Working in Vietnam and need to check the expiry date of your health insurance card? As a foreign employee, your Vietnamese health insurance (BHYT) card is what keeps your hospital visits covered, and since February 2026 the card is fully electronic. In this 2026 guide, terra walks you through 3 ways foreigners can check their health insurance card validity, even if you don’t read Vietnamese.
| Question | Answer |
| Do foreigners in Vietnam have a health insurance card? | Yes. Foreign employees on Vietnamese labor contracts are enrolled in compulsory health insurance by their employer, with contributions deducted through payroll. |
| What is the fastest way to check the expiry date? | The VssID app: log in with your 10-digit Social Insurance Number, open “Health Insurance Card”, and the validity dates are on screen. The app has an English interface. |
| Is my paper card still valid in 2026? | The electronic card on VssID or VNeID has the same legal validity as paper nationwide from 3 February 2026 under Circular 09/2026/TT-BTC. Hospitals cannot require an extra paper copy. |
| What number do I need to check my card? | Your 10-digit Social Insurance Number, which is also your health insurance card number. Your HR department has it if you don’t. |
| Who do I contact if my card has expired? | Your employer’s HR or payroll team first, since they manage your monthly contributions, or the Vietnam Social Security hotline 1900 9068. |
Do foreigners in Vietnam get a health insurance card?
Yes. Foreign employees working in Vietnam under a Vietnamese labor contract are enrolled in the compulsory health insurance scheme, and the enrollment is handled by the employer. The contribution is deducted through monthly payroll together with social insurance, so most foreign employees hold a valid card without ever filling in a form themselves.
Two practical points matter for foreigners. First, your health insurance card number is the same as your 10-digit Social Insurance Number, the code you will use in every checking method below. Second, since 3 February 2026, under Circular 09/2026/TT-BTC and Decree 164/2025/ND-CP, the electronic health insurance card on VssID or VNeID has the same legal validity as the paper version nationwide, and medical facilities are not allowed to ask for an additional paper copy. Your card’s validity now lives in these apps, which is exactly where you check its expiry date.
Method 1: Check the expiry date of health insurance card via the Vietnam social security website
This method needs no app and no account, which makes it the easiest option if you only check once. You need your full name as registered with social insurance, your date of birth, and your Social Insurance Number.
Step 1: Visit the official website of the Vietnam Social Security. The English portal is available, though the lookup tool itself displays in Vietnamese.
Step 2: Select “Online Services”, then click on “Check the validity of your health insurance card”.
Step 3: Fill in your full name, date of birth, Social Insurance Number (or Health Insurance Card Number). Then tick the box “I’m not a robot” and click “Search”. If the form appears in Vietnamese, the fields are: Họ tên (full name), Ngày sinh (date of birth), Mã số BHXH (Social Insurance Number), and Tra cứu (search).
Step 4: View the card’s expiry date along with other details such as card number, full name, date of birth, temporary residence address, initial medical registration location, and eligibility date for continuous 5-year health insurance coverage. Enter your name exactly as it appears in your social insurance records, usually the passport spelling in capital letters without diacritics; a mismatched spelling is the most common reason foreigners get a “no result” message.
Method 2: Check the expiry date of health insurance card via the VssID App
VssID is the official app of Vietnam Social Security and the most convenient option for repeat checking. The app offers an English interface: after installing, open Settings (Cài đặt) and switch the language (Ngôn ngữ) to English. Your employer registers your VssID account when enrolling you, so ask HR for your login if you have never used it.
Step 1: Log in to the VssID app using your Social Insurance Number and password, or via your e-identification account.
Step 2: On the personal dashboard, select “Health Insurance Card”.
Step 3: View your health insurance card’s expiry date along with information about your registered healthcare facility, the date you become eligible for 5-year continuous insurance, and your healthcare benefits. This screen is also your electronic health insurance card: you can present it directly at hospitals and clinics instead of a paper card.
Method 3: Check your electronic health insurance card on VNeID
From 3 February 2026, the electronic health insurance card is officially used nationwide through VNeID level 2, Vietnam’s national e-identification app. Foreign residents who have registered a level 2 VNeID account with the immigration authority can integrate their card in four steps:
Step 1: Log in to the VNeID application with your personal identification number.
Step 2: On the main interface, select “Document Wallet”, then select “Social Insurance”.
Step 3: Enter your 10-digit Social Insurance Number and tick the box to agree to integrate the information.
Step 4: Submit the integration request. Once approved, your electronic health insurance card, including its validity dates, appears in the Document Wallet, and you can track the processing status in the Social Insurance section. If the app shows “Update failed”, re-enter the Social Insurance Number and submit again.
In addition to these three methods, employees can also check the expiry date of health insurance card quickly by calling the Vietnam Social Security hotline: 1900 9068 (a small per-minute charge applies), and following the instructions. English support is limited on the hotline, so ask a Vietnamese-speaking colleague or your HR team to assist if needed.
What to do if your health insurance card has expired
For employed foreigners, an expired card almost always traces back to a contribution gap, and your employer fixes it, not you. The card stays valid as long as your employer pays the monthly health insurance contribution, so contact your HR or payroll department first and ask them to verify your contribution status with the social insurance agency.
Two situations to watch. If you changed jobs, the card may show a gap between the old and new employer’s contributions, and interrupted contributions also reset your progress toward the 5-year continuous coverage milestone that unlocks higher reimbursement for out-of-network treatment. If you resigned and are staying in Vietnam without an employer, your compulsory coverage stops with your final contribution month, so check the expiry date before scheduling any planned treatment.
Card expiring because you are leaving Vietnam? Your Social Insurance contributions can come back to you as a one-time claim Two months of average insured salary for every year contributed since 2014, paid as a lump sum once your labour contract ends. terra (I-GLOCAL Group, 100+ completed claims) checks your eligibility, closes the book with your former employer and files the claim, usually within 4 to 6 weeks. Fees: VND 10 million at signing plus 15% of the amount received, charged only after payout, before VAT.
|
Frequently asked questions about checking health insurance cards in Vietnam
Here are the questions foreign employees ask most often about their Vietnamese health insurance card.
Can I check my Vietnamese health insurance card in English?
Answer: Yes, through the VssID app’s English interface.
Switch the app language to English in Settings, log in with your Social Insurance Number, and the Health Insurance Card screen shows your validity dates. The web lookup tool displays in Vietnamese, but only three fields matter: full name, date of birth, and Social Insurance Number.
Where do I find my Social Insurance Number?
Answer: On your health insurance card, your payslip, or from your HR department.
The 10-digit Social Insurance Number doubles as your health insurance card number. Your employer registered it when enrolling you, so HR can retrieve it in minutes if you don’t have it on hand.
Is the electronic card enough at hospitals, or do I need the paper card?
Answer: The electronic card is enough.
Under Circular 09/2026/TT-BTC, effective 3 February 2026, the electronic health insurance card presented on VssID or VNeID has the same legal validity as the paper version, and medical facilities are not allowed to request an additional paper copy.
What does the 5-year continuous coverage date mean?
Answer: It marks when you qualify for higher reimbursement rights.
Once you have participated in health insurance for 5 consecutive years, additional reimbursement benefits apply for high medical costs. The lookup results show the exact date you reach this milestone, and a contribution gap resets the count, which is one more reason to check your card when changing jobs.
My name returns no result on the lookup website. What went wrong?
Answer: Almost always a name spelling mismatch.
Enter your name exactly as registered with social insurance, usually the passport spelling without Vietnamese diacritics. If it still fails, verify your Social Insurance Number with HR, since a single wrong digit also returns no result.
Who pays for my health insurance as a foreign employee?
Answer: Both you and your employer, through monthly payroll.
Health insurance contributions for foreign employees are split between the employer and the employee and deducted automatically from salary. If contributions are paid on time, the card renews without any action from you, which is why an expired card is usually a payroll issue to raise with your employer.
terra Payroll BPaaS Solution
Managing payroll requires consistency, detailed calculations, and high accuracy. With deep expertise in HR and payroll, terra offers a comprehensive Payroll BPaaS (Business Process as a Service) solution terra Payroll, helping businesses process salaries efficiently, transparently, and without hidden costs.
When you choose terra’s payroll service, your business benefits from:
- Automated timekeeping integration: Reduce up to 90% of the time spent collecting and managing data on attendance, leave, overtime, and more.
- Fast and accurate payroll calculations: Minimize errors by 99% with customized calculation formulas tailored to your company’s specific needs.
- Easy payslip generation: Send digital payslips in under a minute. The system is integrated with terra’s HR platform at no extra cost, enabling easy permission-based access to salary data.
- Integrated benefits & insurance management: Manage all in one place. Our platform supports end-to-end processes related to social insurance, personal income tax, and even salary disbursement upon request.
Contact terra today for personalized consultation and the most suitable solution for your business!
Conclusion
Checking the expiry date of your health insurance card takes under two minutes once you have your Social Insurance Number: the VssID app in English for regular checks, the Vietnam Social Security website for a one-off lookup, and VNeID for the electronic card you present at hospitals. If the date has passed, start with your HR team, since for foreign employees the fix is almost always on the payroll side.
{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “FAQPage”,
“mainEntity”: [
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Can I check my Vietnamese health insurance card in English?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Yes. The VssID app offers an English interface: switch the language in Settings, log in with your 10-digit Social Insurance Number, and the Health Insurance Card screen shows your card’s validity dates. The web lookup tool displays in Vietnamese, but only three fields are needed: full name, date of birth, and Social Insurance Number.”
}
},
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Where do I find my Social Insurance Number?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “The 10-digit Social Insurance Number doubles as your health insurance card number. It appears on your health insurance card and often on your payslip. Your employer registered it when enrolling you, so your HR department can retrieve it quickly.”
}
},
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Is the electronic health insurance card enough at hospitals in Vietnam?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Yes. Under Circular 09/2026/TT-BTC, effective 3 February 2026, the electronic health insurance card presented on VssID or VNeID has the same legal validity as the paper version nationwide, and medical facilities are not allowed to request an additional paper copy.”
}
},
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “What does the 5-year continuous coverage date on my card mean?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Once you have participated in Vietnamese health insurance for 5 consecutive years, additional reimbursement benefits apply for high medical costs. The lookup results show the exact date you reach this milestone. A gap in contributions resets the count.”
}
},
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Why does the lookup website return no result for my name?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Almost always a name spelling mismatch. Enter your name exactly as registered with social insurance, usually the passport spelling without Vietnamese diacritics. If it still fails, verify your Social Insurance Number with HR, since a single wrong digit also returns no result.”
}
},
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Who pays for health insurance for foreign employees in Vietnam?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Contributions are split between the employer and the employee and deducted automatically through monthly payroll. If contributions are paid on time, the card renews without any action from the employee, so an expired card is usually a payroll matter to raise with the employer.”
}
}
]
}
