To Become expats

The answer is no to all three questions.

The decision of becoming an expat is yours and the responsibility to make it happen is also yours and yours alone.  No one at the airport or travel agency can help you with the steps to get where you want to go.  In fact, I seriously doubt anyone at the airport or travel agency would know the first thing about becoming an expat, so forget about asking them.  This is the website for expats and you've come to the right place to ask your questions.  Stay put, we'll help you.

Based on your intro page, I assume you're American of Vietnamese descent.  If I'm correct on that assumption, then proceed to the next paragraph.  If I'm wrong, then skip the rest of my post and tell us more about you.

For a child of Overseas Vietnamese, you may be qualified for a multiple entry 5-year VEC (Visa Exemption Certificate).  Living in Houston, you're surrounded by Vietnamese agencies whose specialty is procuring Vietnam Visa for their clients.  Go to one of those places and ask them to help you with a VEC.  They'll charge you around $80, which is highway robbery IMO but you wouldn't have to deal with it yourself. 

There's a Consulate General of Vietnam right there in Houston so your VEC should come back in a few days and will be effective on the date of issuance.  What that means is the clock starts clicking the day the Consulate signs your VEC, so if you don't plan to go to VN until next year, don't apply for it now. 

As you were in the Navy, your passport should be up to date, I assume?  (Another assumption; I'm full of it today.)  You'll need passport, photos, and proof that at least one of your parents is an Overseas Vietnamese.  The people at those agencies will explain everything to you, don't worry about that.

The VEC will allow you to stay in VN for 6 months at a time for a period of 5 years.  Every 6 months, you'll need to leave the country even if only for an hour.  When you re-enter, you'll receive a new stamp in your passport to allow you another 6-month stay.  Do not overstay, not even for one day.  Better yet, take a trip outside of the country or do a visa run a week before the 6 months' mark. 

By having Vietnamese heritage, getting a long term Visa is the easiest part of becoming an expat.  Your difficulty and/or confusion doesn't happen until after you arrive, but that's another post for another day.

Thank you for the help, so the people with the answers are in the US.  I will go to a Vietnamese travel agency when I am ready.  So every 6 month I have to do something to get a visa stamp to come back to Vietnam.  Do I come back to the US to get the visa stamp? Or I can travel a little bit outside Vietnam and get the visa stamp when I fly back to Vietnam?  Can I get a UPS Box in Hawii and travel Back and fourth every month?  I want my driver license to have that UPS box address on it.