Why do Vietnamese still pay too much to work overseas?

One family even has two people working overseas, Hoa in food processing and Tuan in an automobile factory in Japan.

In 2018 the siblings signed three-year contracts and paid recruitment agencies between VND140 and 200 million (US$5,350-7,650) each.

The fees covered health checks, language training, vocational courses, visa applications, legal procedures, airfare, and other related costs.

Their family had to borrow from every possible source: neighbors, relatives, banks, and even loan sharks at usurious interest.

For comparison, the average monthly income in my hometown is just VND4.5 million. The upfront cost of working abroad is staggering.

A joint study by the General Statistics Office and the International Labor Organization found that Vietnamese workers paid up to VND192 million to secure jobs in Japan, which means they need to work seven to 12 months just to break even.

According to the Japan International Friendly Association, Vietnamese workers carried an average debt of over 670,000 yen ($4,600), the highest among workers from 15 countries coming to Japan and four times that of workers from the Philippines.

In 2021 the Government Inspectorate concluded that the standard fee of $7,000–8,000 per worker for the Japanese market was excessive.

A key reason was weak oversight by the authorities in regulating service and brokerage fees.

A review of six provinces—Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Hai Duong, and Hung Yen—revealed that from 2013 to 2018 the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs failed to adequately protect workers' rights.

It did not control brokerage fees and allowed enterprises to impose exorbitant charges, despite Japan and Taiwan having policies that prohibit such costs.

A Vietnamese worker at a factory in Japan. Photo by An Phuong

As of 2023 more than 12,000 Vietnamese workers had broken contracts and overstayed in South Korea.

In Taiwan, the number reached 24,000, while in Japan, nearly 4,800 workers remained illegally.

These actions are often condemned as irresponsible, but could the real issue lie in the crushing debt and desperation to repay it?

The 2022 Law on Vietnamese Workers Working Abroad set new limits on fees, capping the maximum service fee at one month's salary for a 12-month contract and three months for longer ones. Thanks to this regulation and increased competition between businesses, the cost of similar contracts for Japan has dropped to VND100-120 million as in Hoa and Tuan's case.

Still, an ILO expert told me this remains high compared to what workers actually earn after taxes and living expenses.

For example, Tuan's contract offers a salary of VND35 million per month, but after deductions, he only takes home VND17–20 million.

That is why many workers are told to pack plenty of instant noodles before leaving Vietnam.

What's worse is that Vietnamese recruitment agencies also receive management fees from Japanese employers that can easily cover the VND30 million or more of workers' expenses, but few workers know this or understand how to assert their rights.

Vietnamese law continues to allow local companies to pay brokerage fees rather than shift this burden to foreign employers. So many collect service fees from workers to pay their overseas partners.

Oversight also remains lacking. Circulars 21/2021 and 02/2024 explicitly set limits for fees, including at zero for Japan. But in practice, "hidden" fees persist, and workers are often overcharged.

Only recently have some labor export company leaders been prosecuted for overcharging. For years these firms had been collecting fees that were many times the legal limit without scrutiny.

Vietnamese workers make up about 50% of all foreign workers under intership programs in Japan. While Japan values Vietnamese workers for their diligence, unions and employers also benefit from generous commissions paid by Vietnamese agencies, commissions ultimately passed on to the workers.

This has created a race to the bottom, or what the ILO calls "bottom-up competition."

In some cases, Japanese recruiters reportedly expect luxury hospitality, like travel perks and golf outings, which again, workers end up paying for.

So, what can be done?

Authorities must strictly enforce regulations on service fees, audit companies charging suspiciously high rates, and prosecute those who exploit workers. Vietnam should also strengthen government-to-government cooperation programs, like the EPS program with South Korea, where workers only pay VND30 million upfront and receive their VND100 million deposit back in full upon contract completion.

Labor is not a typical commodity. When government oversight is weak and policy favors profit over people, workers are left with nothing but debts and dreams.

They survive on instant noodles while carrying the burden of a system that profits off their hope.

*Bui Vo is an investigator.