Blacklisted merely due to frequent visa applications

Very well thought out and written background which can help in discussion.  Two things that you wrote stood out to me:

mercury_alpha wrote:

- A local Vietnamese agent owned by a Korean: Blacklisted for improper activities referring to working on a tourist visa during the stay (I was not checked or fined by police at all); need 3,000 USD to get rid of the trouble. Otherwise, wait for 3 years.



I want to solve the problem for my future business/work plan in Vietnam. And my questions are as below:

You didn't come out and say specifically if you did or did not work at any time during your previous visits, only that you were "not checked or fined".

If you came under a DL and had a "fake" letter of invitation from a business from one of the agents that is likely why it was flagged.  It tends to be the most common reason for ending up on the blacklist based on past similar posts from people.  If you were truly on tour or holiday why would you ask for a DL visa?

Your second point that I pasted leads me to believe that you might have been working at least some amount on a DL visa.

Hi, SteinNebraska
Thank you for reading such long words and your first reply especially.

I don't quite understand the "fake letter" mentioned in the second last paragraph of your reply.
Where does the fake letter come from? Do you mean the problem was probably caused by the agent?

I don't know much about the agent? Could you please tell me more about the agent structure for the visa application?

As far as I can imagine, Vietnam Immigration Department authorized several local agents officially. Furtherly the business spreads out again to thousands of agents in every corner of the world from those authorized local ones.

Did you mean that once an agent had some problem, all applicants and secondary agents would meet the trouble? And unfortunately, I was one of those, wasn't I?

And I am a little bit confused that you were DL. DL refers to tourist visa. I guess you would have said DN which stands for a business visa. FYI, Chinese citizens are required to have DL vias either approval letter of VOA or visa issued before the trip, in order to visit Vietnam in any case even on the purpose of sightseeing. And in your last sentence, you were using the words "DL visa" correctly.

Thank you.

SteinNebraska wrote:

Very well thought out and written background which can help in discussion.  Two things that you wrote stood out to me:

mercury_alpha wrote:

- A local Vietnamese agent owned by a Korean: Blacklisted for improper activities referring to working on a tourist visa during the stay (I was not checked or fined by police at all); need 3,000 USD to get rid of the trouble. Otherwise, wait for 3 years.



I want to solve the problem for my future business/work plan in Vietnam. And my questions are as below:

You didn't come out and say specifically if you did or did not work at any time during your previous visits, only that you were "not checked or fined".

If you came under a DL and had a "fake" letter of invitation from a business from one of the agents that is likely why it was flagged.  It tends to be the most common reason for ending up on the blacklist based on past similar posts from people.  If you were truly on tour or holiday why would you ask for a DL visa?

Your second point that I pasted leads me to believe that you might have been working at least some amount on a DL visa.

As to what you concern about, I think it is hard to define if it is a business trip or tour 100%.

What I did in Vietnam is simply visiting museums, scenic spots, and historical sites, shopping, hanging out at the bar area and university zone, meeting a friend who is working there, attending neither exhibition,  business meeting nor whatever similar. 

What might be some kind of ambiguous is that I did ask a lot about the business situation and investment environment of Vietnam when I met my friend personally and  I visited eyeglasses stores on the street that I passed by during the tour, as my business is related to the eyewear manufacturing industry. I wanted to know the market there.

Indeed, I thought back and forth about which kind of visa I should apply for before the trip because I did plan to bring such a topic to meet my friend and visit the retail stores there during my tour. However, I couldn't imagine these kinds of activities are not allowed on tourist visas. I don't think they were big deals.

And I'd rather consider my previous visit (BTW, this is the only time that I visited Vietnam) and far future business plans as two independent events. It can't be more normal if someone wants to solve problems asap.

Anyway, these were not the key points of my post.


I am a rational person and of conscience, honestly speaking. ^^ I was not trying to hide anything. The reason for only speaking of "not checked or fined" is because I heard that one may get blacklisted usually when there is punishment record and I want to know whether there is a possibility that the immigration blacklists someone without any evidence but only by suspicion or a suspicious visa application.

It would be so ridiculous if  I were put on the list only due to multiple applications.
What should people suppose to do if they want to travel there on tours more than once? That goes too far.

I have a strong feeling that all these are conducted by the corrupt officials and some greedy agents. The lunar new year is coming, and they need to make preparations for spending a happy traditional festival........

I misspoke on the visa which may be causing confusion.  Yes, DL for tourist, DN for business.  Sorry for the confusion.