Circular No. 21/BLDTBXH — source archive

Historical source material on brokerage and service fees for Vietnamese workers employed overseas under contract.

The source page is labelled “Circular No. 21/BLDTBXH”, while the reproduced document identifies Joint Circular No. 16/2007/TTLT–BLDTBXH–BTC dated 4 September 2007. The original source should be consulted to resolve this difference.

The reproduced document was issued by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Finance. It sets out provisions on brokerage fees and service fees for Vietnamese workers employed overseas under contract.

It cites Articles 20 and 21 of the Law on Vietnamese Workers Working Abroad under Contract dated 29 November 2006. The general provisions concern fee ceilings, the management and use of brokerage fees, and the collection and payment of service fees.

The reproduced brokerage-fee provisions state that the fee does not apply where a worker has completed the contract with the enterprise and the employer extends the employment or signs a new employment contract.

Enterprises may not collect brokerage fees for markets or contracts where the foreign partner does not require such fees. Brokerage fees contributed or reimbursed by workers are collected in Vietnamese dong.

For fees calculated in US dollars, the historical text refers to the interbank average USD/VND exchange rate announced by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time of collection. For other currencies, it refers to the State Bank’s announced cross rate.

Where a worker returns home early because of force majeure, such as natural disaster, war or enterprise bankruptcy, or for reasons not attributable to the worker, the enterprise must seek a partial refund from the broker under the terms reproduced in the source: a worker who has completed less than 50% of the contract period receives a refund of 50% of the paid brokerage fee; a worker who has completed 50% or more does not receive a brokerage-fee refund.

If the broker does not refund the fee, the historical text makes the enterprise responsible for reimbursement on the same basis and addresses its treatment as a deductible expense under corporate income tax rules.

The reproduced service-fee provisions state that the fee does not apply where the worker has completed the contract with the enterprise, including any contractual extension, and the employer then extends the employment or signs a new contract.

The historical service-fee exchange-rate provisions also refer to the State Bank’s interbank USD/VND average rate or the relevant announced cross rate at the time of collection.

The implementation section refers to labour-supply contracts registered with the Department of Overseas Labour before this circular took effect, and to earlier Joint Circulars 107/2003/TTLT–BTC–BLDTBXH dated 7 November 2003 and 59/2006/TTLT–BTC–BLDTBXH dated 26 June 2006.

The source includes ministerial and circulation information, including the name Nguyen Thanh Hoa. It is retained as historical source material, not as current fee guidance.