Border Run to moc bai - APRIL 2022

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JulienSaiGon New member

Member since 13 April 2022

JulienSaiGonNew member13 April 2022 04:51:54

I'm in Saigon since 2 weeks, i landed at the airport coming from bangkok.

Got a 15 days visa on arrival with my french passport.

I would like to extend my stay in Vietnam.

My visa finish tomorrow the 14th of April.

My plan is to :

- go to moc bai border with my motorbike

- stamp out of vietnam

- walk to cambodia and stamp in

- stamp out of cambodia one minute later

- come back to Vietnam and get another 15 days visa on arrival

This is a temporary solution before i start a long term visa

Is my plan a good idea ? a bad idea ? Might expect difficulties ?

Any advices and recommendations very welcomed.

Julien

OceanBeach92107 VIP Member

Member since 31 January 2018

OceanBeach92107VIP Member13 April 2022 05:08:12

6989

Hi

I'm in Saigon since 2 weeks, i landed at the airport coming from bangkok.

Got a 15 days visa on arrival with my french passport.

I would like to extend my stay in Vietnam.
My visa finish tomorrow the 14th of April.

My plan is to :
- go to moc bai border with my motorbike
- stamp out of vietnam
- walk to cambodia and stamp in
- stamp out of cambodia one minute later
- come back to Vietnam and get another 15 days visa on arrival

This is a temporary solution before i start a long term visa

Is my plan a good idea ? a bad idea ? Might expect difficulties ?
Any advices and recommendations very welcomed.

Julien
- @JulienSaiGon

I think it's a bad idea, but I might be wrong.

I believe 30 days has to transpire between uses of your national visa exemption, but that law might have changed.

A more certain solution (IMO) would be to apply for a 30 day e-Visa now.

Anecdotal evidence on social media says that it's taking about a week to have one approved right now, so you're probably looking at spending some time in Cambodia.

However there is also some anecdotal evidence that there are Visa agency companies setting up shop at the border and offering to help you get an immediate approval on your e-Visa, for much more than you would normally pay on the internet.

Nothing blatantly illegal about that, they just seem to have connections in immigration who will push your application to the top of the list immediately.

goodolboy ViP

Member since 08 February 2020

goodolboyViP13 April 2022 05:27:42

2325

for someone that has actually done a run on my bike from Vietnam to the Casino's at Moc Bai another thing to consider is the cost you will be charged to park your bike. (you cant just park it & walk through) Not a lot if you are in & out in a day, but if you had to stay in Cambodia for a week or did not get back into Vietnam what happens to the bike & what's it going to cost you?

JulienSaiGon New member

Member since 13 April 2022

JulienSaiGonNew member13 April 2022 07:10:17

Hi

I'm in Saigon since 2 weeks, i landed at the airport coming from bangkok.

Got a 15 days visa on arrival with my french passport.

I would like to extend my stay in Vietnam.
My visa finish tomorrow the 14th of April.

My plan is to :
- go to moc bai border with my motorbike
- stamp out of vietnam
- walk to cambodia and stamp in
- stamp out of cambodia one minute later
- come back to Vietnam and get another 15 days visa on arrival

This is a temporary solution before i start a long term visa

Is my plan a good idea ? a bad idea ? Might expect difficulties ?
Any advices and recommendations very welcomed.

Julien
- @JulienSaiGon
I think it's a bad idea, but I might be wrong.

I believe 30 days has to transpire between uses of your national visa exemption, but that law might have changed.

A more certain solution (IMO) would be to apply for a 30 day e-Visa now.

Anecdotal evidence on social media says that it's taking about a week to have one approved right now, so you're probably looking at spending some time in Cambodia.

However there is also some anecdotal evidence that there are Visa agency companies setting up shop at the border and offering to help you get an immediate approval on your e-Visa, for much more than you would normally pay on the internet.

Nothing blatantly illegal about that, they just seem to have connections in immigration who will push your application to the top of the list immediately.
- @OceanBeach92107

Thanks for your precise answer.

About the delay between the use of two visas exemption , how can I confirm it ? Maybe a phone call to the immigration office ?

About the visa agencies at the border, any idea of the price they ask ?

One more question : lets suppose I allready have a evisa, this is not a problem to go out and come back to Vietnam the same day ?

Thank you very much

@goodoldboy : Ideally I will stay one minute in cambodia, so I expect to park freely somewhere near the border.

JulienSaiGon New member

Member since 13 April 2022

JulienSaiGonNew member13 April 2022 07:40:20

Phone : 0839202300 | Hotline : 0839201701 (Vietnamese) – 039200365 (English)

I called the english Hotline : number doesn't exist

Then called the first phone number : too busy, impossible to talk to anyone

I'm heading to the immigration office right now.

JulienSaiGon New member

Member since 13 April 2022

JulienSaiGonNew member13 April 2022 08:34:43

I just talk with an officer at the immigration office.

She say I can go and come back on the same day and i can get another 15 days visa exemption.

So i'll try my luck tomorrow !

I'm willing to pay a certain amount of 'extra fees' to make things easy.

Any advices to make everything runs smoothly ?

For the cambodia immigration, I guess I need to bring perfect conditions dollar notes ?

AndyHCMC Vietnam Expert

Member since 29 February 2020

AndyHCMCVietnam Expert13 April 2022 09:22:21

1855

I just talk with an officer at the immigration office.

She say I can go and come back on the same day and i can get another 15 days visa exemption.

So i'll try my luck tomorrow !
I'm willing to pay a certain amount of 'extra fees' to make things easy.

Any advices to make everything runs smoothly ?
For the cambodia immigration, I guess I need to bring perfect conditions dollar notes ?
- @JulienSaiGon

Here is my story from March 15th when they closed the border at Moc Bai, because of covid they shut the border that morning and "coffee money" went up from a couple of hundred vnd to everyone asking for 100 USD, plus the normal visa for 30 bucks managed to get pushed up to 50 USD, they sensed the desperation of people wanting to get back in to VN so they asked for big money, so expect to pay way more than days before border shut.

The bike park on the right just before you enter was cheap to park, if possible have a friend ride with you to bring your bike back in case you do get stuck, leave the parking ticket with them just in case.

They even tried to get people to have a private car to phnom penh (from a friend they had lol) for 100 bucks insead of getting the bus.

Good luck and keep smiling to the nice men in black.

On the Cambodian side they filled in all the paperwork and then asked for 200k just to take it to get stamped.

JulienSaiGon New member

Member since 13 April 2022

JulienSaiGonNew member13 April 2022 12:15:32

@Andybris2020 Thank you !

'On the Cambodian side they filled in all the paperwork and then asked for 200k just to take it to get stamped.'

200k vd ?

AndyHCMC Vietnam Expert

Member since 29 February 2020

AndyHCMCVietnam Expert13 April 2022 12:59:25

1855

@Andybris2020 Thank you !

'On the Cambodian side they filled in all the paperwork and then asked for 200k just to take it to get stamped.'
200k vd ?
- @JulienSaiGon

"vip" money,, meaning pay or sit and wait until you pay, but that was on day border closed,, hopefully everything is back to normal now.

SteinNebraska ViP

Member since 30 April 2018

SteinNebraskaViP13 April 2022 13:42:01

#10

1277

Also, bring your own pen to fill out the Cambodian paperwork. Otherwise they will sell you a pen for another 50-100k VND.

JulienSaiGon New member

Member since 13 April 2022

JulienSaiGonNew member13 April 2022 14:15:22

#11

@SteinNebraska haha ok

OceanBeach92107 VIP Member

Member since 31 January 2018

OceanBeach92107VIP Member13 April 2022 21:09:33

#12

6989

I just talk with an officer at the immigration office.

She say I can go and come back on the same day and i can get another 15 days visa exemption.

So i'll try my luck tomorrow !
I'm willing to pay a certain amount of 'extra fees' to make things easy.

Any advices to make everything runs smoothly ?
For the cambodia immigration, I guess I need to bring perfect conditions dollar notes ?
- @JulienSaiGon

I'm glad you checked on that and I'm happy to find out I was wrong 😎👍

theschust Member

Member since 08 July 2017

theschustMember19 April 2022 08:52:22

#13

@JulienSaiGon I may be a few days late here, but don't you need a Covid test to enter both Cambodia and Vietnam?

Nobody posting seems to have considered this.

Aidan in HCMC Vietnam Expert

Member since 23 December 2017

Aidan in HCMCVietnam Expert20 April 2022 03:07:07

#14

3547

@JulienSaiGon I may be a few days late here, but don't you need a Covid test to enter both Cambodia and Vietnam?
Nobody posting seems to have considered this.
- @theschust

If entering by land, per order 1265BYT-DP...

"b) For people entering by other routes (road, waterway, railway):
There shall be the same test as for the requirement in point a). In case there are no results test negative for SARS-CoV-2 as specified at point a) above, must test for SARS-CoV-2 within the first 24 hours (by RT-PCR/RT-LAMP method or rapid antigen test for SARS-CoV-2 virus) since entry."

see https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … =4#5377180 for entry requirements to enter VN.

Google Dịch English text of order 1265BYT-DP can be found directly below OceanBeach92107 's post.

Hmmm. Off topic, but I think I see a way to avoid the PCR test.

It states "For people entering by other routes (road, waterway, railway):...", but no mention of tunneling HAR!

OceanBeach92107 VIP Member

Member since 31 January 2018

OceanBeach92107VIP Member03 August 2022 06:07:40

#15

6989

We left Vũng Tàu yesterday at 11:30 AM, getting to our HCMC hotel by 2:30 PM (easy traffic).

Had the pleasure of crossing paths with Mr & Mrs GOBOT again.

After a relaxing night our driver picked us up at 5:00 AM.

We were done at Moc Bai/Bavet and headed back to HCMC by 8:30 AM.

Our flight to Quảng Ngãi (Chu Lai) doesn't leave until 5:30 PM, so with the help of my friend/driver (he previously drove for me 2 years ago in HCMC & Mekong) we've found the perfect little motel/hotel 700 meters away from the airport, charging ₫160,000 VNĐ for 3 hours.

If we ever need to do something similar, I'd probably book this place for both nights.

I'm good (eVisa) for another 30 days and hope to have at least a TT visa by then.

SpeedyBuddha Member

Member since 06 August 2022

SpeedyBuddhaMember07 August 2022 04:10:58

#16

@JulienSaiGon I may be a few days late here, but don't you need a Covid test to enter both Cambodia and Vietnam?
Nobody posting seems to have considered this.
- @theschust

Did you find any answer to your question? wondering do I need to get a Covid test before heading to the border? since your post is long enough so I assume you already did the visa border run, so how was it did they check your test or they didn't ?... I had no problem passing HCMC airport coming from Malaysia no test required (a week ago)... but I'm not sure about Cambodian side .... its kinda hard to find the clear source stating about unvaccinated/ vaccinated people crossing border

OceanBeach92107 VIP Member

Member since 31 January 2018

OceanBeach92107VIP Member07 August 2022 04:40:51

#17

6989

@JulienSaiGon I may be a few days late here, but don't you need a Covid test to enter both Cambodia and Vietnam?
Nobody posting seems to have considered this.
- @theschust

Did you find any answer to your question? wondering do I need to get a Covid test before heading to the border? since your post is long enough so I assume you already did the visa border run, so how was it did they check your test or they didn't ?... I had no problem passing HCMC airport coming from Malaysia no test required (a week ago)... but I'm not sure about Cambodian side .... its kinda hard to find the clear source stating about unvaccinated/ vaccinated people crossing border
- @SpeedyBuddha

It's simple now:

No proof of vaccination or test results necessary to enter Vietnam.

Cambodia only requires a test if you haven't been vaccinated (meaning, you don't have proof) so proof of vaccination IS normally the only requirement.

Please do NOT turn this thread into a further discussion of Cambodia immigration requirements.

That discussion continues in The Cambodia Forum.

Thanks!

O.B.

Vietnam Advisor

Expat.com team

SpeedyBuddha Member

Member since 06 August 2022

SpeedyBuddhaMember07 August 2022 08:59:54

#18

@OceanBeach92107

Thank you! Appreciate your quick reply

Guestposter822 Guest

Guestposter822Guest15 August 2022 02:47:31

#19

214245

Hi, I'm just looking at the "official" Cambodian government Evisa website. Under the drop down list for the Port of Entry I can't see Moc Bai, is there something I'm missing here, different name for Moc Bai perhaps, thanks

Aidan in HCMC Vietnam Expert

Member since 23 December 2017

Aidan in HCMCVietnam Expert15 August 2022 03:30:02

#20

3547

Hi, I'm just looking at the "official" Cambodian government Evisa website. Under the drop down list for the Port of Entry I can't see Moc Bai, is there something I'm missing here, different name for Moc Bai perhaps, thanks
- @panda7

Check for Bavet, Cambodia / Moc Bai, Vietnam.

I was wondering. Was your VN eVisa approved after submitting without your middle name?

Guestposter822 Guest

Guestposter822Guest15 August 2022 04:38:13

#21

214245

Hi, I'm just looking at the "official" Cambodian government Evisa website. Under the drop down list for the Port of Entry I can't see Moc Bai, is there something I'm missing here, different name for Moc Bai perhaps, thanks
- @panda7

Check for Bavet, Cambodia / Moc Bai, Vietnam.

I was wondering. Was your VN eVisa approved after submitting without your middle name?
- @Aidan in HCMC

The visa was approved but I didn't want to risk it at immigration so I just redid it...probably would have been fine though.

OceanBeach92107 VIP Member

Member since 31 January 2018

OceanBeach92107VIP Member15 August 2022 04:50:10

#22

6989

Hi, I'm just looking at the "official" Cambodian government Evisa website. Under the drop down list for the Port of Entry I can't see Moc Bai, is there something I'm missing here, different name for Moc Bai perhaps, thanks
- @panda7

Check for Bavet, Cambodia / Moc Bai, Vietnam.

I was wondering. Was your VN eVisa approved after submitting without your middle name?
- @Aidan in HCMC

The visa was approved but I didn't want to risk it at immigration so I just redid it...probably would have been fine though.
- @panda7

Probably not

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