Temporary Residence Card ??? What is it good for ????

myvietnam wrote:

hi there

thank you for comments

however that doesn't seem to be quite it.

when we first moved to CT, we registered w police straight away.

CT say they don't care about CT Police paper we have, and are saying they want letter from ST to prove we lived there a year, and, as well, they 'complain' we don't have CT Family Book

(we have Family Book for Long Phu but can't get one in CT because we don't own a house here)

(make me feel like we are in Catch 22 :-()

it seems to me that CT Immig are being both incompetent/wrong and nasty w it.

it is apparently widely recognized that CT Immig is completely useless/hopeless

======

another issue is COST: last time when we extended six months @ Soc Trang govt, it cost around d1.7m (~$A100). 

and (now) recommended agents in Saigon are asking $US160 for 6 months (and $US450 for 3 years)

so what is with this mention i see elsewhere of $US10???!!!

that would be an extremely welcome saving (seeing we only have the pension)

======

rapid advice and/or recommendations would be very welcome as my wife is getting increasingly anxious

(at the moment we would get the 3yr exension)

kind regards

You should mention what "CT" stands for, hard to know what you are referring to.

myvietnam wrote:

another issue is COST: last time when we extended six months @ Soc Trang govt, it cost around d1.7m (~$A100). 

and (now) recommended agents in Saigon are asking $US160 for 6 months (and $US450 for 3 years)

so what is with this mention i see elsewhere of $US10???!!!

that would be an extremely welcome saving (seeing we only have the pension)

There's no reason to use an agent for VEC extension. 

Go to Immigration, buy a copy of form NA5 for either 3k or 6k (I don't remember the exact amount), take it home, fill it out,  attach the registration or sponsor's letter.  Bring everything to Immigration together with your passport, pay 230k, receive a receipt for your passport.  Return in 4 - 7 days, get your passport back with a new 6-month stamp.

You'll need to visit Immigration 3 times:
1st trip to buy the NA5, takes about 3 minutes.
2nd trip to submit the form, takes about 15 minutes.
3rd trip to pick up the passport, takes about 5 minutes.

You can pay an agent for $160 or DIY for $10.  I paid $10, my husband paid $10, and so did everyone else.  If you don't believe me, read back on old threads where two members (I don't remember their names) said they paid $10 each.  Oh, and SteinNebraska's wife also paid $10 for his, IIRC.

In re: $450 for 3 years, VEC doesn't give you a 3 year extension so that must be another story altogether.

colinoscapee wrote:

You should mention what "CT" stands for, hard to know what you are referring to.

I think he probably wanted to say Can Tho.  His story about family book was all over the place, I couldn't make head or tail of it.  I also couldn't understand why a foreigner whose name was not in a family book would need to show it just to extend his VEC stay.

Keith+Phuong wrote:

Ciambella wrote:

myvietnam wrote:

however, at the moment, we have someone at police making difficulties about family book which is hard to comprehend reasoning/logic; but different person the week before (just) wanted some letter/form from police from previous residence TP Soc Trang

but the end result is  - no visa (renewal)!

(to remind you of bg: i am on a 5yr spousal visa)

You're allowed to extend your VEC (it's a Visa Exemption Certificate, so technically, it's not a "spousal visa") without leaving the country the same way as it was before Covid.  You'll need to show that you're registered with UBND (ward police), also the same way as it was before Covid.  If you don't have the official registration for some reason, then you need a letter from your sponsor with whom you reside and that letter must be stamped by UBND.   

By law, your landlord or sponsor must submit a new registration with UBND every 6 months to match the 6-month stamp on your passport.  Our current landlord has been doing that since we moved into his property almost 3 years ago.

From what you said, "a different person wanted some letter/form from police from previous residence TP Soc Trang", I'm thinking you're probably not registered at your current UBND, ergo, Immigration needs a document from your previous residence.  It makes perfect sense that your stay is not extendable without it.

Hi Ciambella , By the way how much is the going rate currently to pay police to extend your VEC , similar to  you, my six months is up on the 21st February 2020 and i am flying to Hanoi again as my registered address (apartment i built for my wife's family and myself) is in Hanoi, Last time my wife paid  i think 800,000vnd ,but we hadn't registered for 12 years as we travel and leave the country about every four Months. What is the going rate to pay the police, six months later when i am totally legal this time having been stamped six Months ago?. My Wife is Vietnamese ,but unusually poor at bargaining.

Surely being married to a vietnamese local you would be better of applying for a spousal TRC?

Can Tho

ST = Soc Trang

i am only repeating what bs the local Immi people tell us .. very hard to argue w them even when you know it rubbish

i forget the exact differences, but to my recollection, there were pluses and minuses

Ciambella wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

You should mention what "CT" stands for, hard to know what you are referring to.

I think he probably wanted to say Can Tho.  His story about family book was all over the place, I couldn't make head or tail of it.  I also couldn't understand why a foreigner whose name was not in a family book would need to show it just to extend his VEC stay.

Just simple conjecture but as myvietnam says he can speak Vietnamese, Immigration may be referring to the family book of his sponsor(s), the relatives he is "visiting" that justify the VEC.

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Surely being married to a vietnamese local you would be better off applying for a spousal TRC?

myvietnam wrote:

i forget the exact differences, but to my recollection, there were pluses and minuses

Shorter term for TRC (2 or 3 years depending on the province where you apply) vs. 5 years for VEC.

However, TRC has no 6 month border run (or extension) requirement, while the VEC does.

(Please use the quote function)

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Surely being married to a vietnamese local you would be better off applying for a spousal TRC?

myvietnam wrote:

i forget the exact differences, but to my recollection, there were pluses and minuses

Shorter term for TRC (2 or 3 years depending on the province where you apply) vs. 5 years for VEC.

However, TRC has no 6 month border run (or extension) requirement, while the VEC does.

(Please use the quote function)

I just renewed my TRC in Ba Ria, and the total cost was 200 usd for three years. No need to leave the country to activate it and no border runs.

colinoscapee wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Surely being married to a vietnamese local you would be better off applying for a spousal TRC?

myvietnam wrote:

i forget the exact differences, but to my recollection, there were pluses and minuses

Shorter term for TRC (2 or 3 years depending on the province where you apply) vs. 5 years for VEC.

However, TRC has no 6 month border run (or extension) requirement, while the VEC does.

(Please use the quote function)

I just renewed my TRC in Ba Ria, and the total cost was 200 usd for three years. No need to leave the country to activate it and no border runs.

Price sounds about right, i got mine back in july. Plus points also means you save passport pages over VEC border runs

I have both a VEC and TRC, not sure what happens with the VEC now i have a TRC... i guess next trip will reveal all

thank you for comments/info

good long-term point re passport pages.

anyway 'they' (our Saigon contact) is talking about a three year renewal.

hmmm, now i wonder, with the paperwork she is asking for, and the period, it is actually a TRC?

(my wife would not understand difference - espec if no-one explain it to her :-) - as obviously it is not something they ever have to deal with. i suspect that they just say this one is six months for xD, and this one for three years for xD.)

thank you for comments/info

THIGV wrote:

Just simple conjecture but as myvietnam says he can speak Vietnamese, Immigration may be referring to the family book of his sponsor(s), the relatives he is "visiting" that justify the VEC.

Even if he's Vietnamese Australian, he's still a foreigner and wouldn't have his name in the family book at all.  I have a feeling that his relatives never registered his stay.  If they did, he would've had a stamped form showing the date and period of registration. 

Either way, his VEC and the family book wouldn't be connected to each other under any circumstance.  Immigration may think that he's a family book member who moved from a permanent residence to a temporary residence.  That's why they asked for the last family book to prove that he had stayed there for a full year.

The laws indicates that although citizens have the right to freedom of residence, any change of residence must be registered.  Also, a person is only allowed to register for permanent residence (family book) in one place and temporary residence in another place, and temporary residence registration must be available to present to the authority at all time.

That laws is known in simple term as "Tạm Trú Tạm Vắng" (temporary stay [from a] temporary absence).  If a Vietnamese must report his change from a permanent residence to a temporary residence, then a foreigner absolutely must register his arrival in one city then register again when he moves to another city.  There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

I do agree that some Immigration offices can be obtuse about the laws, but in this case, I have a feeling that their demand for a family book was the result of some confused communication on the family's end.

myvietnam wrote:

...

You MUST use the "Quote" button when reply.  It's getting more and more difficult to understand your comments because there's no context of the posts you answer.

colinoscapee wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Surely being married to a vietnamese local you would be better off applying for a spousal TRC?

myvietnam wrote:

i forget the exact differences, but to my recollection, there were pluses and minuses

Shorter term for TRC (2 or 3 years depending on the province where you apply) vs. 5 years for VEC.

However, TRC has no 6 month border run (or extension) requirement, while the VEC does.

(Please use the quote function)

I just renewed my TRC in Ba Ria, and the total cost was 200 usd for three years. No need to leave the country to activate it and no border runs.

It seems to me that another advantage is that the TRC is an approval for long term RESIDENCE, while the VEC is, in essence, an approval to VISIT, with a normal requirement to do a border run every six months to avoid establishing 6 month RESIDENCY.

I've been reading unsubstantiated rumors here in the forum that the government is getting ready to stop extending the permission to stay period for many foreigners.

I don't know if that's true or not.

However, it occurs to me that if the government wants to start refusing to extend permissions to stay, then temporary VISITORS might be asked to leave before temporary RESIDENTS.

Just guessing...

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Surely being married to a vietnamese local you would be better off applying for a spousal TRC?

myvietnam wrote:

i forget the exact differences, but to my recollection, there were pluses and minuses

Shorter term for TRC (2 or 3 years depending on the province where you apply) vs. 5 years for VEC.

However, TRC has no 6 month border run (or extension) requirement, while the VEC does.

(Please use the quote function)

Thanks for reply OB , I have looked into TRC many times and due to COVID and having to return to Hanoi, ( I live in Nha Trang and live in a condotel that i can not use as my home address, WHY!, yet another quirk here), every six months to get a police stamp, i looked into a TRC again and My wife was told at the police station ,just before she gave the police man his "coffee" money ,stick to the VEC ,he (me) would need to get a job. My wife who is a lawyer, told me she has read the law on this and that is not true. We are married in Australia and always get our 5 year VEC's over there at the Vietnamese consulate in Sydney , always very straight forward . So last time while in Hanoi we tied to organize a TRC again last August ,Our Oz marriage certificate has Apostille , as i use that to get entry to Schengen countries for my wife as i am an EU passport holder too. But Vietnam is not a signatory to the Apostille convention. So in short i have to go back to Oz and to the ministry of foreign affairs get my wedding certificate authenticated ,then the Vietnam consulate in Oz ,bring that back to Vietnam to the ministry of foreign affairs, My wife tells me there is a service that does all that for you ,but very expensive.
We could get marriage in Vietnam, but very complicated and Big "coffee money" That's why we got married in Oz in the first place and it was better for organizing my wife's immigration papers for Oz.
VEC has never been a problem till COVID as we left the country to travel about every four Months., but when i am able to go back to Oz, I will organize TRC any way, every thing is a lot easier over there even though i hate dealing with Negative public servants, here though you have to bribe them too.

Ciambella wrote:

THIGV wrote:

Just simple conjecture but as myvietnam says he can speak Vietnamese, Immigration may be referring to the family book of his sponsor(s), the relatives he is "visiting" that justify the VEC.

Even if he's Vietnamese Australian, he's still a foreigner and wouldn't have his name in the family book at all.  I have a feeling that his relatives never registered his stay.  If they did, he would've had a stamped form showing the date and period of registration. 

Either way, his VEC and the family book wouldn't be connected to each other under any circumstance.  Immigration may think that he's a family book member who moved from a permanent residence to a temporary residence.  That's why they asked for the last family book to prove that he had stayed there for a full year.

The laws indicates that although citizens have the right to freedom of residence, any change of residence must be registered.  Also, a person is only allowed to register for permanent residence (family book) in one place and temporary residence in another place, and temporary residence registration must be available to present to the authority at all time.

That laws is known in simple term as "Tạm Trú Tạm Vắng" (temporary stay [from a] temporary absence).  If a Vietnamese must report his change from a permanent residence to a temporary residence, then a foreigner absolutely must register his arrival in one city then register again when he moves to another city.  There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

I do agree that some Immigration offices can be obtuse about the laws, but in this case, I have a feeling that their demand for a family book was the result of some confused communication on the family's end.

Hi Ciambella, If i get a TRC in place of my VEC ,i assume i have to register at the police station in Hanoi by my registered address, every time i leave and return (travel)  "Even inside Vietnam"?. What is the timing criteria, IE two days two weeks, two Months?.

Keith+Phuong wrote:

VEC has never been a problem till COVID as we left the country to travel about every four Months., but when i am able to go back to Oz, I will organize TRC any way, every thing is a lot easier over there even though i hate dealing with Negative public servants, here though you have to bribe them too.

I may have misread you (or not.)  Did you intend to apply for the TRC while in AU, or simply to get all the paperwork together?  I know that logic seldom has much function with immigration, but doesn't it seem reasonable that you must be resident to ask for a resident card?  While you clearly can get another VEC from outside the country, I don't think you can get a TRC from outside.  In addition, I have never seen the application process mentioned on any overseas Vietnamese consular website.  If you only intend to line up all the documents then fine.  Just make sure that you have a good checklist.

Keith+Phuong wrote:

Hi Ciambella, If i get a TRC in place of my VEC ,i assume i have to register at the police station in Hanoi by my registered address, every time i leave and return (travel)  "Even inside Vietnam"?. What is the timing criteria, IE two days two weeks, two Months?.

You register once for the period of legal stay as indicated in your passport.  When your TRC indicates that you can stay for 3 years and your passport stamp shows the same validity date, then you register once before that period ends.  If you move residence, however, then you'll need to register again at the new ward.

You don't register when travelling within the country.  Your hotel is doing that already.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

while the VEC is, in essence, an approval to VISIT, with a normal requirement to do a border run every six months ...

Even though VEC allows only 6 month stay, you need to leave the country only once a year.  For the previous 6 month stay, you pay 230k for an extension stamp at Immigration office.

to confirm, as i guessed, it is in fact a TRC.

myvietnam wrote:

to confirm, as i guessed, it is in fact a TRC.

Use the "Quote" button, pretty please.

Ciambella wrote:

myvietnam wrote:

to confirm, as i guessed, it is in fact a TRC.

Use the "Quote" button, pretty please.

ok ty

Ciambella wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

while the VEC is, in essence, an approval to VISIT, with a normal requirement to do a border run every six months ...

Even though VEC allows only 6 month stay, you need to leave the country only once a year.  For the previous 6 month stay, you pay 230k for an extension stamp at Immigration office.

230k?? i wish! the smallest we have paid directly is d1.7m

and current quote from agent for 6mnth VEC is $US160 (~d3.5m?)

myvietnam wrote:

230k?? i wish! the smallest we have paid directly is d1.7m

Thank you for using the quote function.

What can I say about your tendency to pay more than the required fee?  There are situations when coffee money is helpful, but VEC extension is not one of them.

myvietnam wrote:

and current quote from agent for 6mnth VEC is $US160 (~d3.5m?)

Again, no one uses agents for VEC extension unless he thinks 3 short visits to Immigration is too much of a hassle.

You could even shorten future visits to twice each time if you buy more than one copy of NA5 at your first visit, or print out extra copies yourself (not allowed supposedly, but it's just a blank form poorly printed by the government, your printer can probably do a better job).

Ciambella wrote:

You could even shorten future visits to twice each time if you buy more than one copy of NA5 at your first visit, or print out extra copies yourself (not allowed supposedly, but it's just a blank form poorly printed by the government, your printer can probably do a better job).

I always used my own copies of the form for VEC extensions.  I now have no idea from where, but I downloaded a blank form from somewhere on the internet.  Nobody ever questioned it.

Ciambella wrote:

myvietnam wrote:

230k?? i wish! the smallest we have paid directly is d1.7m

Thank you for using the quote function.

What can I say about your tendency to pay more than the required fee?  There are situations when coffee money is helpful, but VEC extension is not one of them.

=====

hi again.

so firstly if my wife go to local ST Immi office and they say d1.7m, what can she say?????

Update: we find receipt for d235,000! so now i do not know where d1.7 we think is coming from.

anyway, past is past.

of course, the real/initial problem is, in CT, they say they won't do at all w/o a letter from ST to say we lived there one year before - even though we have letter/form from police here.

what the real matter is now how (best) to get visa renewal?

who has good CT or Saigon visa contact?

current Saigon contact wants $US160 (~d3.5m) for 6mth, and $US450 (~d9m) for 3 year TRC (which is a lot better deal)

what advice/comments?

kindest

Ciambella wrote:

myvietnam wrote:

and current quote from agent for 6mnth VEC is $US160 (~d3.5m?)

Again, no one uses agents for VEC extension unless he thinks 3 short visits to Immigration is too much of a hassle.

You could even shorten future visits to twice each time if you buy more than one copy of NA5 at your first visit, or print out extra copies yourself (not allowed supposedly, but it's just a blank form poorly printed by the government, your printer can probably do a better job).

====

well, if we get TRC, i guess we won't have to worry again for three years. :-)

PS but i will try to remember 'NA5' :-)

myvietnam wrote:

Ciambella wrote:

myvietnam wrote:

230k?? i wish! the smallest we have paid directly is d1.7m

Thank you for using the quote function.

What can I say about your tendency to pay more than the required fee?  There are situations when coffee money is helpful, but VEC extension is not one of them.

=====

hi again.

so firstly if my wife go to local ST Immi office and they say d1.7m, what can she say?????

Update: we find receipt for d235,000! so now i do not know where d1.7 we think is coming from.

anyway, past is past.

of course, the real/initial problem is, in CT, they say they won't do at all w/o a letter from ST to say we lived there one year before - even though we have letter/form from police here.

what the real matter is now how (best) to get visa renewal?

who has good CT or Saigon visa contact?

current Saigon contact wants $US160 (~d3.5m) for 6mth, and $US450 (~d9m) for 3 year TRC (which is a lot better deal)

what advice/comments?

kindest

Do it yourself, its quite easy. All you are doing is paying millions of vnd for an agent to drop it off and collect it.

"Do it yourself, its quite easy. All you are doing is paying millions of vnd for an agent to drop it off and collect it."
=====

... except that CT Immi refuse to do it w/o we go back to ST and get some letter from Police to give (even though we have letter/form from Police here (CT))

myvietnam wrote:

"Do it yourself, its quite easy. All you are doing is paying millions of vnd for an agent to drop it off and collect it."
=====

... except that CT Immi refuse to do it w/o we go back to ST and get some letter from Police to give (even though we have letter/form from Police here (CT))

Do it where you are registered. I have done two TRC's it is not difficult.

THIGV wrote:

I always used my own copies of the form for VEC extensions.  I now have no idea from where, but I downloaded a blank form from somewhere on the internet.  Nobody ever questioned it.

So did I, and no one could tell the difference, but 3k or 6k is what the government wants per copy so they would try to get it by Hook or by Crook.

THIGV wrote:

Keith+Phuong wrote:

VEC has never been a problem till COVID as we left the country to travel about every four Months., but when i am able to go back to Oz, I will organize TRC any way, every thing is a lot easier over there even though i hate dealing with Negative public servants, here though you have to bribe them too.

I may have misread you (or not.)  Did you intend to apply for the TRC while in AU, or simply to get all the paperwork together?  I know that logic seldom has much function with immigration, but doesn't it seem reasonable that you must be resident to ask for a resident card?  While you clearly can get another VEC from outside the country, I don't think you can get a TRC from outside.  In addition, I have never seen the application process mentioned on any overseas Vietnamese consular website.  If you only intend to line up all the documents then fine.  Just make sure that you have a good checklist.

Hi THIGV  I thing you got confused by my rambling post, I wrote in reference to obtaining a TRC "So in short i have to go back to Oz and to the ministry of foreign affairs get my wedding certificate authenticated ,then the Vietnam consulate in Oz ,bring that back to Vietnam to the ministry of foreign affairs, I said above "bring it back to Vietnam " ,So i know i have to Apply here in Vietnam.

Ciambella wrote:

myvietnam wrote:

and current quote from agent for 6mnth VEC is $US160 (~d3.5m?)

Again, no one uses agents for VEC extension unless he thinks 3 short visits to Immigration is too much of a hassle.

You could even shorten future visits to twice each time if you buy more than one copy of NA5 at your first visit, or print out extra copies yourself (not allowed supposedly, but it's just a blank form poorly printed by the government, your printer can probably do a better job).

I agree to get your VEC  six Month stamp while COVID means you can not leave the country is fairly simple ,Apart from dealing with the police to get their stamp, because i move around and live at a condotel that i own in Nha Trang while being registered as living in Hanoi at another apartment i own.
  I have always just copied a down loaded NA5 form from the government web site too and never had it rejected.

Ciambella wrote:

Keith+Phuong wrote:

Hi Ciambella, If i get a TRC in place of my VEC ,i assume i have to register at the police station in Hanoi by my registered address, every time i leave and return (travel)  "Even inside Vietnam"?. What is the timing criteria, IE two days two weeks, two Months?.

You register once for the period of legal stay as indicated in your passport.  When your TRC indicates that you can stay for 3 years and your passport stamp shows the same validity date, then you register once before that period ends.  If you move residence, however, then you'll need to register again at the new ward.

You don't register when travelling within the country.  Your hotel is doing that already.

Hi Ciambella  I didnt realize the hotels contact the police and tell them you are staying in their hotel when i give them my passport copy and show them my original. What if you a camping person and camp around the country side?.
As per my earlier posts my problem is i am registered in Hanoi at a small apartment block i built and paid for for my wife's family and my wife and i , lived there eight years, but now i live in a condotel in Nha Trang which i bought and put in my wife's name, We have the pink book. I wanted to change that to my official residence ,but can not seemingly, because i am told i am not supposed to be living at a condotel. I even went last year to buy a new motor bike in Nha Trang ,but couldn't because i am registered as living in Hanoi. An Expat mate of mine had the same problem, He lives in Da Nang while registered as living in Hanoi ,he had to go to Hanoi buy a motor bike and drive it back to Da Nang.

Keith+Phuong wrote:

Hi Ciambella  I didnt realize the hotels contact the police and tell them you are staying in their hotel when i give them my passport copy and show them my original. What if you a camping person and camp around the country side?.
As per my earlier posts my problem is i am registered in Hanoi at a small apartment block i built and paid for for my wife's family and my wife and i , lived there eight years, but now i live in a condotel in Nha Trang which i bought and put in my wife's name, We have the pink book. I wanted to change that to my official residence ,but can not seemingly, because i am told i am not supposed to be living at a condotel. .

You don't need to register while travelling (including camping and staying with friends for a couple of nights -- except during the first phrase of Covid) because you're already registered at your temporary residence.  Hotels, however, have the responsibility to record your IDs while you stay with them.  Their guest registration book is used in place of a police registration.  Whenever the police needs to check on a person's past whereabouts, that books is "it".  If the police doesn't check, the record is still kept for a certain period of time as required by the law (I don't know how long).

Are you in the family book in Hanoi?  If you're not, then you don't have a permanent residence.  You were registered in Hanoi as a a foreigner who had a VEC, not a resident.  When you moved to Nha Trang, your wife should register you as a foreigner who lives in a condotel owned by her.  The police doesn't care that you owns the building and you're her spouse; their job is to verify that you live there legally.  You can live anywhere you wish -- nhà trọ, nhà nghỉ, motel, hotel, condotel, or just a bed in someone's room, as long as the person who owns that property (not you) vouches for your presence.  Your wife is the owner of the building so she or her representative is the only person who can go to the police to register you because you're not allowed to vouch for yourself.

If she still belongs to the family book in Hanoi, then that's her official residence (not yours) and Nha Trang is her temporary residence (read my last post on Tạm Trú Tạm Vắng).  You cannot make any place your official residence.

Ciambella wrote:

Keith+Phuong wrote:

Hi Ciambella  I didnt realize the hotels contact the police and tell them you are staying in their hotel when i give them my passport copy and show them my original. What if you a camping person and camp around the country side?.
As per my earlier posts my problem is i am registered in Hanoi at a small apartment block i built and paid for for my wife's family and my wife and i , lived there eight years, but now i live in a condotel in Nha Trang which i bought and put in my wife's name, We have the pink book. I wanted to change that to my official residence ,but can not seemingly, because i am told i am not supposed to be living at a condotel. .

You don't need to register while travelling (including camping and staying with friends for a couple of nights -- except during the first phrase of Covid) because you're already registered at your temporary residence.  Hotels, however, have the responsibility to record your IDs while you stay with them.  Their guest registration book is used in place of a police registration.  Whenever the police needs to check on a person's past whereabouts, that books is "it".  If the police doesn't check, the record is still kept for a certain period of time as required by the law (I don't know how long).

Are you in the family book in Hanoi?  If you're not, then you don't have a permanent residence.  You were registered in Hanoi as a a foreigner who had a VEC, not a resident.  When you moved to Nha Trang, your wife should register you as a foreigner who lives in a condotel owned by her.  The police doesn't care that you owns the building and you're her spouse; their job is to verify that you live there legally.  You can live anywhere you wish -- nhà trọ, nhà nghỉ, motel, hotel, condotel, or just a bed in someone's room, as long as the person who owns that property (not you) vouches for your presence.  Your wife is the owner of the building so she or her representative is the only person who can go to the police to register you because you're not allowed to vouch for yourself.

If she still belongs to the family book in Hanoi, then that's her official residence (not yours) and Nha Trang is her temporary residence (read my last post on Tạm Trú Tạm Vắng).  You cannot make any place your official residence.

Hi Ciambella, If the hotels dont inform the police that you are staying with them for a few nights, how would they find you, they would need to call every hotel / place of accommodation in Vietnam!.
My wife is in the family book in Hanoi, but i am not in the book ,didn't know i could be, i thought the family (red book) was for Vietnamese only. thanks for your help i will read your post "Tam Tru Tam Vang" ,how will i find it ?.