Visa advise

    I understand that you can get a 90 day visa for Vietnam which you apply for online. So after the 90 days you must leave the country to renew it?   How do you actually renew it though? 

Tourist eVisas cannot be renewed. One must apply for a new eVisa only at the official gov't eVisa web portal, here (Link).

The "(valid) Until" date (i.e. the "end-date") on one's current eVisa can be the same as the "Good for entry valid from" date on the new eVisa, the eVisas thereby running consecutively. This allows for what is colloquially referred to as a "border run".

Do you have to apply online again and wait in the other country?   

There were reports from a couple of months ago of some members having their applications denied, with a notice that eVisa applications were for "Outside Vietnam foreigners".

That said, there have been very few (none?) of those reports of late, the majority of members reporting success in their applications whilst still in VN.

Is there anyway around leaving such as paying an agency to take care of it?

No. In order to activate a new eVisa, one must physically present at one of VN's recognized int'l border crossings, exit VN, enter/exit through customs at the destination country and then reenter VN.

  If so how much does it generally cost?

N/A

Thank you  -@shenpa

You're quite welcome. I hope this answers your questions, but should you need clarification or have further questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us again.

@Aidan in HCMC but I still don't understand the exact process.  So say I'm living there with a 90 day visa. I then need to do a visa run by leaving the country.  But how do I apply for the new one?  Do I do it online once I'm in the other country? Or can I do it wherever I am then I just print it out and take with me?   Please clarify the exact process.

    @Aidan in HCMC but I still don't understand the exact process.  So say I'm living there with a 90 day visa. I then need to do a visa run by leaving the country. 

Correct.

But how do I apply for the new one?

'Tourist eVisas cannot be renewed. One must apply for a new eVisa ...' (Link).

Do I do it online once I'm in the other country? Or can I do it wherever I am...

'There were reports from a couple of months ago of some members having their applications denied, with a notice that eVisa applications were for "Outside Vietnam foreigners".

That said, there have been very few (none?) of those reports of late, the majority of members reporting success in their applications whilst still in VN.' (Link)

...then I just print it out and take with me?   Please clarify the exact process.       -@shenpa

'In order to activate a new eVisa, one must physically present at one of VN's recognized int'l border crossings, exit VN, enter/exit through customs at the destination country and then reenter VN.' (Link)

@Aidan in HCMC

So people apply online in Vietnam before they leave to do the visa run and they take a print out of a letter? Is that correct?

On the evisa website should you put your Vietnam address? I presume that could work against you?

    @Aidan in HCMC
So people apply online in Vietnam before they leave to do the visa run and they take a print out of a letter? Is that correct?
On the evisa website should you put your Vietnam address? I presume that could work against you?
   

    -@shenpa

NEVER put a CURRENT address in Vietnam, except for in the section where it asks where you WILL (future) be staying in Vietnam.

Please seriously consider using an agent for a worry-free process.

So people apply online in Vietnam before they leave to do the visa run and they take a print out of a letter? Is that correct?

Yes, that would be the preference of most people (a printout of their new eVisa). It would certainly be the most economical/convenient/quickest way to extend one's stay (for another 90 days). There is however, according to reports from members a couple of months back, the possibility of an application being denied due to it having been made in-country.

Some members have opted to use the services of a known, trusted agency to submit the application on their behalf.

On the evisa website should you put your Vietnam address? I presume that could work against you?        -@shenpa

It would not be advisable to input a VN address in the "Permanent residential address" field of the application. If the applicant is here in VN applying for an additional consecutive 90-day tourist eVisa, the VN immigration office will not recognize a VN address as being "permanent". If one wishes to input an address, I'd suggest using the address in one's home country.

Fortunately, the question of what to enter in this field is rendered moot by the fact that it is not an obligatory field.

@OceanBeach92107 apparently you can no longer apply from within Vietnam for evisa anyway. You have to leave and do outside.

    @OceanBeach92107 apparently you can no longer apply from within Vietnam for evisa anyway. You have to leave and do outside.
   

    -@shenpa

“apparently“ you haven't read my countless posts on this subject.

It's happening successfully EVERY day.

I'm a Face.book group moderator/admin for two groups in the Đà Nẵng/Hội An area, and foreigners are regularly reporting successfully applying for their next e-visa while still here in Vietnam.

Some are applying without an agent and many are using the main local visa agent who is doing bus trips to and from the border twice a week.

I referred one of our regular forum members to that agent and their next e-visa was quickly approved without problem.

I recently assisted my Aussie neighbors when they applied for a new e-visa, making sure they filled out the application correctly.

They were approved quickly, in less than a week.

@OceanBeach92107 I guess you need to leave enough time in case that doesn't work out and you have to apply again outside the country. The video I watched on YouTube reports that this is the case. That they know where you are when applying because they can see if you've left the country or not etc and that your visa may be refused

    @OceanBeach92107 I guess you need to leave enough time in case that doesn't work out and you have to apply again outside the country.

But, that's not what you said. You had said, "apparently you can no longer apply from within Vietnam for evisa anyway. You have to leave and do outside." I'm curious as to the source of that information.

The video I watched on YouTube reports that this is the case. That they know where you are when applying because they can see if you've left the country or not etc and that your visa may be refused   -@shenpa      (emphasis mine)       

A few months ago I had posted on a different thread 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." (Link to post from January). Has me wondering whether the author of the YouTube video you watched is a member/reader of this forum.

shenpa, and casual readers of the forum alike, please understand that when we respond to a member's queries that we do so with forethought and with experience. We have dealt with similar issues/questions on an almost daily basis, in the case of some of our contributing members, for years. The last thing we would wish to do is to steer a member in the wrong direction.