Temporary residence in Vietnam/Nha Trang

Hello Massimo.

I hope that the other members who have some experiences and knowledge in the matter will advise you soon.

Thanks and best of luck.

Karen

Hi mmmax14,

yes, this is the price for temp residence. Good for 2 years AND NOT allowing you to own, in best case lease for 50 years on property. Married, you will not get a valid temp residence card - you would possible need: - a divorce, job with work permit or investment and would have to renew that every 2 years.

Hi Massimo,

My sister just gets 2 year resident card for her boyfriend by herself. The procedure is a little bit complicated but she can help you.

You can contact her at: [email protected]
Fee: I think she gets no fee but a thank you gift is welcome.

Hoa

Hi Massimo.

In fact, i believe the price you have been given is not just for a residency card, but also for the papers that you need for the residency card. I'll explain how it works. Foreigners can obtain either a 2 or 3 year residency card for Vietnam. In order to get one, you need one of two things:
1- A work permit for Vietnam (new laws recently introduced allow for a work permit of 2 years. Previously it was 3 years but it has been reduced to 2 years since March 2013. If you have a work permit then you can get a residency card for 2 years).
2- A company - If you set up a company in Vietnam and put yourself in the business license as a director then you can obtain a residency card for 3 years.

The price of a residency card (well at least for mine is $450. The price you have received of $1200 is reasonable, but it also includes either a work permit or a company formation i think.

[Moderated: No free ad on the forum.]

And can anyone explain fully what benefits accrue to the holder of a residency card.?Also can it be renewed continually? At what cost would the renewal be? The same $1,200. For just a two year period that comes to quite a bit per month. Seems cheaper to just have a VEC, no?

bta87 wrote:

And can anyone explain fully what benefits accrue to the holder of a residency card.?Also can it be renewed continually? At what cost would the renewal be? The same $1,200. For just a two year period that comes to quite a bit per month. Seems cheaper to just have a VEC, no?

- You will be working/living in Vietnam legally
- Paying Taxes
- Can make a driving licence, own not only pay for a bike/car
- No Visa Runs

* The police makes sporadic controls, no papers, a hefty fine might be issued/deportation - on illegal working.
* renewal is in comparison to the first  time quite easy, as long the job/company does not change

In short, it should give you peace of mind. Costs might be likely the same + Inflation as most agencies are not charities

Yes it is cheaper to have a VEC. It really depends on the personal situation of the individual. If one is married to a Vietnamese person, then the marriage exemption visa is cheaper but needs to be stamped every 3 months.

If you want to work for a company or set up a business then a residency card makes more sense. Recently, there has been a bit of a crackdown by the Immigration Dept., notably in schools and in many of the Russian companies that have sprung up in Nha Trang.

I have one western friend who recently was banned for 5 years from Vietnam for having a business without any company papers or business visa. He had lived here for 6 years prior to being caught but it didn't help him

So i guess, if you are planning to live here and not work, then a marriage visa/B3 3 month visa is fine, but if you do plan to find employment or create a company then it's better to get a work permit/create a company and get a residency card from that....

I think people misunderstand the prices involved. 1200 dollars is not accurate for a residency card. My 3 year residency card cost 450 dollars. That is because i own my own company here. If you are employed by a company then you can only get a 2 year work permit and, thus, a 2 year residency card, which costs roughly 400 dollars.... The extra costs lie in whether you are making a work permit (which is a separate cost), or making a company (which has its own costs). But residency cards don't cost 1200 bucks..

As Lully said, it gives peace of mind and reduces hassle. It's the same in any country in the West. If you are an expat then you must have the correct paperwork. Due to the looser controls here, people think they can get away with it and go the cheaper option. While this works for the most part, one is always walking the proverbial tightrope and pleading ignorance if caught will not help as foreigners are expected to know the law for themselves...

atomiccolm wrote:

My 3 year residency card cost 450 dollars. That is because i own my own company here. If you are employed by a company then you can only get a 2 year work permit and, thus, a 2 year residency card, which costs roughly 400 dollars....

I have a 3 year temp residence card issued last year (2012) which expires 2015. The cost was $200 USD. You must have paid more because you own the company?? Or maybe you just didn't find the right guy to get your residence card? I'm not the owner of my company.

What i meant was i got a 3 year residency card because i own a company. Previously, the government granted 3 year work permits along with 3 year residency. In March of this year the law changed to a maximum work permit of 2 years, and thus a residency card for a work permit holder could only be 2 years as well.

So under what conditions were you granted temporary residency for the country? Are you employed in a company in Vietnam? If so, then my point in the opening paragraph explains why you were granted a 3 year card as it was made in 2012 before the law changed. Also, some companies will offer foreign employees work permits and residency cards as part of their contract (either free or at a discounted price.

According to the Vietnam Immigration Department, those who are eligible for residency in Vietnam are:

-Be member of a limited company with at least 2 members
-Be owner of one member Limited Company in Vietnam (except for Representative of being authorized)
-Be member of Board of Directors of a Vietnamese Joint-stock Company
-Foreign Lawyers are granted with law work permit in Vietnam
-Foreign employers with related work permit working in Vietnamese enterprises or Representative offices of foreign company in Vietnam
-Professionals, students, trainees working or studying in national programs and projects signed by ministries and approved by the Government
-Be family member of those who were granted with Vietnam temporary or permanent residence card)

I am sure there are ways to get a residency card on the "black" through unofficial channels for a price but i didn't need or want to go down that route..

I have never met someone who has got one for 200 dollars as there are numerous procedures involved that cost money (criminal record check, medical examination etc).. I do have a friend who did it all by himself  for a price cheaper than mine but told me it was a tedious and frustrating process that he never wanted to do again. I used an agency to take care of it for a price that was reasonable to me. Obviously they need to make some profit on the procedure to take care of all of the paperwork and monotonous queuing at various government departments - which for me was just a trade off on price vs convenience.

atomiccolm wrote:

So under what conditions were you granted temporary residency for the country?

According to the Vietnam Immigration Department, those who are eligible for residency in Vietnam are:

-Foreign employers with related work permit working in Vietnamese enterprises or Representative offices of foreign company in Vietnam

^This^

atomiccolm wrote:

I am sure there are ways to get a residency card on the "black" through unofficial channels for a price but i didn't need or want to go down that route..

Are you implying that because I got a TRC for $200, that I must have gotten it illegally? Not likely - especially in Vietnam. Here, anything coming from the "black", as you say, is going to cost more, not less.

atomiccolm wrote:

I have never met someone who has got one for 200 dollars as there are numerous procedures involved that cost money (criminal record check, medical examination etc)..

Oh yes...that medical check will set you back all of about $3, if done at a VN hospital. Allow me to clarify - The $200 was the fee I paid for the TRC only, not including the costs to get everything else done. I don't know what all the costs were for the record checks, work permit, etc., because my employer paid for that, as most employers do.

atomiccolm wrote:

I used an agency to take care of it for a price that was reasonable to me.

So did I. I gave all my documentation (passport, work permit, police report, etc.) to an agent, along with 200 bucks, and had the TRC in about a week or so.

I wasn't implying that you got your card through unofficial means, and apologize if that's what you thought, but i do know that it's possible.

I don't know what hospital you went to but i should check it out. The medical test i did was extremely thorough and included blood and urine tests and a complete medical exam. I did mine at the main Nha Trang Hospital and it cost 1.800.000 vnd and took about 3 hours in total. The reason i'm sure about that is because i got a red invoice for the company to write off for tax purposes. I think i also included an extra 10 bucks for the nurse to ensure that i didn't have to wait and was given preferential treatment to get the tests done as quickly as possible. Similarly, a much smaller test that I had to do for my driving license was done at the Military Hospital and cost 200,000. So I'm not sure how one can obtain a full medical test for 3 dollars.

With the criminal record check, people have 2 options: get it from their home country and or do it in Vietnam with the Justice Department. If you do it at home then it's quick and the fee depends on your home country. But if you do it here, it takes around 45 days to make and it the cost varies a little depending on your continent of origin.

I think also, all visa prices in Vietnam were increased in price in January 2013. The worst affected were one month tourist visas which went up by 80% from 25 dollars to 45 dollars but visas across the board were increased.

Perhaps i did spend a little more than you.. but i was merely stating the truth as per my experience and the Original Poster was querying the fact that it would cost him 1200 bucks to get a residency card when he would need more documents than that. In reality, marriage does not qualify him for it and he would have to get either a work permit or open a business in order to qualify.

atomiccolm wrote:

I wasn't implying that you got your card through unofficial means, and apologize if that's what you thought, but i do know that it's possible.

No worries mate.

For those who may be reading this thread and getting a little confused, you need a work permit to legally work in Vietnam, and you need to get the medical check to get the work permit - not the residence card. But if you have no other ties to VN, you can't legally get a residence card without the work permit. So, in essence, if you're new here and getting all of your documentation done at once, you may not realize what processes are for what. #1 thing is getting a work permit, if you're working here. Once you have a work permit, you have the option of getting a temporary residence card, but you do not have to get one. The option not to get a TRC would apply to someone who works for a company in VN, but travels out of VN frequently enough that VN visa renewals are no problem. With regard to the conversation between me and atomiccolm, the cost of my TRC only was $200, and did not include the other costs he mentions, which vary widely (apparently), depending on where you are located in VN. He is in Nha Trang, I'm in HCMC.

I think Saigon Monkey has summed it up succinctly. He has experience with the work permit route, whereas I have done the company route.

It also pays to understand the reasoning behind the marriage visa exemption of 5 years (at least from the government perspective). The exemption allows the foreigner to live here for a 5 year renewable period, but it does not allow the individual to be employed.

Residency is granted only to those who either invest in Vietnam or are employed by a company, which is why married individuals need one of those options to get the TRC. I know it doesn't make a lot of sense to us (a 5 year marriage residency card would make much more sense to me) but it is what it is....

But to clarify, while a work permit is needed for those who work for a company, anyone wishing to create a business here e.g. bar/restaurant/clothing store, factory, etc) can create a company  and secure a residency card from that.. I would need a separate thread to explain the different options available with company formation.

Here's a link to the actual decree:

http://www.customs.gov.vn/Lists/English … US&ID=1053

This one has a little more information:

http://www.myvietnamvisa.com/who-are-el … ption.html

Back in Aug 2007 when this came into effect, after the 3 month  exception period expired upon first entering Vietnam you could extend upwards to a year at a time Vs. the current 3 months. The purpose of the VEC was to facilitate overseas Vietnamese and their family's to return to Vietnam for short periods (up too 3 months) without applying for a visa. It was never intended to be a 5 year resident card. After a period of time the decree was in effect Immigration interpreted it to include spouses of VN citizen's living in Vietnam, with foreign passports.

This is very educational for me but I'm confused by the term "Overseas Vietnamese" as defined in general.  For example in article 1 of
http://www.customs.gov.vn/Lists/English … US&ID=1053

"Overseas Vietnamese, foreign spouses and children of Vietnamese citizens or overseas Vietnamese are eligible for entry visa exemption if fully meeting the following conditions:"

The passage implies that Overseas Vietnamese are different from Vietnamese Citizens.  What do they classify the Vietnamese laborers that are working "overseas" in South Korea or Libya?

Would a Norwegian living and working in New York be called an "Overseas Norwegian" because he's over the sea?  Then would a Canadian living and working in New York be called an "Overland Canadian"?  I haven't heard these terms being used in America. 

Am I an "Overseas American" if I live in Việt Nam?