What is your assessment on the proposition of the Vietnamese community in the US?

America is the world's leading industrialized country and also attracts many high-quality workers and top experts around the world. There are currently 2.3 million Vietnamese people living and working in the US. With a population of 22,000, Vietnamese students rank 5th among international students in the US.

The position of the Vietnamese community is also increasingly important in the economic and political context in the US. Many overseas businessmen have returned to Vietnam to develop factories, business and commercial establishments, contributing to the growth of trade between the US and Vietnam in recent times.

Many Vietnamese-origin businessmen have also become important bridges in developing increasingly better Vietnam-US relations. The Vietnamese business community in the US has also always contributed to the domestic community through volunteer activities, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regarding foreign remittance, Vietnamese people in the US are the top contributors with about 50% of the total remittances to Vietnam.

Vietnamese Businessmen Association in the US (VENUSA) promotes lychee in the US.

How are Vietnam and the US currently cooperating to promote labor export?

To the extent of my knowledge, there is currently no agreement on labor export between the US and Vietnam.

Currently, Vietnamese workers go to the US in 6 ways. Firstly, after studying abroad, students stay to work. There are many educational levels from college, university, junior college, master and doctorate programs with long-term work opportunities in the US.

The second way is through the H1B Visa for experts and people with advanced degrees. This visa requires a sponsorship from a US company as the recruiter so that the visa holder can obtain the guarantee from the company lawyer.

Thirdly, workers who have green cards can come to the US to settle and work long-term. Employer-sponsored green cards are quite common among the Vietnamese people who come to America to work.

There is also the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (Green Card Lottery). The limitation of this type lies heavily on the countries so the number of visas granted is small.

Next is the case where foreign companies open branches in the US and send employees to the US to work. This type suits the companies in Vietnam investing in the US and wanting to bring people there to work.

Lastly, Vietnamese workers go to the US through reunion with their family. It is another popular type among Vietnamese people coming to the US to work.

In September 2023, on the occasion of US President Joe Biden's visit to Vietnam, the two countries upgraded the relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for peace, cooperation, and sustainable development. This opens up labor export opportunities for experts to study and work in the US. I hope that granting visas to Vietnamese citizens to come to the US will be easier.

Can you please share your specific expectations?

Recently, the Vietnamese Businessmen Association in the US worked with a number of American businesses and Vietnamese businesses in the US, wanting to bring Vietnamese workers to work in the US in the pharmaceutical, medical, health care, and nail industries. Among them, a leading Alaskan salmon producer wants to bring Vietnamese workers to work on a seasonal basis.

The Vietnamese Businessmen Association in the US has also contacted Vietnamese representative agencies in the US about labor export opportunities. These agencies are also very interested, asking us to make a proposal for labor export cooperation to be included in the working agenda with the US side within the framework of comprehensive strategic cooperation between Vietnam and the US.

I hope to coordinate with agencies and businesses in Vietnam to build systematic labor export cooperation programs for the US market, especially with its strict requirements on law, vocational training, and English qualifications.

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