5 year visa waiver - in case members don't already know

My wife is VN, and we have a 10-year-old son. They (we) live in LA/USA. I'm here on a Canadian government project and discovered last May that foreigners with either a VN spouse or a VN child (if divorced or unmarried) could get a 5-year visa waiver very quickly. I'm Canadian and applied via the VN Embassy in LA last May, paid $110, and had it within a week. The visa is a grey book, much like a passport, valid for six months per entry. I made a day trip to Laos in December and it was renewed upon re-entry.
-@john426

I don't think anybody here knows anything about that.

I mean, you could search The Forum to see if anyone has ever mentioned a 5 year VEC (or Visa Exemption Certificate) but I'd be very surprised if you find anything...

Good to hear you had a positive experience

@ OB - "I don't think anybody here knows anything about that."

What? A 5-year visa *waiver*? Never heard of this

My wife is VN, and we have a 10-year-old son. They (we) live in LA/USA. I'm here on a Canadian government project and discovered last May that foreigners with either a VN spouse or a VN child (if divorced or unmarried) could get a 5-year visa waiver very quickly. I'm Canadian and applied via the VN Embassy in LA last May, paid $110, and had it within a week. The visa is a grey book, much like a passport, valid for six months per entry. I made a day trip to Laos in December and it was renewed upon re-entry.
-@john426

Are you thinking of this?

https://vietnamembassy-usa.org/consular/visa-exemption

@john426

Good to know that a Canadian (and other foreigners?)  can make application for the 5 year VEC at a VN consulate/embassy office in the United States.

Thank you

My wife is VN, and we have a 10-year-old son. They (we) live in LA/USA. I'm here on a Canadian government project and discovered last May that foreigners with either a VN spouse or a VN child (if divorced or unmarried) could get a 5-year visa waiver very quickly. I'm Canadian and applied via the VN Embassy in LA last May, paid $110, and had it within a week. The visa is a grey book, much like a passport, valid for six months per entry. I made a day trip to Laos in December and it was renewed upon re-entry.
-@john426
Are you thinking of this?

https://vietnamembassy-usa.org/consular/visa-exemption
-@SimCityAT

Well of course, we know what he's talking about (the forum has too many VEC discussions to easily count) but I doubt anyone knows WHERE he's talking about, as there is no embassy of Vietnam in L.A. (Los Angeles, California) or LA (the state of Louisiana).

Many of us recommend doing business with the San Francisco consulate (the link I included above) instead of the Embassy in Washington D.C., but the Houston & New York consulates are other options.

Also, his mention of a $110 USD fee seems high (unless he means CAD) so I'm not sure yet if we are being trolled, or perhaps he was dealing with a private 3rd party visa service in the Los Angeles or Louisiana areas

@John426

With thousands of members signing up to ask how they can get to Vietnam and then stay in Vietnam over many years the VEC & TRC are very well known to anyone who has been on the forum for more than a few days.

With members having hundreds if not 8,000+ posts under their belt, stating such a thing is like what's the currency in Vietnam to Expats here.

That's why the chuckle and jokes, no one is stupid or ignorant -

It is always best to have a look around to see if the info you are passing on has been touched on before and then add additional info if needed.

Andy

Expat Team

I'm Canadian and applied via the VN Embassy in LA last May, paid $110, and had it within a week. The visa is a grey book, much like a passport, valid for six months per entry.
-@john426

I learned two new things in this post. The first was that other nationals may apply for visas at Vietnamese Consulates in the US.  May we assume the same structural relationship in other countries (i.e.  Could an American apply for a Viet Visa in let us say Paris?}.

The second was that the loose VEC is in a book format. I had imagined that it was simply a piece of paper sized to tuck into your passport like loose single entry visas I have had. Do the entry stamps go in this book instead of in your passport?

Also the $110 fee is the same as I paid for my VEC from San Francisco.  I know that amount is more than the same document costs within Vietnam, but I think it is as little as it costs anywhere outside the country.

I'm Canadian and applied via the VN Embassy in LA last May, paid $110, and had it within a week. The visa is a grey book, much like a passport, valid for six months per entry.
-@john426
I learned two new things in this post. The first was that other nationals may apply for visas at Vietnamese Consulates in the US. May we assume the same structural relationship in other countries (i.e. Could an American apply for a Viet Visa in let us say Paris?}.

The second was that the loose VEC is in a book format. I had imagined that it was simply a piece of paper sized to tuck into your passport like loose single entry visas I have had. Do the entry stamps go in this book instead of in your passport?

Also the $110 fee is the same as I paid for my VEC from San Francisco. I know that amount is more than the same document costs within Vietnam, but I think it is as little as it costs anywhere outside the country.
-@THIGV

Only possible at the embassy in Los Angeles...

Hello everyone,

Just to inform you that some posts have been put aside (probably due to a misunderstanding).

All the best

Bhavna

Only possible at the embassy in Los Angeles...
-@OceanBeach92107

You're right. I totally missed that one.

I wonder if anyone else has recently gotten a VEC and can confirm or deny the "grey book" assertion.

Only possible at the embassy in Los Angeles...
-@OceanBeach92107
You're right. I totally missed that one.

I wonder if anyone else has recently gotten a VEC and can confirm or deny the "grey book" assertion.
-@THIGV

I'm not sure if it answers your question but I can describe what I got:

So back in 2022 I applied for the 5-year visa exemption certificate from Canada and the Vietnamese embassy in Ottawa gave people two choices: you can either go to Ottawa in person or send your passport to have the VEC attached to your passport, or since COVID they started distributing this VEC in a separate "book", which allows them to send it directly by mail without having to send our passport first. I took this option, so I received this book and that's the one that got stamped, not the passport. Of course the book contains our passport number so it's still attached to our passport.

When I travel within Vietnam I usually bring my passport *and* this book, although I got pictures in my Google Drive for both of them and could probably manage to go around without the originals.

Here's the link to the image in my Google Drive, not sure if it's going to work but worth a try: [link moderated]