How to enter Vietnam during Covid19

Hi guys, I'm Dean. I have been living in Hanoi for 8 years. I got back home in Australia during Tet and now stuck here because of Covid 19. I really want to bring me and my wife back to VN. Both of us are Freelancers. One has business visa (not a work permit), other has tourist visa (3 months). To my acknowledge, there are maybe 2 ways to enter VN:
1. An agent that sponsor us to get a work permit/ expert certification. Is there anyone have done this way and recommend me some reliable, legit agents (i can accept at any cost but for sure don't wanna get scam)
2. To be an english teacher lol some of my friends told me this but idk if that works. Can someone share their experiences?
3. Or is there any creative solutions too?
We actually already had an acommodation back in Hanoi and have been paying the rent throughout the year so you can tell we are desperate of entering VN. Please anyone help us. Thank you in advance.I appreciate every reply.

DeanJohnson wrote:

To my acknowledge, there are maybe 2 ways to enter VN:
1. An agent that sponsor us to get a work permit/ expert certification. Is there anyone have done this way and recommend me some reliable, legit agents (i can accept at any cost but for sure don't wanna get scam)
2. To be an english teacher lol some of my friends told me this but idk if that works. Can someone share their experiences?


1- An agent cannot get you an expert certification.  Let's say you're a geoscientist and D&B hires you to work in Vietnam, then the permit application *and* the contract would indicate that it's impossible for a Vietnamese to replace you in the field of petroleum geology.  That's how you can enter the country as an expert.

- No, an English teacher is neither an expert nor difficult to replace.

Thank you for the clarification. But is there possible any sponsoring organisations/businesses that can help us?

We have a temporary residence card since we already had an accommodation back in Hanoi and paid the rent fee. Does that will help us in anything?

DeanJohnson wrote:

We have a temporary residence card since we already had an accommodation back in Hanoi and paid the rent fee. Does that will help us in anything?


I think the main stumbling point is VN gov only letting in experts, so even though many on here would have sympathy for people like you who have Visa, TRC, loved ones, homes, businesses to come back to, it means nothing in addressing the entry conditions at the moment.

So just as Ciambella (aka The Guru) pointed out you have diddly squat of a chance at getting in under your situation.

DeanJohnson wrote:

Thank you for the clarification. But is there possible any sponsoring organisations/businesses that can help us?


Do you have any professional skill that makes you a rare find for an organisation?  Will a business give you an employment contract based on your unique talent?

Ciambella wrote:
DeanJohnson wrote:

Thank you for the clarification. But is there possible any sponsoring organisations/businesses that can help us?


Do you have any professional skill that makes you a rare find for an organisation?  Will a business give you an employment contract based on your unique talent?


There would not be many rare talents they can't find here, maybe antique car resto's may be one if they had any old cars lol

VW campervan mods? aint many that can do that here,   double glazing installers?

Anybody think of totally useless skills people may have they would never use here?

DeanJohnson wrote:

Hi guys, I'm Dean. I have been living in Hanoi for 8 years. I got back home in Australia during Tet and now stuck here because of Covid 19. I really want to bring me and my wife back to VN. Both of us are Freelancers. One has business visa (not a work permit), other has tourist visa (3 months). To my acknowledge, there are maybe 2 ways to enter VN:
1. An agent that sponsor us to get a work permit/ expert certification. Is there anyone have done this way and recommend me some reliable, legit agents (i can accept at any cost but for sure don't wanna get scam)
2. To be an english teacher lol some of my friends told me this but idk if that works. Can someone share their experiences?
3. Or is there any creative solutions too?
We actually already had an acommodation back in Hanoi and have been paying the rent throughout the year so you can tell we are desperate of entering VN. Please anyone help us. Thank you in advance.I appreciate every reply.


DeanJohnson wrote:

We have a temporary residence card since we already had an accommodation back in Hanoi and paid the rent fee. Does that will help us in anything?


What does paying a rent fee have to do with obtaining a temporary residence card?

Nothing that anyone here knows about.

What's the rest of your story?

You call yourself a freelancer.

How did that qualify you for a temporary residence card?

Also, if you have both been out of the country since Tết, that 3 month tourist visa has long since expired, and so too probably has the business visa, since 1 year ago Australian citizens had ceased being able to obtain 1 year business visas.

So you are almost certainly two people who have no visas, and there is the slightest possibility that this is a troll post and we should be watching for your partner to enter the conversation with their first post.

For someone who managed to live in this country for 8 years, your current level of ignorance is almost unbelievably surprising.

Of course, once you do tell us your full story, maybe your situation will make more sense and maybe someone will be able to help you.

Hope so...

Ciambella wrote:

- No, an English teacher is neither an expert nor difficult to replace.


While this may be true in a real world sense, I believe that prior to the pandemic, English teachers were considered "experts."  That said, the expert status was the basis for granting the work permit, not for entry as most teachers entered on tourist visas and then looked for work.  Still, if you are already hired by one of the major schools or even better by a public university, I think they can vouch for your entry as an "expert" subject of course to the quarantine.  It's just that exceedingly few teachers have traditionally been hired that way.

THIGV wrote:
Ciambella wrote:

- No, an English teacher is neither an expert nor difficult to replace.


While this may be true in a real world sense, I believe that prior to the pandemic, English teachers were considered "experts."  That said, the expert status was the basis for granting the work permit, not for entry as most teachers entered on tourist visas and then looked for work.  Still, if you are already hired by one of the major schools or even better by a public university, I think they can vouch for your entry as an "expert" subject of course to the quarantine.  It's just that exceedingly few teachers have traditionally been hired that way.


For a work permit you don't need a B.Ed, a degree of any type will get you one. I doubt a teacher will gain entry, that is unless they are a world renowned educator who can't be overlooked.

colinoscapee wrote:

For a work permit you don't need a B.Ed, a degree of any type will get you one. I doubt a teacher will gain entry, that is unless they are a world renowned educator who can't be overlooked.


I think it is the combination of the Bachelor's degree and the TEFL certificate that makes one an "expert."  Notice that those are air quotes because I too feel it is a rather ridiculous designation.  I also suspect that the influence of the school that wants a teacher will far outweigh any fame of the teacher.  I also expect that oil rig supervisors are still entering to go to work with Petrovietnam or Petrolimex.  Again it probably has more to do with the clout of the sponsor than the entrant.

Something else to consider: let's say he (or they) managed to get recognized as experts and get a visa, how will they get from Australia to Vietnam? The only flights I'm aware of at the moment, are repatriation flights for Vietnamese citizens, chartered by the government. There was a very short trial run of regular flights from a few countries back in September, but that didn't last.
There's just no way around it, until the government decides to open the borders again, we can only sit tight and wait...

Kurterino wrote:

Something else to consider: let's say he (or they) managed to get recognized as experts and get a visa, how will they get from Australia to Vietnam? The only flights I'm aware of at the moment, are repatriation flights for Vietnamese citizens, chartered by the government. There was a very short trial run of regular flights from a few countries back in September, but that didn't last.
There's just no way around it, until the government decides to open the borders again, we can only sit tight and wait...


Are you sure about that statement? I just took a quick glance at TSN arrivals for today and saw flights from Cambodia, Korea, Hong Kong coming in, maybe a few more.

Rick

Budman1 wrote:
Kurterino wrote:

Something else to consider: let's say he (or they) managed to get recognized as experts and get a visa, how will they get from Australia to Vietnam? The only flights I'm aware of at the moment, are repatriation flights for Vietnamese citizens, chartered by the government. There was a very short trial run of regular flights from a few countries back in September, but that didn't last.
There's just no way around it, until the government decides to open the borders again, we can only sit tight and wait...


Are you sure about that statement? I just took a quick glance at TSN arrivals for today and saw flights from Cambodia, Korea, Hong Kong coming in, maybe a few more.

Rick


Interesting...those were the countries mentioned in the article I had read, I guess they must have resumed flights then (that wasn't mentioned). There might also be flights to and from Japan and mainland China.
However, one probably also needs to fulfill certain requirements in order to transit through one of these airports, it's still not gonna be easy.

Budman1 wrote:
Kurterino wrote:

Something else to consider: let's say he (or they) managed to get recognized as experts and get a visa, how will they get from Australia to Vietnam? The only flights I'm aware of at the moment, are repatriation flights for Vietnamese citizens, chartered by the government. There was a very short trial run of regular flights from a few countries back in September, but that didn't last.
There's just no way around it, until the government decides to open the borders again, we can only sit tight and wait...


Are you sure about that statement? I just took a quick glance at TSN arrivals for today and saw flights from Cambodia, Korea, Hong Kong coming in, maybe a few more.

Rick


I'm confused...I did a quick search on ebookers for a random date (27 November, a Friday), for flights to Saigon from Hong Kong, Seoul and Singapore and couldn't find any. Does anybody know if there any regular flights?