Decree 322/2026/ND-CP amend Decree 86/2021/ND-CP on Vietnamese citizens going abroad for study, teaching, scientific research or academic exchange

DECREE

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 86/2021/ND-CP dated September 25, 2021, providing regulations on Vietnamese citizens going abroad for study, teaching, scientific research or academic exchange

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government No. 63/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the Law No. 43/2019/QH15 on Education, which was amended and supplemented by the Law No. 123/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the Law on Vocational Education No. 124/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the Law on Higher Education No. 125/2025/QH15;

At the proposal of the Minister of Education and Training;

The Government hereby promulgates the Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 86/2021/ND-CP dated September 25, 2021, providing regulations on Vietnamese citizens going abroad for study, teaching, scientific research or academic exchange.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing Point c Clause 1 Article 2

“c) An organization providing overseas study counseling services means an enterprise, a branch of an enterprise or a foreign education institution lawfully operating in Vietnam and having registered business lines, or a non-business unit having the functions and tasks of providing overseas study counseling in accordance with law regulations;”

Article 2. Amending and supplementing Clause 1 Article 4

“1. The electronic database system for managing Vietnamese citizens going abroad for study, teaching, scientific research or academic exchange (hereinafter collectively referred to as the database system) is a specialized database of the Ministry of Education and Training, which the Ministry of Education and Training shall assume the prime responsibility for developing, managing, exploiting and using; and shall be connected and synchronized with the national population database, national databases and other relevant specialized databases in accordance with law regulations.”

Article 3. Amending and supplementing a number of clauses of Article 5

1. To amend and supplement Clause 2 as follows:

“2. An applicant’s dossier for enrollment must comprise:

a) An application form for overseas study (made according to the Form No. 1a in the Appendix issued together with this Decree);

b) An official letter on nominating the applicant for enrollment, issued by the directly managing agency (in case the applicant is employed);

c) The applicant’s commitment to fulfilling his/her responsibilities as requested by the directly managing agency (in case the applicant is employed);

d) A personal curriculum vitae made in accordance with current regulations and certified by the directly managing agency (in case the applicant is employed);

dd) Certified copies of the applicant’s professional qualifications and foreign language certificates that meet the requirements of the relevant scholarship program. The agency sending the applicant for study (the sending agency) shall exploit and use information on diplomas available in the national database on education and training in accordance with regulations for verification and comparison and in substitution for the submission of certified copies of diplomas. In case the foreign education institution requires the submission of paper documents, or the sending agency is unable to exploit or cannot fully exploit information and data on diplomas in the national database on education and training, the applicant shall be required to additionally submit the corresponding papers in accordance with regulations;

e) The applicant’s health certificate issued by the provincial-level medical establishment proving that he/she is physically fit for overseas study. The sending agency shall exploit and compare information on the applicant’s health certificate from the electronic health record platform database, and the applicant is not required to submit a paper copy (except for the case where the foreign education institution requires a paper copy);

g) Other papers (if any) as required by the relevant scholarship program and the sending agency.”

2. To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“3. Implementation procedure:

a) An applicant for selection shall submit 01 dossier specified in Clause 2 of this Article to the agency sending the applicant for study, either directly at the Single-window section, via postal services, or online on the National Public Service Portal or the national identification application;

b) Within 90 days from the deadline for receipt of application dossiers, the sending agency shall organize the selection. In case a dossier is required to be supplemented in accordance with the requirements of the related scholarship program, the applicant shall supplement the dossier at the request of the sending agency. The sending agency shall issue a decision on approval of the list of applicants who have passed the preliminary selection or have been selected and notify the applicants of the results via email or other electronic means in accordance with regulations. For dossiers submitted via the National Public Service Portal, the results of settlement of procedures shall be notified on the National Public Service Portal.”

3. To amend and supplement Point a Clause 4 as follows:

“a) The Ministry of Education and Training shall conduct the selection and sending of Vietnamese citizens abroad for study using funding from the state budget specified at Point a Clause 1 Article 3 of this Decree;”

Article 4. Amending and supplementing a number of points and clauses of Article 10

1. To amend and supplement the first bullet point under Point c Clause 2 as follows:

“- Within 45 working days from the date of completion of the course, overseas students must submit 01 dossier to the sending agency, either directly at the Single-window section, via postal services, or online on the National Public Service Portal or the national identification application;”

2. To add Clause 5 Article 10 as follows:

“5. Overseas students specified at Points a and b Clause 1 Article 3 of this Decree who have completed their study programs and are eligible for grant of graduation diplomas or certificates but have not returned to Vietnam and stay overseas to continue studying at a higher level or undertake post-graduation internships shall not be provided with funding for the purchase of airfare for returning to Vietnam or for other means of transportation (if any), and must obtain the consent of the sending agency and the directly managing agency (in case they are employed).”

Article 5. Amending and supplementing Point a Clause 4 Article 11

“a) To issue decisions on selection and sending of Vietnamese citizens abroad for study; to admit overseas students returning to the country according to this Decree. To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with relevant agencies in, disseminating the regulations of the Party and laws of the State on internal political protection, protection of state secrets, and relevant regulations to Vietnamese citizens before they go abroad for study;”

Article 6. Amending and supplementing Article 12

“Article 12. Compensation for training costs

1. Compensation for training costs for overseas students who are civil servants or public employees specified at Points a and b Clause 1 Article 3 of this Decree shall be made in accordance with Decree No. 171/2025/ND-CP dated June 30, 2025 of the Government prescribing the training and further training of civil servants and Decree No. 259/2026/ND-CP dated June 30, 2026 of the Government prescribing the recruitment, employment and management of public employees.

2. For overseas students other than civil servants and public employees specified at Points a and b Clause 1 Article 3 of this Decree who fail to obey work assignment of competent state agencies after graduation, the compensation for training costs must comply with the Government’s Decree No. 143/2013/ND-CP of October 24, 2013 and the Government's Decree No. 51/2026/ND-CP dated February 02, 2026 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 143/2013/ND-CP providing reimbursement of scholarships and training costs.

3. For overseas students who are employed but are not civil servants or public employees specified at Points a and b Clause 1 Article 3 of this Decree and dropping out without permission, are disciplined in the form of expulsion, quit their jobs during the training period, or are not granted graduate diplomas or certificates by training institutions, the directly managing agencies shall proceed with procedures for compensation for training costs under Article 13 and Article 13a of this Decree.

4. For overseas students who are not employed as specified at Points a and b, Clause 1, Article 3 of this Decree, drop out without permission or are disciplined in the form of expulsion, and are not granted graduate diplomas or certificates by training institutions, the sending agencies shall proceed with procedures for compensation for training costs under Article 13 and Article 13a of this Decree.

5. For overseas students specified at Point c Clause 1 Article 3 of this Decree, the compensation for training costs must comply with regulations on cooperation between Vietnamese state agencies and foreign scholarship-granting partners.”

Article 7. Amending and supplementing Article 13

“Article 13. Expenses subject to compensation and conditions for exemption from compensation for training costs

1. Expenses subject to compensation are all training costs, including tuition fees, travel expenses, cost-of-living allowances and other expenses related to their study paid by the state budget for an overseas student specified at Points a and b Clause 1 Article 3 of this Decree and provided by the sending agency.

2. Overseas students who are not civil servants or public employees specified at Points a and b Clause 1 Article 3 of this Decree must compensate 100% of the training costs in any of the following cases:

a) Dropping out without permission or quitting their jobs during the training period;

b) Being disciplined in the form of expulsion;

c) Not being granted graduation diplomas or certificates by education institutions.

3. An overseas student who is not granted a graduation diploma or certificate by the education institution shall be exempt from compensation for training costs in any of the following cases:

a) He/she encounters risks due to natural disasters or epidemics, or armed conflict occurring in the country being study destination, as certified by the Vietnam’s representative mission in such country, the foreign education institution or a competent foreign agency;

b) He/she suffers from a life-threatening disease or health problems, as certified by a competent medical establishment in Vietnam or abroad that his/her health condition prevents the continuation of study abroad, or he/she has died.

4. In case an overseas student is not granted a graduation diploma or certificate by an education institution for reasons related to security, national defense or national interests, the sending agency (in case the overseas student is not employed) or the directly managing agency (in case the overseas student is employed) shall consider and decide on exemption from compensation for training costs in accordance with Article 13a of this Decree.”

Article 8. Adding Article 13a after Article 13

“Article 13a. Competence, order and procedures for exemption from compensation for training costs and recovery of expenses subject to compensation

1. Such a dossier includes:

a) An application for exemption from compensation for training costs (made according to the Form No. 5a in the Appendix issued together with this Decree);

b) A copy of one of the papers proving eligibility for exemption from compensation for training costs, including: A certificate issued by the Vietnamese representative mission in the host country, the foreign education institution or a competent foreign agency, for the case specified at Point a Clause 3 Article 13 of this Decree; a certificate issued by a competent medical establishment in Vietnam or abroad, for the case specified at Point b Clause 3 Article 13 of this Decree (a certificate in a foreign language must be translated into Vietnamese); a death certificate, death registration request or extract of death registration issued by a competent state agency, in case the overseas student has died; relevant documents and evidence (if any), for the case specified in Clause 4 Article 13 of this Decree.

In case the sending agency or directly managing agency can exploit the above information from a specialized database or a state agency, the overseas student or the overseas student’s family is not required to provide the above documents and shall only provide information as a basis for data comparison and exploitation.

2. Implementation procedure:

a) An overseas student eligible for exemption from compensation for training costs as specified in Clause 3 or Clause 4 Article 13 of this Decree, or the overseas student’s family, shall submit 01 dossier to the sending agency or the directly managing agency (in case the overseas student is employed), either directly at the Single-window section, via postal services, or online on the National Public Service Portal or the national identification application;

b) Within 05 working days from the receipt of the dossier, if the dossier is invalid, the sending agency or directly managing agency shall notify the overseas student or the overseas student’s family thereof for supplementation and completion in accordance with regulations;

c) Within 60 days from the date of receipt of a complete and valid dossier, the sending agency or directly managing agency shall consider and issue a decision on exemption of the overseas student from compensation for training costs. The decision on exemption from compensation for training costs (made according to the Form No. 5b in the Appendix issued together with this Decree) shall be sent to the overseas student or the overseas student’s family.

3. The sending agency (in case the overseas student is not employed) or the directly managing agency (in case the overseas student is employed) shall issue a decision on request for compensation for 100% of the training costs in the case specified in Clause 2 Article 13 of this Decree (except for the cases of exemption from compensation for training costs). The decision on request for compensation for training costs (made according to the Form No. 5b in the Appendix issued together with this Decree) shall be sent to the overseas student.

4. From the date of receipt of the decision on request for compensation for training costs, the overseas student shall fully repay the expenses subject to compensation or repay such expenses in installments within a maximum period not exceeding the training period specified in the decision on sending the overseas student for study. The sending agency and the directly managing agency (in case the overseas student is employed) shall monitor and recover the expenses subject to compensation.

5. Expenses subject to compensation shall be paid to the sending agency or directly managing agency that paid funding for the overseas student, or remitted into the state budget in accordance with regulations.

6. In case an overseas student fails to fulfill the responsibility to compensate for training costs in accordance with regulations, or the agency directly managing the overseas student, the sending agency (in case the overseas student is not employed) and the overseas student cannot reach agreement on the compensation for training costs, the relevant parties may lodge complaints or initiate lawsuits in accordance with law regulations. The sending agency or directly managing agency of the overseas student shall update information on cases subject to compensation for training costs in the database system specified in Clause 1 Article 4 of this Decree and relevant databases in accordance with law regulations.

7. The recovery of expenses subject to compensation from overseas students specified at Point c Clause 1 Article 3 of this Decree must comply with regulations on cooperation between Vietnamese state agencies and foreign scholarship-granting partners.”

Article 9. Amending and supplementing Article 15

“Article 15. Contents of overseas study counseling services, rights and responsibilities of organizations providing overseas study counseling services

1. Contents of overseas study counseling services

a) Introducing and providing counseling on information about education policies of countries and territories; providing counseling on the selection of schools, courses, majors and levels suitable to the abilities and aspirations of learners;

b) Organizing advertisements, conferences, seminars, fairs and exhibitions on overseas study in accordance with law regulations; organizing the recruitment of students for overseas study;

c) Organizing the sending of Vietnamese citizens abroad for study and visits by their parents or guardians to overseas education institutions in accordance with law regulations;

d) To sign overseas study counseling service contracts with those who wish to study abroad or their parents or lawful guardians on the basis of mutual agreement and voluntariness. An overseas study counseling service contract must clearly state the training discipline; name of the education institution and country being study destination, study period, graduate diploma or certificate; expenses and remunerations related to overseas study counseling services payable by the student or his/her parent or guardian; interests, responsibilities and commitments of each party; risk handling measures; the signing of overseas study-cum-employment contracts is not allowed;

dd) To publicize at the head offices and on websites of organizations providing overseas study counseling services the following information: The decision on establishment of the organization or the enterprise registration certificate; information relating to training disciplines and programs, accreditation or recognition of education quality of foreign education institutions with which they have signed cooperation agreements or for which they act as enrollment representatives; information on tuition fees and cost-of-living allowances, service charges; reports on provision of overseas study counseling services already sent to managing agencies every year; and to concurrently take responsibility before law for the accuracy of the publicized information and contents;

e) Other activities related to the provision of overseas study counseling services.

2. Rights of organizations providing overseas study counseling services

a) To sign enrollment representation contracts with foreign education institutions;

b) To enjoy remuneration as agreed in overseas study counseling contracts;

c) To perform other rights in accordance with the relevant law regulations.

3. Responsibilities of organizations providing overseas study counseling services

a) To ensure that their overseas study counselors possess professional knowledge and competencies appropriate to the contents of overseas study counseling; having materials for introducing and providing counseling on information about education policies of countries and territories and information about schools, courses, training disciplines and training levels;

b) To provide truthful and accurate information on conditions related to accreditation of quality of foreign education programs and education institutions; estimated tuition fees and cost-of-living allowances and related charges; living conditions and policies on overtime work of countries of study destination; difficulties and risks that might happen during the overseas study period;

c) Not to authorize or be authorized by other organizations providing overseas study counseling services to provide overseas study counseling services to those who wish to study abroad;

d) To organize training and provide necessary information on politics, law, the rights and responsibilities of overseas students, and necessary skills for Vietnamese citizens before they go abroad for study;

dd) To keep contact with and coordinate with foreign education institutions, monitor and assist overseas students throughout their overseas study periods; to provide information on overseas students before they go abroad for study, to urge overseas students to update information to the database system specified in Clause 1 Article 4 of this Decree; to proactively coordinate with related agencies in protecting lawful rights and interests of overseas students;

e) To retain dossiers on sending of Vietnamese citizens abroad for study and relevant documents during the period in which overseas students study abroad; provide information evaluating the effectiveness of overseas study counseling services, and relevant dossiers, documents and information at the request of state management agencies;

g) To comply with the reporting regime provided in Article 28 of this Decree.”

Article 10. Amending and supplementing Point l Clause 2 Article 19

“l) To send reports via postal services, directly or online to the directly managing agency once every 06 months or on an irregular basis (made using the Form No. 06 in the Appendix issued together with this Decree), in case of going abroad for teaching, scientific research and academic exchange for a period of 01 year or more. Within 20 working days from the date of finishing overseas teaching, scientific research or academic exchange, to return home, send reports to the directly managing agencies and sending agencies (if any) and to update the information in the database system specified in Article 4 of this Decree.”

Article 11. Amending and supplementing Point a Clause 1 Article 20

“a) To exercise the rights regarding cooperation with foreign countries in accordance with relevant law regulations;”

Article 12. Amending and supplementing Article 21

“Article 21. Responsibilities of the Ministry of Education and Training

1. To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries, sectors and localities in, performing the state management of education with regard to Vietnamese citizens going abroad for study, teaching, scientific research or academic exchange; to implement the reporting regime specified in Article 28 of this Decree.

2. To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries, sectors and localities in, organizing the examination and handling of violations related to the sending of Vietnamese citizens going abroad for study, teaching, scientific research and academic exchange.”.

Article 13. Amending, supplementing, replacing and repealing a number of regulations of Decree No. 86/2021/ND-CP

1. To repeal the phrase “Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs” at Point d Clause 4 Article 5, Clause 5 Article 26, and Clauses 1 and 3 Article 28. To repeal the phrase “institutions providing training in overseas study counseling” at Points b, d and e Clause 3 Article 28.

2. To replace a number of words and phrases as follows:

a) To replace the word “reimburse” with the word “compensate” at Point g Clause 2 Article 6, Clause 4 Article 10, Point d Clause 2 Article 11, and Points c and d Clause 4 Article 11;

b) To replace the phrase “by post” with the phrase “via postal services” at Point e Clause 2 Article 6, Point a Clause 3 Article 7, Point a Clause 3 Article 8, and Point a Clause 3 Article 9;

c) To replace the phrase “by post” with the phrase “via postal services” at Point d Clause 1, Point d Clause 2, and Point d Clause 3 Article 28.

3. To add a number of phrases as follows:

a) To add the phrase “at the Single-window section” after the word “directly” and the phrase “on the National Public Service Portal or the national identification application” after the word “online” at Point a Clause 3 Article 7, Point a Clause 3 Article 8, and Point a Clause 3 Article 9;

b) To add the phrase “including tuition fees” after the phrase “training costs” in Clauses 1 and 2 Article 3.

4. To amend and supplement Form No. 09, Form No. 10 and Form No. 11 of the Appendix issued together with Decree No. 86/2021/ND-CP in the Appendix promulgated together with this Decree.

5. To repeal Point b Clause 4 Article 5, Article 16, Article 22, the third dash at Point g Clause 3 Article 28, and Form No. 14 of the Appendix issued together with Decree No. 86/2021/ND-CP.

Article 14. Implementation provisions

1. This Decree takes effect on October 05, 2026.

2. In case the legal normative documents referred in this Decree are amended, supplemented or replaced, those amending, supplementing or replacing documents shall be applied.

3. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities, and related agencies, organizations and individuals shall implement this Decree.

Article 15. Transitional provision

1. For overseas students for whom decisions on compensation for training costs were issued by directly managing agencies or sending agencies before the effective date of this Decree, the Decree No. 86/2021/ND-CP shall continue to apply.

2. From the effective date of this Decree, for overseas students whose compensation for training costs is under consideration but for whom no decision has been issued by directly managing agencies or sending agencies, Articles 6, 7 and 8 of this Decree shall apply.

* All Appendices are not translated herein.