3 Year TRC (Temporary Residence Card) without work permit

Hey Guys,

I just came back from the government office to submit the application form for my TRC and the officer asked me whether I wanted a 3 year or 5 year TRC as the price $155 was the same.

Does anyone else know about this option?

Welcome some feedback!

Cheers
Brian

What office did you attend and what is the address please?

There are two immigration offices
254 Nguyen Trai Street, District 1 (Head Office), and;
196 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, Ward 6, District 3 (Immigration office)

I have been told that on the NA8 form point 11, it asks specifically how long you wish to stay in Vietnam. When I asked whether I need to make it 3 years from the date of my application, the officer said I could put 5 years instead as the price was the same.

I spoke to a friend of mine working at the Vietnamese embassy abroad and he advised that on certain occasions, the immigration department may issue a 5 year TRC as opposed to the regular 3 year TRC. It would depend on your profile, reason for staying (adding economic value to the country) and whether your spouse had any strong political influence. If failing all this, a small contribution to the officer retirement fund AKA (Tea money) should land you with a 5 year TRC instead of the regular 3 years.

3 years is the default as the government can earn on the renewal fees as opposed to waiting 5 years to earn renewal fees. But I guess the moral of the story is that unless you ask, you don't learn and you don't get.

Once again, I am just going through this process and sharing my experience along the way. I am in no way implying that I will be granted a 5 year TRC yet, until my application is processed. I will indeed post the outcome of the results once I get it so that the forum can benefit. 

Cheers
Brian

I await the outcome with interest

5 years!
Don't miss the chance! Once you got the TRC for 5 years, of course it is valid even though you pay 'something'    In my application time, they said the maximum is 3 years. It is not the law change always but the (discretionary power) officials 

In regards to the TRC, I have some questions. I am currently married with a Vietnamese women and we have a hotel business located in Can Tho. I am also holding a TRC which will be expiring this July 2016. I applied my TRC with some agency guys and is not tied with any work permit. It's more like my wife sponsor me with a position in the hotel business.

Based on the information above, I like to ask if I am suppose to apply the TRC ourselves at the immigration in HCMC? What is the procedures and how long does it take for it to get approved. Also I heard that when you apply for TRC there are many hindrance like lack of documents and stuff. Please kindly advice.

Thank you.

Brien,

If you are legally tied to the business such as shareholder, director in the business file, your TRC application must state that and the relevant TRC needs to be applied for.

If however you are not legally tied in the business, your wife can sponsor your TRC.

The authorities don't take too kindly on misinformation so plan it carefully. And remember, 5 year TRC is being offered for suitable candidates so ask for it as the default is always 3 years.

BTW, I love the way you mentioned "I'm currently married to a Vietnamese." Don't let the wife hear you talk like that about her. 

P.S

charmavietnam has provided a fantastic step by step guide on what to do above. Follow it carefully and you should reach the other side in around 1-2 weeks depending on your circumstances.

Suggest you contact the closest immigration department, whether that be in your local town or in HCMC.

Cheers
Brian

Hi Brian

I am currently being sponsored by my wife and the business is solely registered under her name. I asked from an agency that did my TRC before and now they told me that to extend/renew I need to pay $800 for one year which I thought is crazily expensive. This is my second TRC now.

I am also looking for becoming a permanent residence in Vietnam and am wondering if my TRC is applicable for the PR.

Again, I like to know if I personally apply for the TRC, is the process going to be tedious or should I just go to an agency to do it as I am currently living in Can Tho. Just don't wish to run up and down with those documents. I don't think Can Tho does TRC.

Thanks for your reply.

Brien,

$800 is a lot of money for something which only cost $155 if you follow the process mention by charmavietnam. Do it yourself is the easiest way as the lawyer/agents will only harass you for the same documents the immigration officers will need and could provide reasons to extend the costs even higher.

I've never renewed a TRC but by the sounds of it, your wife sponsored TRC should be a simple enough process to the one most of us are following. It takes 1-2 weeks at most and you can discuss any supplementary documents required by the immigration office directly with the officer.

Just follow the process and obtain the documents listed by charmavietnam and you should be ok.

Cheers
Brian

Hello everyone,

I would like to ask for my friend case. My friend has one kid with Vietnamese girl but they don't have marriage certificate. So for this case, could my friend  get TRC?

Thank you in advance!

For a spouse sponsorship TRC it is not possible as the immigration department require a certified copy of the marriage certificate. You can go via the work related TRC if that is an option available for your friend.

Cheers
Brian

Hi Guys,

The verdict has been issued and I was given just 3 years TRC although I put 5 years on the application form. Note; I did not pay any tea money at the time of application.

From my experience, a little tea money should have been given at the time of my application which would have secured a 5 year TRC. I believe it's around 2million but get a local or your spouse to ask first. It's entirely down to the officer dealing with your application so it's a rather hit and miss approach to getting a 5 year TRC unless you go down the Work TRC route. Again, if you don't ask you don't get. In my case I didn't pay at the time of application as I was naive to the entire process.

Good luck for all those getting your TRC.

Cheers
Brian

Hellen Thao Vy wrote:

Hello everyone,

I would like to ask for my friend case. My friend has one kid with Vietnamese girl but they don't have marriage certificate. So for this case, could my friend  get TRC?

Thank you in advance!

You did not mention the age of the child.  Since you called her a "kid" I guess all assumed she was young.  If she is of legal age, which I believe is 16 in Vietnam, then based on Charmavietnam's first post it looks like she could be the sponsor. 

charmavietnam wrote:

5. ID card and copies of your Vietnamese spouse/parent/children who is the sponsor.

Maybe a lawyer could get tricky and get a power of attorney for the mother that would let her sponsor the male on behalf of the daughter.

Thank you for the useful information...

THIGV wrote:

Hellen Thao Vy wrote:

Hello everyone,

I would like to ask for my friend case. My friend has one kid with Vietnamese girl but they don't have marriage certificate. So for this case, could my friend  get TRC?

Thank you in advance!

You did not mention the age of the child.  Since you called her a "kid" I guess all assumed she was young.  If she is of legal age, which I believe is 16 in Vietnam, then based on Charmavietnam's first post it looks like she could be the sponsor. 

charmavietnam wrote:

5. ID card and copies of your Vietnamese spouse/parent/children who is the sponsor.

Maybe a lawyer could get tricky and get a power of attorney for the mother that would let her sponsor the male on behalf of the daughter.

Yes, the kid is very young. I should call that "baby" because of under 2 years old. They haven't have plan to make marriage certificate yet and It's very wasting money for service to keep on extending his DL visa here to take care of his baby.

Thank you very much for your answer!

Thanks for your information.  just did mine last week. A lot better than the year visa.

Is it 2mil upfront with no guarantee of the result?  You know what a promise is worth here.

From experience, it's never really been a problem! I suppose it boils down to whether you consider 2m a risk or an opportunity cost.

The cost is proportional to the number of years provided, as a standard TRC is 3.5m for 3 years, so an extra 2m is in line with the additional 2 years.

it would be good if someone actually got it and posted the result in this forum.

Cheers
Brian

At law, there is no 5 years TRC for Vietnamese spouse. It is maximum 3 years. Don't waste your money for something unsure and if sure, illegal.

To Hellen Thao Vy:

The mother can sponsor her child using the Birth Certificate to apply for a TRC. However she cannot sponsor her boyfriend to apply for TRC, which is your friend, I believe. He can only apply for a visa.

Thanks for all the useful info on this thread.  Just submitted my TRC  application. I put 5 years on the application form but the woman explained that spouse TRC is only 3 years maximum. 5 years is for investor TRC. Still, 3 years of not having to think about visa/stamp renewal is a lot better.

NeilS, thanks for at least checking out the possibility. Looks like I was misinformed by the officer during my visit to the immigration office, opportunist in my case. Just goes to show its always worth checking and asking those who have been down this road before.

Cheers
Brian

Hey there, I was hoping you could help me. My marriage certificate is in Dutch/English/French and I've been married in the Netherlands. Is this a problem when I apply for the TRC or is a Dutch/Enlish/French certificate enough proof of being married for the office?

I hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards,
Danny

Danny, all marriage certificates must be translated into Vietnamese and notorized before immigration will accept it for your TRC.

Source language of the original certificate can be in any languages. But must be translated and copies notorized before the application can be accepted.

Thanks for you answer, I just looked it up and I found out how to let it get translated.

But I can't find a way to get it notarized. Do you know how I can get my document notarized? My Dutch Embassy told me to go to Rotterdam (In the Netherlands) to get it stamped. Is there any place in Vietnam where I can get it notarized??

Danny, usually it's done at your embassy so if it's Dutch embassy, then find out where it is in HCMC and go pay them a visit and get your original marriage certificate copies certified first. Then you will need them translated into Vietnamese and notarised before taking them to the immigration department.

If the original copies of the marriage certificate are not notarised with the official stamps then you may have trouble with the immigration department upon submission.

Getting local translation and notarization is the easy part after.

I'm surprised the Dutch embassy doesn't provide notarization service in Vietnam, which is considered one of the most important services of an overseas embassy for its countries citizens.

Check again on this point as I find it hard to comprehend an EU country embassy not providing this service.

DannyWielink wrote:

Thanks for you answer, I just looked it up and I found out how to let it get translated.

But I can't find a way to get it notarized. Do you know how I can get my document notarized? My Dutch Embassy told me to go to Rotterdam (In the Netherlands) to get it stamped. Is there any place in Vietnam where I can get it notarized??

You can go to the People's Committee - district level to have your document translated and notarised. A address is People's Committee of District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, 47 Le Duan Street.

Or you can either give it to a translation company, they will help translate it and notarise it for you. I myself using service of sohoavn[dot]com or apecgroup[dot]vn.

Edit: Wait, make sure that your marriage certificate is legalised to be used in Vietnam before translation. Maybe I misunderstood what you want to ask. Let me know if the document is legalised by Vietnamese embassy in your country?

My document wasn't legalized yet, it's in its original state, but valid in the Netherlands. However, when I came here the Dutch embassy said they'd stopped legalizing documents in their embassy's since the 1st of January 2016 for administrative and security reasons. So I guess I'm stuck and have to go to Cambodia. Is that still a valid way to extend your visa if you're in Ho Chi Minh?

DannyWielink wrote:

My document wasn't legalized yet, it's in its original state, but valid in the Netherlands. However, when I came here the Dutch embassy said they'd stopped legalizing documents in their embassy's since the 1st of January 2016 for administrative and security reasons. So I guess I'm stuck and have to go to Cambodia. Is that still a valid way to extend your visa if you're in Ho Chi Minh?

Ya understood. Some countries stopped notarised document in their embassy in Vietnam, like Japan ...

Then I think that you are stuck at applying for a TRC now. Yes going to Cambodia is still a valid way to extend your visa. When you comeback to the Netherlands one day, have it legalised there, bring the legalised marriage certificate to Vietnam and apply for your TRC later.

@charmavietnam Can you please clarify who the sponsor is? Is it the spouse or a company? Thanks!

We are talking about TRC for spouse, so Vietnamese spouse is the sponsor here 

For a 3 year TRC without work permit the spouse is the sponsor

Hi,

I'm vietnamese and my wife succeed to have a VEC for 5 years at the Vietnam embassy in Paris

Can you tell us all the details please?

I just today found this post and my head is spinning.

Is there somewhere on this web site where I can find out what VEC, TT (visa), et cetera are?

Thanks

Just use the search function on the top just after FORUM with key words 

I tried that before I wrote the question and got nothing helpful for TT visa

TT Issued to foreigners that are parents, spouse, children under 18 years of age of the foreigners issued with LV1, LV2, ĐT, NN1, NN2, UNIVERSITY, PV1, LĐ visas, or foreigners that are parents, spouse, children of Vietnamese citizens. The duration of TT visa is not longer than 12 months
Coutesy: google