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You are currently working illegally and I caught will be deported.

If you accept the "bought_ work permit you will still be working illegally but also obliged for fear of being reported by your employer for not having the correct documents or experience

Here any documents are a matter of paying the right person, it's a sad state of affairs. Official documents are quite low tech compared to the west so this buying a work permit isn't a new loop hole just common practice.

How can they stop you leaving? If you have your passport still just search for a flight then go

I strongly suggest you contact your embassy before it goes too far. If you are caught doing something illegal you will be deported and that will effect the rest of your life.
Please seek help and never give over your passport. Give them a copy never the original.
Good luck.

This is very common over here. For which company are you working?

They have her passport that the problem

This I understood.

Not sure why they have the original passport.. usually just a copy is required.

I had a shirt stint at a language center, they just take copies..

You should clearly state that you want to have your passport. If they don't want to hand it out to you, you should mention that you will hire a lawyer or report to the education ministry.

As mentioned before, contact your embassy. The passport is not a document a school can keep, its illegal.

From a legal advice page.

"Of course, it is illegal for the company to hold the passport of employees. The passport actually does not even belong to the holder of the passport; it belongs to the issuing government and no one is entitled to hold this document but the one who has his name on it."

Richardson23 wrote:

They also currently have my passport.

Only someone who commits a crime would have to surrender his passport to the authority.  What was your reason to hand over your passport to your employer?  You do know that your passport doesn't belong to you, right?  It belongs to your government and you're the *temporary authorised holder* of such document.  Only you, no one else.

Colin posted his reply while I was typing mine. Same message, difference messengers.

Thank you to everyone who has replied thus far. Concerning the legal issue. This is one of the reasons I have asked them to leave. I am uncomfortable with it and don't want to be apart of it, in any shape or form.

Because I was naive and stupid. They told me they needed it for the work application when I arrived and never got it back.

My current visa ends on the 12th June 2021. But my contract is valid till 2022.

This is constantly thrown in my face and they say, they will sue me for breaking the contract

Richardson23 wrote:

My current visa ends on the 12th June 2021. But my contract is valid till 2022.

This is constantly thrown in my face and they say, they will sue me for breaking the contract

1- Your employment contract becomes invalid when your visa expires and a new visa information is not entered into the contract.

2- To which court are they going to sue you without having their shenanigan exposed, which includes keeping your passport illegally?

Noted and well said.

duinuernberger wrote:

This is very common over here. For which company are you working?

What is "very common over here"?  Forcing somebody to stay in employment or illegally keeping the export?  Please expound your statement.

I doubt the OP's situation is very common.  I've never heard of any center that needs ESL teachers so badly they have to resort to force somebody into staying, since there has always been an excess of supply regarding ESL teachers in VN.