Visa Run from Hanoi, easiest options ??

What type of visa do you have.

tourist 30 days...

have you had an extension before, if not, you may be able to extend it.

first time tourist visa, i was thinking if i could do visa run and extend for 3 months without having work permit...???

Hi, What kind of visa do you prefer ? I know this place , Can you try to call at : 18 HangBac streets. * agency * she will help you , visa tourist .
Good luck

I just got back from yet another run.  This is the forth or fifth time that I've done it in one day.  Here's how I did it.

1.)  Plane ticket to Bangkok = 2.5 million VND (Air Asia)  Departed at 0915/arrived Bangkok at 1130/departed Bangkok at 1835/back at Noi Bai at 2030/walked out the door with fresh 1 year DN at 2100.

2.)  Sleep Box room + a shower (at the airport) = $27 for 2 hours.

3.)   1 year Business/DN visa = $120 plus $135 stamping fee at Noi Bai.  That's the price for American passport holders.  I was also told that Americans are the only nationality eligible for 1 year DN visas at the moment.  Additionally, DN visa holders DO NOT have to leave the country every three months (3 month visas nonwithstanding).

4.)  VIP service to expedite process; eliminate standing in line/escorted to front for stamp.  10 minutes  at VOA and 1 minute at final stamping point = $30

5.)  50K VND for petrol and 5K for motorbike parking at Noi Bai.

Vietnam Visa Pro is the only place one should go.

I heard so much hype about True Colors Travel that I gave her a try a few years ago.  I won't go there again!

I've also done about 3 or 4 land runs.  It's not worth it!

Teacher Mark wrote:

I just got back from yet another run.  This is the forth or fifth time that I've done it in one day.  Here's how I did it.

1.)  Plane ticket to Bangkok = 2.5 million VND (Air Asia)  Departed at 0915/arrived Bangkok at 1130/departed Bangkok at 1835/back at Noi Bai at 2030/walked out the door with fresh 1 year DN at 2100.

2.)  Sleep Box room + a shower (at the airport) = $27 for 2 hours.

3.)   1 year Business/DN visa = $120 plus $135 stamping fee at Noi Bai.  That's the price for American passport holders.  I was also told that Americans are the only nationality eligible for 1 year DN visas at the moment.  Additionally, DN visa holders DO NOT have to leave the country every three months (3 month visas nonwithstanding).

4.)  VIP service to expedite process; eliminate standing in line/escorted to front for stamp.  10 minutes  at VOA and 1 minute at final stamping point = $30

5.)  50K VND for petrol and 5K for motorbike parking at Noi Bai.

Vietnam Visa Pro is the only place one should go.

I heard so much hype about True Colors Travel that I gave her a try a few years ago.  I won't go there again!

I've also done about 3 or 4 land runs.  It's not worth it!

I was told (regarding Phnom Penh) that for a visa run you can stay in the transit area of the airport without having a visa.
Has anyone done this before?
Although Bangkok (via Don Mueang) is usually the cheapest, you could save time.

If this would work with the transit area, expats from Hanoi and the surrounding area could make the visa run e.g. over Laos.
There are flights from Hanoi (departure 9.35am) to VTE and back to Hanoi (arrival 3:50pm) for a little over USD 200.

6 hour bus to nanning. broke down 4 times out of 4. VN consulate there nice but dont really do non tourist visas i think

Andy Passenger wrote:

Teacher Mark wrote:

I just got back from yet another run.  This is the forth or fifth time that I've done it in one day.  Here's how I did it.

1.)  Plane ticket to Bangkok = 2.5 million VND (Air Asia)  Departed at 0915/arrived Bangkok at 1130/departed Bangkok at 1835/back at Noi Bai at 2030/walked out the door with fresh 1 year DN at 2100.

2.)  Sleep Box room + a shower (at the airport) = $27 for 2 hours.

3.)   1 year Business/DN visa = $120 plus $135 stamping fee at Noi Bai.  That's the price for American passport holders.  I was also told that Americans are the only nationality eligible for 1 year DN visas at the moment.  Additionally, DN visa holders DO NOT have to leave the country every three months (3 month visas nonwithstanding).

4.)  VIP service to expedite process; eliminate standing in line/escorted to front for stamp.  10 minutes  at VOA and 1 minute at final stamping point = $30

5.)  50K VND for petrol and 5K for motorbike parking at Noi Bai.

Vietnam Visa Pro is the only place one should go.

I heard so much hype about True Colors Travel that I gave her a try a few years ago.  I won't go there again!

I've also done about 3 or 4 land runs.  It's not worth it!

I was told (regarding Phnom Penh) that for a visa run you can stay in the transit area of the airport without having a visa.
Has anyone done this before?
Although Bangkok (via Don Mueang) is usually the cheapest, you could save time.

If this would work with the transit area, expats from Hanoi and the surrounding area could make the visa run e.g. over Laos.
There are flights from Hanoi (departure 9.35am) to VTE and back to Hanoi (arrival 3:50pm) for a little over USD 200.

I'm not sure about the PP run.  Thailand has a no-visa for 30 days deal for US citizens, so Bangkok has always been the cheapest option I found (though I didn't bother cross checking this time).

There was a flight leaving Bangkok about an hour and a half after I landed, but that's not enough time to clear customs/immigration (both ways) and make the return flight.

Teacher Mark wrote:

There was a flight leaving Bangkok about an hour and a half after I landed, but that's not enough time to clear customs/immigration (both ways) and make the return flight.

No, I mean if you stay in transit, you don't have to go through passport control and customs.

The same if you have to change at the airport.  Then you go in the transit area from gate to gate.

I assume that you must have already printed the boarding pass for the return flight.

A few years ago someone from an online visa service showed me this way.

But I never tried it.

That's something I never xonsuider.  It seems outside of the rhelm of possibilitiesa, as I have come to know them.

Thanks.  That's invaluable information, if it's true.

I am in the same situation. I need to do a border-run from Hanoi.
Has anyone experience doing a border-run to Laos or China?
I think a Laos-visa is $35USD, while the Chinese one is perhaps more complicated and requires an embassy visit.
I would really appreciate your advice.
Rob

Yes, you can get a Lao Visa-on-arrival at the border for $35 and a photo. There's a form to fill in.

If you really mean a "border run", you can see info about VN-Laos border crossings here:
https://www.travelfish.org/visas/vietnam#visaborder-11

I have crossed this one, which is a remote mountain pass, about 6 years ago when travelling from Hoi An via Vinh back to Vientiane, where I lived at the time:

NamCan / Nam Khan
Convenient to the Lao town of Phonsavan and the large Vietnamese city of Vinh, this border is the crossing of choice for most overland travellers.

You should consult with a travel agent regarding buses and of course, you need to arrange a visa beforehand.

In the long run, a "visa run" by flight to Vientiane and back may be a better choice or follow the advice in the previous posts and fly to Bangkok. A bus trip to the border with Laos will involve a very long drive through mountainous terrain, and there will be very little in the way of facilities at the border.

That's a good tip. Thanks for the resource.
I read in another post in the Expat-Vietnam that in some places (Moi Bai), you don't actually have to enter Cambodia, and pay the other visa fee. Some places you are forced to. Is that your experience?

I read in another post in the Expat-Vietnam that in some places (Moi Bai), you don't actually have to enter Cambodia, and pay the other visa fee.

No, it doesn't work that way. While it would seem that getting stamped out and entering the no man's land between the checkpoints of the neighboring countries would be sufficient, actually, leaving one country logically entails entering another.

If you are referring to this thread:
Visa / Border run
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=824846

you'll see in post #21:

Finally got back to Sai Gon around 1:00pm.  Would have been quicker if I hadn't made a couple of mistakes like going from exiting VN to immediately reentering VN.  Busted and told to go to Cambodia.  And the errors with exiting.

By the way, I think the leg of that journey from Vinh to the border took about 3.5 to 4 hours.

1, Take a bus go to Laos, you just need to go to LakSao town (Xaynhabualy provice), find a room to stay for a night or you can back to Vietnam after passed the border.
2. Take a bus to Vientiane (Laos), stay there for 2,3 days as a travel trip then back to Hanoi.

- Take the bus from Nuoc Ngam bus station, all the buses (include Laos' buses) will leave the bus station about 6 - 6.30pm, all you need to do is go to that bus station, go to 2nd floor and buy a ticket. The cost for bus is around 550000d - 6500000d (25$ - 1 way trip)  for go to Vientiane (around 15$ if just go pass immigration then back)
- Normally, once you take the bus already, the bus will leave station about 6.30pm - 7pm, you can take a sleep till 10.pm (the 1st stop for dinner and go to toilet about 30 minutes), after dinner the bus will keep continue goes to border, and most of them arrive border at 1am till 2am, you just need to keep sleep on the bus till morning. The immigration checkpoint start working at 7.30, before it you could wake up to take a look and eat breakfast there. After passed 2 immigration checkpoints in VN and Laos, you could back right away (if the busses are available) or go to Vientiane as a travel trip then back to Vietnam.

I'm Vietnamese and I had 2 years live in Laos, so free to ask me here
Sr about my poor English.

Thank you for the detailed advice!
Have you seen foreigners do the visa-renewal trip at that border?

so many did it actually, my Canadian friend also did it via a visa agency here, but ai think that you guy could do it by your self, all you need are take the bus to go there and back.