Foreigners should enjoy simplified administrative procedures when it comes to obtaining residence permits from early April thanks to a new Government resolution.

After that date, foreigners applying for temporary residence permits will find that their cards are valid up to five years instead of the current three years.

According to the Government Office's Administrative Procedure Control Department, the extension of temporary residence cards will boost international integration and attract more foreign investment to the country.

Those who lodge a permanent residence permit application will no longer have to declare their nationality, birthplace and home address before entering Vietnam or their workplace and home addresses in the country.

That information will be certified in the applicants' curriculum vitae, the resolution said.

Permits will be approved within four months, a reduction of two months on the current regulation.

If papers needs to be verified, procedures will take a further two months rather than the current three months.

Under the new rules, foreigners who hold permanent residence permits will be required to present at the Ministry of Public Security every five years, and not every three years as currently required.

Jim Rogers, who comes from the US and has worked in Vietnam for eight years, said he is yet to obtain a permanent residence card because of the complicated procedures.

"Simpler procedures will make it easier to come and live and work in Vietnam and we work here because we just love the country and its people," he said./.