A pension of 40% of your average insured salary is payable at 15 years of contribution, rising by roughly 1 percentage point for each additional year. Because a pension is an indexed lifetime income and the lump sum is a one-off, the pension is often the better long-term value for those close to the threshold (baohiemxahoi.gov.vn).
How Flyto can help
Flyto moves households from Vietnam to Europe and worldwide, door-to-door; get a quote. We are not a social security agency, but we help you sequence your departure so that document-heavy steps like a lump-sum claim — which needs notarised proof of your move abroad — are not left until the last week before your flight.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still take a lump-sum social insurance payment if I emigrate?
Yes. Settling abroad permanently is an express qualifying ground for a one-time payment, and the 2024 law preserved it. New joiners from 1 July 2025 lost the routine “12 months unemployed” cash-out, but not the emigration ground. Source.
What proof do I need that I am moving abroad?
A notarised or consularised Vietnamese translation of one qualifying document: renunciation of Vietnamese nationality, a foreign passport, a settlement visa, proof of a citizenship application, or a foreign residence card valid for five years or more. Source.
How is the payment calculated?
It is 1.5 months of your average insured salary per contribution year before 2014, and 2 months per year from 2014 onward, based on insured salary rather than gross pay. Source.
Should I take the lump sum or keep my pension?
If you are near the 15-year minimum for a pension, keeping your record for a lifetime pension is often worth more than a one-off lump sum. Weigh both before deciding. Source.
I am a foreign worker leaving Vietnam — can I claim?
Yes. Foreign employees who paid compulsory social insurance can claim a one-time payment when their contract ends and they leave, without the one-year wait that applies to the routine domestic route. Source.
How many years do I need for a Vietnamese pension now?
The 2024 Law on Social Insurance cut the minimum from 20 to 15 years, with a pension of 40% of average insured salary at 15 years, rising about 1% per extra year. Source.
Sources
- Vietnam Social Security (Bảo hiểm xã hội Việt Nam) — official portal
- Vietnam Social Security — public service portal (one-time payment procedure and forms)
- Law on Social Insurance No. 41/2024/QH15 — effective 1 July 2025
- Law on Social Insurance No. 58/2014/QH13 — previous law (one-time payment grounds)
- Vietnam Social Security — one-time social insurance benefit guidance
- Vietnam Social Security — pension eligibility and contribution rules
- Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs — social insurance policy authority
- One-time social insurance claim for foreign individuals — reference summary