General Confusion/Questions

Well, the only way for you to know if you will like it is go for a few weeks holiday and decide after that. Do not rely on other people's experiences as they will have different perspectives and ideas then you.

I have lived in Vietnam for 21 years and have never considered every going back to Australia to live.

Good luck with your decision.

Vietnam is like any other city, you have good places to eat and bad places to eat, good people and bad people.

I live in HCMC most of my time here.

P.S. So, the thing you should do while your here is go see some of the English centers and ask about teaching jobs. You could try places like VUS, VAS and ILA.

@allysonkenning I would recommend that you actually speak with somebody and I'm sure my brother would be happy to begin the conversation. We are both married to Vietnamese women and have the five year extended visa. He lives in Las Vegas and I'm currently living in Vietnam. We have learned many lessons you're talking about the hard way, so it might be best to just have a conversation to cover some of these issues. My wife is associated with many people working with English  teaching, especially with children.  We have a home that we rent in Ho Chi Minh City and her parents home which is north of HCMC about two hours.  In addition, my wife can connect you with several people in Canada, who commute between the two countries on a regular basis for various business enterprises, including traveling to both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.  I have personally never responded to one of these posts, although I read them quite frequently, so I'm not quite sure on how to connect you with my brother by phone, but I know there's no fees to talk between the United States and Canada on our T-Mobile plan.  If we can be helpful, let us know.

@Scott Devous that is so kind of you to offer.  I would love to have a conversation with someone about all this.  I believe we can send private messages via this page.  If you are willing, I can send you my email address and get the ball rolling.

@allysonkenning we can identify with that, and maybe we can help... my brother is a good person to talk to as he is married to VN and currently living in Las Vegas.  I am retired, married for 20 y to a VN National, living currently in VN, and we both have 5 year extended Visas. My wife knows many business people working in teaching English and she would be interested in helping you or talking with you.  My bother would be a good person to talk to in Las Vegas, and much easier than me.  Clearly, I would recommend that you speak with someone, where you can discuss many of these items, as we have learned mostly the hard way...

@cougarcar20 thank you for your comment.  You are so right, there are good and bad no matter where you go.  Normally, I would not rely on the experiences of others, and I don't think I should with this, either.  There is just so much to sift through out there that it's overwhelming.

@Scott Devous I will send you a private message with my email. Thank you for your kindness.

...I have been attracted to Vietnam for a long time for all kinds of reasons, and I really want to go, so maybe I should just give it a go and see what happens. -@allysonkenning

I think that's truly your best best.

In my experience, it's the people who try to figure out all of the data and all of the answers to questions before ever visiting here the first time who end up having the worst possible experiences.

It's definitely important to do some fact finding ahead of time, especially when it comes to some basic geography questions and employment opportunities in areas you might be considering.

It's' especially important to understand some basic visa laws & current regulations (even go to they change fairly frequently) plus facts about what you can bring into the country and what you can't, including the advantages of bringing things with you and the disadvantages of attempting to ship things here to yourself after you arrive.

It sounds as if you've already been looking at employment law and your current path for preparation will probably make it easier for you.

if you think it's possible that a visit could turn into a move, you can submit all of your documentation to the nearest consulate or embassy of Vietnam in Canada prior to departing North America, and it will all be valid in the system for up to 6 months.

But you don't strike me as a good candidate to plan to move here without ever having visited first.

Sure, it could work out for you, but it's a risky proposition that you could mitigate by taking the cheapest possible economy flight here and staying in a good but affordable (cheap) accommodation while actually experiencing the country and the people face-to-face.

I truly and sincerely wish you the best possible success and luck with your plans.

@OceanBeach92107 Thanks so much for your comment.  I would not consider a permanent move to a place unless I had visited first, so my plan was to just teach English for a while to see if I liked living there.  I have some other countries on my list, too, but Vietnam is my #1 choice.  I could to do the digital nomad thing for a while, too and check out the area.  It's all a big experiment for me.  I have a 2 year time-line for getting this show on the road, too, as I have a lot to sort out before leaving Vancouver. I am not coming imminently.  I am just in the research & exploring options phase right now.

@OceanBeach92107 Thanks so much for your comment. I would not consider a permanent move to a place unless I had visited first, so my plan was to just teach English for a while to see if I liked living there. I have some other countries on my list, too, but Vietnam is my #1 choice. I could to do the digital nomad thing for a while, too and check out the area. It's all a big experiment for me.
-@allysonkenning

Fair enough.

I'm not going to assume you are unaware of Vietnam employment and immigration laws so hopefully you know about the requirements do that legally here.

Too many people come here and follow the illegal path.