3 Year TRC (Temporary Residence Card) without work permit

mtgmike wrote:

Thanks much!  I'll give her a call.  I'm just finding out I may have some other issues with my DN visa from last year, I put a separate post about that on the forum.

As you noted in your new thread, you are facing some serious problems with your current Visa.

Some of us highly recommend this forum member (she posted earlier in this thread) for legal assistance:

https://www.expat.com/forum/profile.php … mp;lang=en

I actually have her on retainer now for possible future legal needs.

Good luck!

Hi everyone

Anyone has any idea the procedure to renew the trc which is spouse sponsored and the cost of it

Thanks

I read through both threads since I qualify for both options.  I have every document required for the investor TRC, just received my work permit exemption this week.  Have a DT visa, active company.

I am also married to VN citizen.

Is there any advantage to either of the TRC?  From what I read it appears the biggest drawback is that the longest I can get the investor TRC is the length of my work permit exemption, which is two years.  Are the marriage-based TRC always three years?

Also, it appears when one expires, you have to apply for a new one all over again.  If you have an investor TRC would that require a new DT visa just to apply for the TRC since it is a requirement of getting an investor TRC or will they use the current TRC in lieu of needing a new DT visa?  If the visa is required to apply that makes it twice as expensive.

Marlan123 wrote:

Anyone has any idea the procedure to renew the trc which is spouse sponsored and the cost of it

Based on the timeline at the beginning of this thread, at least some individuals would have passed the 3 year mark sometime near the beginning of this year.  It would seem logical that it would be renewable as long as you are still married, but stranger things have happened in the world of Vietnamese visas and residency.

Marlan123 wrote:

Hi everyone

Anyone has any idea the procedure to renew the trc which is spouse sponsored and the cost of it

Thanks

Google it and 20 sites will come up with the process. Just go to 196 (?) NTMK Immigration office and they'll give you the forms and you can easily do it yourself (i.e, your wife will    ) She gets one page to fill out and have the police sign. You fill out another with your passport, etc. Then you need the marriage doc and if married overseas it has to be registered in VN now at an office in D1.  It was... $150 or so? I forget offhand but not very much.

snoopcat wrote:

Just go to 196 (?) NTMK Immigration office and they'll give you the forms and you can easily do it yourself (i.e, your wife will    ) She gets one page to fill out and have the police sign. You fill out another with your passport, etc. Then you need the marriage doc and if married overseas it has to be registered in VN now at an office in D1.  It was... $150 or so? I forget offhand but not very much.

Is that a first application or a renewal?  It sounds more like a first application.  Did you have to provide all the marriage documents a second time?  It seems that the second round should be simpler.  It is with the work permit.  However it is Vietnam so you never know.

Which immigration office in HCMC issues TRC ?

254 Nguyen Trai   OR   196 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai ?

NTMK is the one you go to.

That other one is for VN, I think. 333 NT is for foreigners but for special issues,  not normal application stuff.

I would like to ask if anyone can recommend an agent or lawyer I can go to to help get a TRC. I'm not married and not on a work permit and seek to have a TRC in order to make life easier with banks. Thanks for any suggestion

Fancybear wrote:

I would like to ask if anyone can recommend an agent or lawyer I can go to to help get a TRC. I'm not married and not on a work permit and seek to have a TRC in order to make life easier with banks. Thanks for any suggestion

Not married and not on a work permit?  Are you an owner or member of a company?  Are you a student in a government approved program?  Are you an immediate relative of a TRC holder?

If the answer is no to any or all of the questions above, then forget about agent or lawyer, you'll not be able to obtain a real TRC.

Fancybear wrote:

I would like to ask if anyone can recommend an agent or lawyer I can go to to help get a TRC. I'm not married and not on a work permit and seek to have a TRC in order to make life easier with banks. Thanks for any suggestion

Starting up your own company is your only option.

no, not married, not on a work permit, no relative and not a student on govt approved visa. I had read if I register my own company I can get a resident card. the main thing is the banks need it it seems. I will not waste time on lawyer if this is the case..if it's useless.

Thanks for your reply by the way. I am grateful for this. I will quit Vietnam after 6 years of  the past 10 if this is the case. To be forced to get a job with WP, or marry, or become a student, or have relatives..none of which I can do (nor want too do). Just wanted to stay retired on tourist visas, Seems impossible. I have a decent chunk of cash..enough to buy  a condo. Have considered that route though but think it won't help with resident card. bank require a 12 month visa for time deposit or res card, so it is beyond me I think.

Fancybear wrote:

Thanks for your reply by the way. I am grateful for this. I will quit Vietnam after 6 years of  the past 10 if this is the case. To be forced to get a job with WP, or marry, or become a student, or have relatives..none of which I can do (nor want too do). Just wanted to stay retired on tourist visas, Seems impossible. I have a decent chunk of cash..enough to buy  a condo. Have considered that route though but think it won't help with resident card. bank require a 12 month visa for time deposit or res card, so it is beyond me I think.

Pretty much the same in all countries.

yes, indeed. The financial system is always a tool of state to surveil and look at how to steer people

Fancybear wrote:

yes, indeed. The financial system is always a tool of state to surveil and look at how to steer people

Open a company and get up to a 5 year TRC.

Fancybear wrote:

Thanks for your reply by the way. I am grateful for this. I will quit Vietnam after 6 years of  the past 10 if this is the case. To be forced to get a job with WP, or marry, or become a student, or have relatives..none of which I can do (nor want too do). Just wanted to stay retired on tourist visas, Seems impossible. I have a decent chunk of cash..enough to buy  a condo. Have considered that route though but think it won't help with resident card. bank require a 12 month visa for time deposit or res card, so it is beyond me I think.

If you have enough cash and/or income, Thailand may be your best bet. You can find a lot of information about the retirement Visa there on the Thailand forum

Your next problem will be how to get that chunk of cash out of Vietnam IF you did not declare it in the first place!  LOL.

That is interesting. I will look into that next week. Actually, I did ask a lawyer recently via email...and they said $1300 for me to set up a company which sponsors me with a TRC and then $400 for the TRC itself. I balked a bit at this but it could still be worth looking at. Thanks for your replies

the amount of money needing to be kept in the account in Thailand would limit other income generating activities I fear. But thanks for your suggestion. I will look again at it. I don't have a pension with income from that on a monthly basis.

LSP123 wrote:

Your next problem will be how to get that chunk of cash out of Vietnam IF you did not declare it in the first place!  LOL.

I just asked my bank, who I have been with since 2011, and they said that I must show the papertrail of what I did with my money from the transfers. I have bought and sold land, they want to see all the documents relating to this.

If you transfer the money into Viet Nam and have all the relevant documents, plus you left the money in the bank all that time, it's easy enough to transfer it out.

My wife can put money into a term deposit for 3 months, then transfer it out with the relevant residence visa from my country. She doesnt have to prove where the money came from, but I do.

Fancybear wrote:

the amount of money needing to be kept in the account in Thailand would limit other income generating activities I fear. But thanks for your suggestion. I will look again at it. I don't have a pension with income from that on a monthly basis.

Thailand sounds like your best option or move to Tay Ninh and you can do a visa run round trip in two hours. 😀

Yes sir, different rules apply for foreign expats, of course..

I have a clear paper trail from a separate institution inside Vietnam from which the money arrived in the banking system. I wasn't depositing physical cash at banks but was  doing so via a regulated verified  institution inside Vietnam which I did investment activities with

Fancybear wrote:

I have a clear paper trail from a separate institution inside Vietnam from which the money arrived in the banking system. I wasn't depositing physical cash at banks but was  doing so via a regulated verified  institution inside Vietnam which I did investment activities with

Did the money stay in the bank at all times, thats my point.

good idea. I liked Tay Ninh. Quiet town and nice.

Fancybear wrote:

good idea. I liked Tay Ninh. Quiet town and nice.

Moc Bai is just an hours drive south of there.

yes. The money stayed within the bank. My passport match between the 2 institutions. It's transparent to regulators as to how the money got to the bank it sits  in.

yes, thats's right. I love provincial Vietnam. Have spent almost 2 years out in the provinces with a bit of Laos and Thailand too in between when on visa runs.

Fancybear wrote:

yes. The money stayed within the bank. My passport match between the 2 institutions. It's transparent to regulators as to how the money got to the bank it sits  in.

You should be fine to transfer it out.