Visa Run Hanoi > ??? > Saigon

Go to a travel agency and try for an extension.  You can probably get at least one three-month extension, some people get two.

you can get visa extensions without leaving Vietnam - try as above - some expats who live and work in VN have conections - talk to people - you can also get extensions in Hue - if you are worried about taxi fares - take a bus - prearrange you fare - or you could walk ?

if you near danang, it has a international airport. You could fly to Cambodia and see the temples.

mtgmike wrote:

Hello.

I have a U.S. passport.  My visa extension for Vietnam expires December 1st.  I have to leave Vietnam to get a new visa.

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Clarify "My visa extension...".  How many have you had already?  Or you got your max 2 and can extend no more?

mtgmike wrote:

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I've read on the US gov. website that I can stay in Thailand for 30 days without a visa if I arrive there by air.

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Correct, 30 days if arrive by air, 15 if by land (sounds like Paul Revere doesn't it?)

As a US Citizen you also have these nearby countries (and SARs) to go to that are Visa-free.

Japan
South Korea
Hong Kong (One of Two Special Administrative Region of China)
Macau (the other Special Administrative Region of China)
Taiwan
Philippeans
Brunei
Singapore

This map will help you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requi … _nationals


Holy crap....I didn't realize Australia gave us more of a hard-time than New Zealand.  Always thought it was Visa free.

Hey, sorry I should have been more specific.

I've had my visa extended twice for 3 months each already, so I've been in the country about 8 months.  My extension guy told me I have to leave the country this time and come back on a new visa.

I'm in the far northwest of Vietnam near Lao Cai, between Laos and China, about 8 hours northwest of Hanoi.

Very cool map by the way, thanks for that.

I was thinking Thailand because I figured airfare food and lodging might be fairly inexpensive.

The Cambodia temples thing sounds interesting as well.

Cambodia is very cheap and worth a trip if you haven't seen the amazing temples of Angkor Wat. Worth a trip if you have to fly somewhere plus I did read that you can get cheap tourist visas for nam there.

mtgmike wrote:

Hey, sorry I should have been more specific.

I've had my visa extended twice for 3 months each already, so I've been in the country about 8 months.  My extension guy told me I have to leave the country this time and come back on a new visa.

I'm in the far northwest of Vietnam near Lao Cai, between Laos and China, about 8 hours northwest of Hanoi.

Very cool map by the way, thanks for that.

I was thinking Thailand because I figured airfare food and lodging might be fairly inexpensive.

The Cambodia temples thing sounds interesting as well.

You're welcome.  It took me a few hours to hand-draw that.  Hard to color the USA solid red with just a red pen. 

Just curious, what made you eliminate going into China or Laos and turn around for the Visa deal as options?  It seems you are closer to the border gates than Hà Nội.

Hi, I am assuming your asking for info? from what i have read and understand you only need to go to a travel agent to get an extension, some being better than others , good luck

I've read that Chinese visa runs can be a bit expensive and involved.  From what I understand I'd need to arrange and pay for a visa for China, then get to a city in China where I can get a visa for Vietnam, then come back.  I just hear it's a bit more time consuming, expensive, and iffy.

The closest border crossing for Laos is Dien Bien Phu to Muang Khua, then I'd have to get somewhere else after that to get a vietnamese Visa.  That sounds like a lot of bus riding.  I looked at the map and I don't think I want to do it this way.

I checked prices on Vietnam Airlines from Hanoi to Bangkok and Bangkok to Saigon, and it's in the 360,000-400,000 dong range.  I think that's not so bad considering I was planning to fly from Hanoi to Saigon anyway if I didn't need to leave Vietnam.

I'll check out prices on flights to Cambodia.

Last time I flew into to Saigon I got a 3 month visa on arrival online beforehand, so I was planning on doing that again hopefully.  If I go via Thailand it sounds like the only visa I need to worry about at that point is the visa for Vietnam.

mtgmike wrote:

I've read that Chinese visa runs can be a bit expensive and involved.  From what I understand I'd need to arrange and pay for a visa for China, then get to a city in China where I can get a visa for Vietnam, then come back.  I just hear it's a bit more time consuming, expensive, and iffy.

The closest border crossing for Laos is Dien Bien Phu to Muang Khua, then I'd have to get somewhere else after that to get a vietnamese Visa.  That sounds like a lot of bus riding.  I looked at the map and I don't think I want to do it this way.

I checked prices on Vietnam Airlines from Hanoi to Bangkok and Bangkok to Saigon, and it's in the 360,000-400,000 dong range.  I think that's not so bad considering I was planning to fly from Hanoi to Saigon anyway if I didn't need to leave Vietnam.

I'll check out prices on flights to Cambodia.

Last time I flew into to Saigon I got a 3 month visa on arrival online beforehand, so I was planning on doing that again hopefully.  If I go via Thailand it sounds like the only visa I need to worry about at that point is the visa for Vietnam.

Thailand and Combodia would be good idea. For Thailand, it's cheaper flying from Hanoi to Bangkok (compared to from Saigon). They have cheap flight on Vietjet air (budget airlines), the service is not so good but it's okay for your purpose (it should not cost you more than 150$/ round trip HAN-BKK). Wait! You just said 400k on VNA? Take VNA as that's the best price! Good luck!

Okay thanks for the info!  I'm leaning towards Thailand.