Latest news on visas

@pogiwayne Thank you :-) do you mean that it is possible to ask a new evisa without leaving ? but how to get the stamp for 3 months on the passport 

@pogiwayne

Thank you for your suggestion, I will try it

    @pogiwayne Thank you :-) do you mean that it is possible to ask a new evisa without leaving ? but how to get the stamp for 3 months on the passport  -@sergefaure

You can submit a new application (and pay the $25again) for a new eVisa while you are still in Vietnam.

DO NOT state a VN address as your home address.

With any new eVisa, you must exit and reenter VN to activate it (and to get your 3 month passport stamp).

@Aidan in HCMC Thank you so much :-)  this will reduce my exit from Vietnam in may :-)

@OceanBeach92107

is the 1 year business Visa still the same process and investment amount?

Many thanks for your input!

    @OceanBeach92107
is the 1 year business Visa still the same process and investment amount?

Many thanks for your input!
   

    -@WindandSea

Unfortunately for some, that's a big no.

No further business visas (like the ones US citizens used to be able to get) without a legitimate, government approved sponsorship letter from an employer.

@Aidan in HCMC are you 100% certain we can apply for 3 month eVisa while we are currently in the country?    Using our international address outside Vietnam is the loop hole, correct? 

    @Aidan in HCMC are you 100% certain we can apply for 3 month eVisa while we are currently in the country?    Using our international address outside Vietnam is the loop hole, correct?        -@WindandSea

I believe I had already answered you when you PM'ed me about some "...new registration...(?)".

Hi Aiden, What is the new registration stating e-Visa must be applied for after existing Vietnam?   Is there any way around this?  -@WindandSea

I replied...

I'm unaware of any change to the eVisa application. You might want to ask this in the forum for other members to give some input. Also, take a look at this recent thread https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 79#5822757 .  -@Aidan in HCMC

There is no "loop hole". Answer the questions on the application truthfully.

You might want to consider using the services of an agency should this prove difficult.

Hello everyone ! best wishes for 2024 !

I am sorry to ask that but can' t find requirements for photo to upload : " photograph (straight looking without glasses)  " doesn't t tell anything about background color and size of picture...

Thank you to share any link  :-)

    Hello everyone ! best wishes for 2024 !
I am sorry to ask that but can' t find requirements for photo to upload : " photograph (straight looking without glasses)  " doesn't t tell anything about background color and size of picture...

Thank you to share any link  :-)
        -@sergefaure

Though the immigration faq  page no longer exists, when it did it stated...

Completing the e-Visa application

1. What photos are required for the application?

Two photos of the applicant must be uploaded:

-Portrait photo (4x6cm): Looking straight and without glasses.

-Passport data page: Full page including photo, personal information and ICAO lines.

Not much help. At all! (How do you upload 4X6cm?)

If I recall reports correctly,

the background must be a solid, light colour (preferably white), not a landscape (traffic/bushes/ocean/whatever).

the photo must be in colour

no shadows or bright spots.

I have no idea of pixel size, as no members have reported trouble in trying to upload a too large shot.

Try to take a pic which looks as much like a passport pic as you can. My bet is that they'll accept it.

" the background must be a solid, light colour (preferably white) "  :-)   this is ok for me, I didn' t remember about white ( which is forbidden for french document... :-( why ? i am not able to know, probably an idea of one of our countless civil servant technicians )

Thank you so much

⚠️ Warning ⚠️ for Anyone Needing a Visa to enter Vietnam immediately before or during or immediately after TẾT Lunar New Year:

Please carefully read the information in THIS THREAD (LINK)

@Aidan in HCMC absolutely correct. There is no loophole. I answered everything correctly on the official evisa website and was told that I have to leave the country first. I then went to an agency here in Hanoi and they said the same...I must leave the country first and initiate the application process after leaving. Option #1: I do it myself through evisa and stay out of country until approval is granted (wait of several business days). Option #2: use the service of an agency. They initiate the application process as soon as I leave the country and fast track it. They claim they will have it approved and in my inbox in approx 4 hours if my information meets all requirements. Since I am in country now that should not be an issue. Stay tuned. The common thread at this point is that applicants "have to leave the country" before the application is submitted.

Just to be on the safe side....take your stuff with you incase the approval hits a snag.

It's not a good feeling waiting on that email.

I met a guy in Bangkok that was waiting 2 weeks due to some delay .....toothbrush & a spare pair of jocks as a minimum ration kit.

Good luck mate.

@Ontheroad57 thanks mate...I hear you on that one. Sometimes the simplest thing can throw a snag into a process. My evisa application is still active. They advised me to leave the country, edit the changes to my application and reapply once I am situated beyond the border. Assuredly, I will be traveling with more than a toothbrush.

I received approval for 3 previous evisa applications in the past two years while I was in Vietnam. The final approval, of course, was exiting on the old visa and re-entering on the new approved one. Either they have changed the policy or the accurate details of my previous applications were not detected. In this most current case I was snagged, not because I had done anything wrong or given inaccurate information, but because I was in country and the regulation states clearly (which I honestly missed before) that you have to be outside Vietnam to apply for an evisa entry. Lesson learned.

As an update for anyone that is interested. This morning I got a message from my friend & long serving trusted visa agent of 10+ years that with immediate effect they will not be processing new e visa's for people who are still in Vietnam. They are also suspending the organised Moc Bai visa runs as of Sat 17th Feb. until further notice.

On a personal note I am lucky as my new 90 days e visa starts Sat 20th & the visa run is still on for that date.

Knowing my visa agent all these years & never been let me down she is one of the longest standing agents here in HCMC & if she has felt the need to take this action it must be serious.

Sign of things to come I suppose.

Reports of people doing the "border bounce" between Thailand & neighboring countries being told its a minimum 24 hour turnaround.

Some of those border towns aren't the prettiest places to hang out.

I suppose you could chew out the hours in one of those sketchy border casinos. 

    As an update for anyone that is interested. This morning I got a message from my friend & long serving trusted visa agent of 10+ years that with immediate effect they will not be processing new e visa's for people who are still in Vietnam. They are also suspending the organised Moc Bai visa runs as of Sat 17th Feb. until further notice.
    -@goodolboy

My long-time visa agent friend in Hanoi just posted the same thing on Face.book yesterday.

She's not involved with any type of visa border runs via land border crossings, but she has had clients doing visa run flights to/from Laos.

No more.

I followed up with a private message to her and she's definitely not doing any more new visa applications for anyone here in Vietnam.

She definitely said that immigration won't allow it anymore.

Now I'm waiting to see if the main visa agent here in Đà Nẵng will also be suspending her bus trips to Lao Bảo and ceasing assistantance with new evisas for people physically here in Vietnam.

Looks like it's a real crackdown, and unless a person can fool the official website, or unless they also have 45 day visa exemption status, there are going to be a lot of people taking short vacations in another country between visas.

I've always thought that wouldn't be so bad: spending 1 or 2 weeks somewhere else in SEA every 3 months, as long as that doesn't cause financial hardship.

...Now I'm waiting to see if the main visa agent here in Đà Nẵng will also be suspending her bus trips to Lao Bảo and ceasing assistantance with new evisas for people physically here in Vietnam.

I suspect, according to recent trends, that the bus runs certainly will be suspended.

Seems there are quite a number of individuals averse to completing the online eVisa application, solo (for whatever reason). I do hope the agents can accommodate these individuals by completing for them, and then holding, the individual's application until the agent receives confirmation from the applicant that they have exited VN.

Looks like it's a real crackdown, and unless a person can fool the official website, or unless they also have 45 day visa exemption status, there are going to be a lot of people taking short vacations in another country between visas.

I'm not sure if I'd describe it as a crackdown, as that has a bit of a punitive ring to it. Rather, there appears to be an internal restructuring being implemented within the VN immigration ministry. Recall until recently there being two application portals, and two distinctly different eVisa applications. Add to that some recent posts from members where two people travelling together submit their applications, resulting in one being approved and the other requiring amendments. This, in spite of both applications containing the same information. I had written earlier in a different thread, "I'm really getting the sense that there is some sort of power-play at work within the VN political/immigration bureaucracy." I believe that what we are witnessing now is the result of some sort of compromise/resolution between different departmental factions.

I would caution anybody against trying to game the system. It matters not how one completes the online application (i.e. truthfully or otherwise). The fact remains that the VN immigration officer reviewing the application will be acutely aware of whether the applicant is applying from within VN (or not) by virtue of the fact that the applicant's passport has/hasn't been scanned as exiting at a border crossing. In light of this, any shenanigans performed in the completion of an application would not only prove fruitless, but could potentially result in undesirable consequences (eg. denied future entry).

I've always thought that wouldn't be so bad: spending 1 or 2 weeks somewhere else in SEA every 3 months, as long as that doesn't cause financial hardship.
        -@OceanBeach92107

LOL. Agreed, and I can almost hear it now.

"Jeez, darling, I'd love to take you with me to Pattaya, but it's just so darn expensive. I'll be back real soon."

@goodolboy well, this is a far cry from the self-righteous stance that you took earlier on my Vietnam Visa Revisited post. I had the intestinal fortitude to solve my little hiccup by reading between the lines on several post from helpful contributors, contacting Immigration via an informed friend, and totally ignoring unhelpful commentary. Agreeing to disagree is one thing but posting snarly uninformed info from your bartenders sweetheart is not and will never be helpful. Btw, I've been here over 20 years...but evidently, being in country does not make any of us, including Vietnamese, experts on Vietnam policies & processes. Good luck with your next run. The times they are a changin...

    @goodolboy well, this is a far cry from the self-righteous stance that you took earlier on my Vietnam Visa Revisited post. I had the intestinal fortitude to solve my little hiccup by reading between the lines on several post from helpful contributors, contacting Immigration via an informed friend, and totally ignoring unhelpful commentary. Agreeing to disagree is one thing but posting snarly uninformed info from your bartenders sweetheart is not and will never be helpful. Btw, I've been here over 20 years...but evidently, being in country does not make any of us, including Vietnamese, experts on Vietnam policies & processes. Good luck with your next run. The times they are a changin...        -@redislandar

Well I have never ever been one to post information from as you state.............................posting snarly uninformed info from your bartenders sweetheart, I tend to post actual information as experienced personally! so get it right!!....been here 20 years but still need help on a forum to fill in the e visa application.......yea right your info says you started coming here in 2014 FFS

It's obvious Immigration is aware of the recurring trend of Agents worming their way back into the game & people living long term on tourist Visas....and likely working illegally.

That was the main reason for the shakeout before....drain the swamp & start again. But it's looking like the same old game again.

A good VN friend in " gubberment" told me off the record , VN wants Lifters , not Leaners. 

That being married guys supporting a VN family, Investor Visa pumping cash, English teachers skilling their kids up for possible future employment opportunities abroad & Tourists with short term higher daily spend.

Makes sense.....they don't want broke Economic refugees loitering around the Bia hoi' joints living cheap ....leaning on their low cost economy.  Even though those people still spend some money....the powers that be don't see it that way. 

Who knows what's next.....maybe a schengen type arrangement.   Personally , it's no way to live like that....you may as well become a traveller & float around on 90 day visas here & there in countries that do not require a Visa application .  I've found 187 of those on this planet & left VN when the purge was on before.

If you can do better.....do better , plenty of nice places around.

        As an update for anyone that is interested. This morning I got a message from my friend & long serving trusted visa agent of 10+ years that with immediate effect they will not be processing new e visa's for people who are still in Vietnam. They are also suspending the organised Moc Bai visa runs as of Sat 17th Feb. until further notice.    -@goodolboy

My long-time visa agent friend in Hanoi just posted the same thing on Face.book yesterday.

She's not involved with any type of visa border runs via land border crossings, but she has had clients doing visa run flights to/from Laos.

No more.

I followed up with a private message to her and she's definitely not doing any more new visa applications for anyone here in Vietnam.

She definitely said that immigration won't allow it anymore.

Now I'm waiting to see if the main visa agent here in Đà Nẵng will also be suspending her bus trips to Lao Bảo and ceasing assistantance with new evisas for people physically here in Vietnam.

Looks like it's a real crackdown, and unless a person can fool the official website, or unless they also have 45 day visa exemption status, there are going to be a lot of people taking short vacations in another country between visas.

I've always thought that wouldn't be so bad: spending 1 or 2 weeks somewhere else in SEA every 3 months, as long as that doesn't cause financial hardship.
   

    -@OceanBeach92107

ADDED NOTE:

I just spoke with the main visa agent in Đà Nẵng about the situation.

She says she's still able to assist foreigners in Vietnam with getting a new evisa, and her bus trips to Lao Bảo are continuing as scheduled twice a week.

She made a point of mentioning that she can't help with emergency/last minute applications, so it's best if people contact her well in advance of their current expiration date (10 days to 2 weeks ahead of time).

AND...she says it complicates the matter if you first attempt to apply online and are rejected.

Much easier to contact the agent before getting rejected online.

ADDED NOTE:

I just spoke with the main visa agent in Đà Nẵng about the situation.

She says she's still able to assist foreigners in Vietnam with getting a new evisa, and her bus trips to Lao Bảo are continuing as scheduled twice a week.

She made a point of mentioning that she can't help with emergency/last minute applications, so it's best if people contact her well in advance of their current expiration date (10 days to 2 weeks ahead of time).
   

    -@OceanBeach92107

Thanks for the update OB,  thats a glimmer of hope. Might have to look into changing agent but after all these years of trouble free visa approvals from my agent in HCMC I would be very sorry to drop her & lose a friend.

@goodolboy

Keep her on retainer?

    It's obvious Immigration is aware of the recurring trend of Agents worming their way back into the game & people living long term on tourist Visas....and likely working illegally.
That was the main reason for the shakeout before....drain the swamp & start again. But it's looking like the same old game again

.............exactly what I have been thinking for a while now, it has reverted back to just like before the last crack down.I do the regular 3 monthly visa run to MocBai & on that bus at least 75% of the people on that bus are people working as English teachers here on tourist visa's.

A good VN friend in " gubberment" told me off the record ,
That being married guys supporting a VN family

,.............. well not a guy married to Vietnamese lady but have been with Ms My for 5 years & supported her 2 kids going through school since then......do I qualify as a good guy??

English teachers skilling their kids up for possible future employment opportunities abroad.

...............that one makes me laugh, from my understanding the Vietnam gov made it mandatory that English teachers must come from countries where English is their native tongue. As most on here know I live outside the main ex pat enclaves (at Tan Phu) & I know 3 Iranian, 1 French & 1 Rumanian persons all teaching English out here & 1 Iranian actually teaches in a state school during the day & private school nights.

Makes sense.....they don't want broke Economic refugees loitering around the Bia hoi' joints living cheap ....leaning on their low cost economy.  Even though those people still spend some money....the powers that be don't see it that way

. .............only talking from my own situation, but helping in a small way my visa agent keep her office & employees working, vacations inside Vietnam at least once every 2 months (mostly using Vietjet), flying to Europe Biz Class once a year (this time with the state airline), paying my Vietnamese landlord 15 million a month, paying EVN about 1 million a month, paying my apartment management fee 1.5 million monthly, spending in excess of 5 million on groceries etc if you tally that lot up it is far more in a year than your average tourist spends in a 2 week holiday & definitely more than typical backpacker you see on holiday here. & I suspect there are more like me.
-@Ontheroad57

    AND...she says it complicates the matter if you first attempt to apply online and are rejected. Much easier to contact the agent before getting rejected online.        -@OceanBeach92107

Exactly & money well spent

    @goodolboy
Keep her on retainer? -@Aidan in HCMC

She is a really nice lady but not sure about the retainer though!!

@goodolboy

I was in a similar  situation as you.....my old apartment that I rented for double the locals rate, repainted it twice, replaced the internal plumbing, toilet,  taps , lights , fixed windows & anything needed replacement I did myself at my own cost over nearly 10 years.

Ate out twice a day, bought scooters for friends, bicycles , electronics , holidays abroad etc etc.....BUT I didn't fit the model they apparently wanted according to my VN govt friend. 

It's all about business...relationships included.  It's also about who is USING who...who's getting the best end of the deal.

So..they see revolving long term visa guys as USING their low cost economy for cheap living only.....it's probably never occurred to them that the guy spends 365 days a year on Food, Accommodation,  services, ..and usually with a local "passenger" on the gravy train as well.   They simply don't see it.

But they see Investor Visa applicants, Married guys supporting a family, Teachers , Business owners employing locals & tourists buying tours as good guys being used .....hence the Lifters & Leaners concept.

By the way...my old apartment sat vacant for ages....and only recently has a local dude moved n there paying only 30% of what I paid  & living like a savage.😀

That's life..Oh....about those "teachers" ....I've noticed on local social media just about every foreigners in the Town I lived has a names ending in IC , IV , OV & O and are canvassing for teaching jobs.😀

-@Ontheroad57

You have not been posting for a while now, where you living these days?

On the road ...is literally" on the road again"...as Wilie Nelson sang.😀

Thailand, Malaysia,  Cambodia , Phillipines & Australia in between.   Currently Malaysia...langkawi,  nice spot.

Haven't posted much since I left VN (actually got punted)   I tried to get a legit Visa from Immigration office , buy they directed me to an Agent.....paid a motza for another fake company sponsored visa...& was assured everything was in order & legit.

So nature took its course & I got rounded up & put on a Connair flight to palookaville.

The agent was MIA...didn't answer calls .

Main reason for my interest in posting was recently meeting some VN evictees in Thailand who paid big money for TRCs .

They were interviewed multiple times by police & immigration about it.  The cops didn't care how long they'd been there,  what they did etc......they just wanted information on the Agents they paid , how much they paid & any details of money transfers.  They want to know who got rich of these scams.

My agent doesn't know it yet , but she's in more trouble than a Gaza strip bricklayer. I kept copies of all her BS emails telling lies, copies of bank transfers, secretly video recorded the meeting of her counting the cash on the big payments , have photos of her office  , her home address , all her Facebook info & photos for biometrics etc.

That has all been put on a file & submitted to BorderForce agencies in the " 5 eyes" countries  , assisted by Federal police in my country.  Dealing in fraudulent immigration documents & sticking them in another countries passport is a major problem.  Human trafficking, people smuggling etc ....it's a messy game to play.

And if your reading this sweetie.....and I know you follow these threads...have a nice day because one day there'll be a knock on your door.  Your on a List 😀

.

    ADDED NOTE: I just spoke with the main visa agent in Đà Nẵng about the situation. She says she's still able to assist foreigners in Vietnam with getting a new evisa, and her bus trips to Lao Bảo are continuing as scheduled twice a week. She made a point of mentioning that she can't help with emergency/last minute applications, so it's best if people contact her well in advance of their current expiration date (10 days to 2 weeks ahead of time).         -@OceanBeach92107

Thanks for the update OB,  thats a glimmer of hope. Might have to look into changing agent but after all these years of trouble free visa approvals from my agent in HCMC I would be very sorry to drop her & lose a friend.
   

    -@goodolboy

I just asked her and she can handle applications from anywhere in Vietnam.

        ADDED NOTE: I just spoke with the main visa agent in Đà Nẵng about the situation. She says she's still able to assist foreigners in Vietnam with getting a new evisa, and her bus trips to Lao Bảo are continuing as scheduled twice a week. She made a point of mentioning that she can't help with emergency/last minute applications, so it's best if people contact her well in advance of their current expiration date (10 days to 2 weeks ahead of time).         -@OceanBeach92107Thanks for the update OB,  thats a glimmer of hope. Might have to look into changing agent but after all these years of trouble free visa approvals from my agent in HCMC I would be very sorry to drop her & lose a friend.         -@goodolboy

I just asked her and she can handle applications from anywhere in Vietnam.
   

    -@OceanBeach92107

Well thats a result thanks. I am off to Moc Bai tomorrow so will be covered up to mid April & good to know all is not lost after that! & I will be in touch if that OK.

            ADDED NOTE: I just spoke with the main visa agent in Đà Nẵng about the situation. She says she's still able to assist foreigners in Vietnam with getting a new evisa, and her bus trips to Lao Bảo are continuing as scheduled twice a week. She made a point of mentioning that she can't help with emergency/last minute applications, so it's best if people contact her well in advance of their current expiration date (10 days to 2 weeks ahead of time).         -@OceanBeach92107Thanks for the update OB,  thats a glimmer of hope. Might have to look into changing agent but after all these years of trouble free visa approvals from my agent in HCMC I would be very sorry to drop her & lose a friend.         -@goodolboy I just asked her and she can handle applications from anywhere in Vietnam.         -@OceanBeach92107

Well thats a result thanks. I am off to Moc Bai tomorrow so will be covered up to mid April & good to know all is not lost after that! & I will be in touch if that OK.
   

    -@goodolboy

Anytime GOB 😎👍

visa run completed, only two of us on the run this time (usually 12 to 15 of us) Moc Bai very quiet  I got picked up outside Big C at 07.30 & was back & dropped off at Big C 11.30. Before my agent was doing a visa run every Saturday but her next run now is 17th Feb & then her visa runs are suspended until further notice. Looking more like plan B!  But hey 90 days is a long time & as we know whats the law today can be history tomorrow.

Just to be clear...because it bears repeating: your sources are saying that as of now our online immigration record will have to indicate that we have exited Vietnam before an accurately completed visa application is processed and potentially approved.

    Just to be clear...because it bears repeating: your sources are saying that as of now our online immigration record will have to indicate that we have exited Vietnam before an accurately completed visa application is processed and potentially approved.
   

    -@redislandar

That's essentially what Aidan has been saying.

    Just to be clear...because it bears repeating: your sources are saying that as of now our online immigration record will have to indicate that we have exited Vietnam before an accurately completed visa application is processed and potentially approved.        -@redislandar

All I can personally contribute on this is what Ms Anna (the agency employee who always accompanies us on the visa run) said when I asked her today:-

As of now, her agency is no longer processing tourist e visa's for any client who is still in Vietnam at the time of e visa request. She advised the best solution in my situation is to come in on the 45 days Visa exempt when my 90 dats are up. Another alternative is to contact their office as soon as I get through immigration on way out as exit will be on their computer system &

1...request a new like standard process tourist e visa taking into account it could be 3 to 5 working days in coming through so I would have to be out of Vietnam a minimum of 3 days & could be longer.

2...request a fast track tourist e visa & she estimated that through her office this would take about 2 days but obviously would cost more.

There is also 2 other solutions

1......for anyone who's country is on the 45 days Visa Exempt & try it back to back (I have 2 x 45 days visa exempt's under my belt) but not back to back so not sure how that would work & how immigration would look at that.

2.....hope that OB's contact can still do the in country tourist e visa's

Again I want to say this is just my agents employee's take on it as of today & things can change quickly

For doing a visa run for how many days should one exit from Vietnam before entering again.

It will be my first time.

Thank you in advance.