Vietnam Evisa

On a slightly different subject, I noticed for the first time that the visa on arrival office was manned & there were foreigners at the desk filling in forms just like it was open for business as usual. Just an observation though!
-@goodolboy

Yes, VOA is possible again, but not the ones previously available with agency sponsorship.

Anyone using that now is coming into the country with an approved invitation letter.

On a slightly different subject, I noticed for the first time that the visa on arrival office was manned & there were foreigners at the desk filling in forms just like it was open for business as usual. Just an observation though!

-@goodolboy

Yes, VOA is possible again, but not the ones previously available with agency sponsorship.

Anyone using that now is coming into the country with an approved invitation letter.
-@OceanBeach92107

Ahhhh that explains it then. There must have been 20+ people there (mostly young & lets say of Western appearance") at the time I passed through so quite a few people must be getting the requisite approval invitation.

Again on a slightly off tack observation out here at Celadon City when I moved here it was sort of a hidden paradise, with very very few ex pats. Now recently there are literally dozens of them/us & when I manage to have a chat they are all English Teachers.

Last week at Moc Bai my evisa was also not scrutinised and I was stamped for 15 days only. Good job I checked the stamp and immediately saw this before leaving the desk. There was a very unhappy face when I pointed out my evisa was for 30 days but the dates were corrected accordingly; the 2nd officer checking the stamps had a very long and close look at the obviously-altered dates on the stamp before waving me through. No monies requested or paid either.

Last week at Moc Bai my evisa was also not scrutinised and I was stamped for 15 days only. Good job I checked the stamp and immediately saw this before leaving the desk. There was a very unhappy face when I pointed out my evisa was for 30 days but the dates were corrected accordingly; the 2nd officer checking the stamps had a very long and close look at the obviously-altered dates on the stamp before waving me through. No monies requested or paid either.
-@FforestFach

Good spot that, just gotta hope when you check out 30 days from now the altered dates dont give you problems!

Last week at Moc Bai my evisa was also not scrutinised and I was stamped for 15 days only. Good job I checked the stamp and immediately saw this before leaving the desk. There was a very unhappy face when I pointed out my evisa was for 30 days but the dates were corrected accordingly; the 2nd officer checking the stamps had a very long and close look at the obviously-altered dates on the stamp before waving me through. No monies requested or paid either.
-@FforestFach

Brings to mind a sad story someone posted in the forum awhile back (2018?) about not having checked the "permission to remain"/"Được phép tạm trú đến" stamp before leaving the entry point on arrival at SGN.

I'm pretty sure they were on a 1-year tourist visa which normally allowed a 90 day stay before needing to exit the country.

Unfortunately, when they finally had cause to check the stamp in their passport they discovered they'd only been granted permission to stay for 30 days.

It's possible that a trip to immigration and coffee money might have gotten it fixed, but the moral is, it's always been wise to double check before leaving the counter, just as one might double count their money before leaving the teller cage (a habit I learned in the army).