Some Visa Extensions Discontinued

pogiwayne wrote:

If you are forced to leave because of your visa situation the solution may be to return to Texas and have your fiancée go to you there and marry. Or you could apply for a fiancée visa if she cannot get a tourist visa.

I've never set foot on texan soil in my life, you might confuse me with someone else.

No updates so far, immigrations doesn't seem to have any clue what their new policy is. They neither want to confirm that further extensions will be available nor deny it.

Can I assume that as long as my passport ist at immigration I will be at least granted an exit visa or will I effectively be overstaying from tomorrow on?

devbob wrote:

Quick update:

Visa (3 month DL, originally issued on 18.01.2020 and extended ever since) got extended until 10.12.2021. Seems like immigration changed their mind again. Agency rumors say immigration doesn't plan changes on the extension policy until borders are open without restrictions again. Let's see...

After 6 months of being closed, my fiancé's local police ward started working again and finally issued the final paper we need from her side. Will submit for my "eligible for marriage certificate" in Germany by  the end of next week. With two to three more extensions we should be fine.

That's definitely good news, as I think someone here in the forum (Andy?) reported that one of the top visa agencies had been saying that it was likely that tourist visa extensions were finally going to stop.

Just a guess, but that was before the most recent announcements about the three-stage plan that's going into effect.

Maybe once they had that ironed out (as much as it can be at this time) they then saw the wisdom of continuing extensions until sometime between April and June.

Anyway best of luck to you two.

Let's hope the rest of your paperwork goes off without a snag.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

devbob wrote:

Quick update:

Visa (3 month DL, originally issued on 18.01.2020 and extended ever since) got extended until 10.12.2021. Seems like immigration changed their mind again. Agency rumors say immigration doesn't plan changes on the extension policy until borders are open without restrictions again. Let's see...

After 6 months of being closed, my fiancé's local police ward started working again and finally issued the final paper we need from her side. Will submit for my "eligible for marriage certificate" in Germany by  the end of next week. With two to three more extensions we should be fine.

That's definitely good news, as I think someone here in the forum (Andy?) reported that one of the top visa agencies had been saying that it was likely that tourist visa extensions were finally going to stop.

Just a guess, but that was before the most recent announcements about the three-stage plan that's going into effect.

Maybe once they had that ironed out (as much as it can be at this time) they then saw the wisdom of continuing extensions until sometime between April and June.

Anyway best of luck to you two.

Let's hope the rest of your paperwork goes off without a snag.

Info back before lockdown was that gov was stopping them to let people go back overseas and concentrate on locals.
Agency rumors say immigration doesn't plan changes on the extension policy until borders are open without restrictions again.
Thats not what had been happening, many didnt get renewed and got passports stamped exit, some were well known YT vloggers.
There was months of stories from members saying they could not renew?
As HCMC got locked down and flights stopped so did the info as offices were closed and agents were in the dark until offices reopened.
Maybe as people now start gettimg news they can post what is happening to their tourist visa renewals as well.

Diazo wrote:

Just saw this weekend on one of the news websites ( Tui Tre I think) that extension due to the COVID situation will continue unabated until international travel o-ens up and people can get out.

Makes sense, if everyone has been locked down and all offices shut plus airport restrictions all they could do was sit and wait.

devbob wrote:

Quick update:

Visa (3 month DL, originally issued on 18.01.2020 and extended ever since) got extended until 10.12.2021. Seems like immigration changed their mind again. Agency rumors say immigration doesn't plan changes on the extension policy until borders are open without restrictions again. Let's see...

After 6 months of being closed, my fiancé's local police ward started working again and finally issued the final paper we need from her side. Will submit for my "eligible for marriage certificate" in Germany by  the end of next week. With two to three more extensions we should be fine.

Good luck to you and your fiancé. Hope from now on the paper work goes well for you 2 .

TomVdB wrote:

apologies for repeating previously asked questions, but the situation seems so fluid currently. My agent (SNVI) informed me yesterday that there will be no more extensions going forward and I just wanted to check here to see if others heard the same.
i'm currently on a tourist visa and have enjoyed my semi-retirement here in VN over the past 18 months. With Europe going into winter (and new lockdowns) I'd prefer to spend my time in a warm climate while this covid thing lasts

The government just put out a press release not many days ago saying the extensions would still be granted until the borders open up. It would be my suggestion to deal directly with immigrations office and not a third party agent. Your very fortunate to find two agents in an immigration office that can agree on what the current rules are. So taking a third party agents advice might not be the best. Welcome to VN…..visa rules are always a fluid situation here. If the sun has come up on a new day there very well could be a new rule. You learn to live with it after awhile.

TomVdB wrote:

apologies for repeating previously asked questions, but the situation seems so fluid currently. My agent (SNVI) informed me yesterday that there will be no more extensions going forward and I just wanted to check here to see if others heard the same.
i'm currently on a tourist visa and have enjoyed my semi-retirement here in VN over the past 18 months. With Europe going into winter (and new lockdowns) I'd prefer to spend my time in a warm climate while this covid thing lasts

In addition to what DIAZO said, it's important to know some more information about you:

Where are you living now? Where did you enter the country and obtain your Visa? (Even if you had a successful border run before the lockdowns began)

One problem that began developing almost a year ago was a change in how visas issued in Hanoi were handled, versus how visas issued in Ho Chi Minh City were handled.

I'll send a message to my Visa agent and see what she's heard.

Colin, have you heard anything along these lines?

EDIT:

You didn't specify if you are obtaining the automatic extensions for the people who last entered the country on or after 1st of March 2020, or if you last entered the country prior to that and are paying for all of your extensions.

Because it's possible that the government is allowing one kind of extension but not the other.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

TomVdB wrote:

apologies for repeating previously asked questions, but the situation seems so fluid currently. My agent (SNVI) informed me yesterday that there will be no more extensions going forward and I just wanted to check here to see if others heard the same.
i'm currently on a tourist visa and have enjoyed my semi-retirement here in VN over the past 18 months. With Europe going into winter (and new lockdowns) I'd prefer to spend my time in a warm climate while this covid thing lasts

In addition to what DIAZO said, it's important to know some more information about you:

Where are you living now? Where did you enter the country and obtain your Visa? (Even if you had a successful border run before the lockdowns began)

One problem that began developing almost a year ago was a change in how visas issued in Hanoi were handled, versus how visas issued in Ho Chi Minh City were handled.

I'll send a message to my Visa agent and see what she's heard.

Colin, have you heard anything along these lines?

EDIT:

You didn't specify if you are obtaining the automatic extensions for the people who last entered the country on or after 1st of March 2020, or if you last entered the country prior to that and are paying for all of your extensions.

Because it's possible that the government is allowing one kind of extension but not the other.

There was an article in the local news that extension would continue up to Nov 30, after that it will be assessed again. Of course, it all comes down to when you entered the country.

TomVdB wrote:

apologies for repeating previously asked questions, but the situation seems so fluid currently. My agent (SNVI) informed me yesterday that there will be no more extensions going forward and I just wanted to check here to see if others heard the same.
i'm currently on a tourist visa and have enjoyed my semi-retirement here in VN over the past 18 months. With Europe going into winter (and new lockdowns) I'd prefer to spend my time in a warm climate while this covid thing lasts

So I had a WhatsApp chat with my Visa agent in Hanoi.

She said that the government is definitely continuing the free Visa extensions for people who entered the country on or after the 1st of March, 2020.

She said she can't really address the issue of paid extensions (for people who entered the country before the 1st of March 2020) because her agency stopped offering/processing those extensions quite a while back.

So she's not surprised to hear the news about SNVI, if in fact they are talking about paid extensions.

So who knows?

Also, who knows if immigration can or will help you?

Because when the lockdown of the borders started and people started to pay for Visa extensions, I remember a number of posts where people said that immigration refused to help them and told them that they had to go and see an agent.

But hey, if you want to know for sure if you're not welcome anymore, immigration will probably tell you that...

TomVdB wrote:

i arrived the last week of Feb 2020, so before March 1. I don't mind paying for the extensions, it's more the fact that they're trying so hard to get foreign tourists in, yet they ignore the ones that are actually spending their savings here already.
oh well, haven't heard back from my agent, so i guess they accepted my extension request for now.

It is not really a matter of wanting anyone out or in. Just like all countries they need to control their borders and monitor the entry and exit. All of us are actually citizens of the country that issued our passports. Then too there are legal ramification that arise from the length of your stay in any country. For example your tax status changes after 183 days. I suppose the operative word in your statement is “tourist”. To be sure there are countries that make it much easier to stay as a retiree, or marry a resident. But VN is not one of them and will probably never become one.

devbob wrote:

Quick update from my side. As of a few hours ago, my agency (Jane SNVI) no longer accepts passports for extending tourist visas manually.

There seems to me some meeting on the 15th of January that might (re)-open other visas / new entries.

As for myself: my visa expires on the 16th of January, I was told I could overstay with a fine for an additional 15 days. My eligibility for marriage certificate will arrive in HCMC on the 21st of January and my landlady's lawyer is confident he can arrange our marriage certificate within one week for some hefty "express fees".

Crossing fingers, it'll work out. I really don't feel like visiting Europe in January. Spent the christmas and new year time cycling the Ho Chi Minh road. 12 degrees in the highlands had me freezing to death.

Yet another great system put in place by VN immigration. It seems those overstay fines are their primary goal.

colinoscapee wrote:

Yet another great system put in place by VN immigration. It seems those overstay fines are their primary goal.

Mercedes dealership will kick off the new year with good sales I guess.

LDL- wrote:

hello the english community,

BE CAREFUL !!!!

The administration now have a new politic about visas !
Its new thanks to the virus, that mean now there are penalities.

For people stay in Vietnam and will delay to remade their visas, penalities will apply ! ***

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vietexpat2 wrote:

... but for a friend of mine who is here on working visa for school, and school closed during virus, and now i surmise, has not reopened.

so now VN have told him that they will not renew ,and he has to exit,,,,,,,

Addendum. actual no Work Permit.

If your friend did not have a work permit, then he did not have a work visa.  Even if the school reopens and hires him, he will still probably have to leave.

vietexpat2 wrote:

THIGV wrote:

vietexpat2 wrote:

... but for a friend of mine who is here on working visa for school, and school closed during virus, and now i surmise, has not reopened.

so now VN have told him that they will not renew ,and he has to exit,,,,,,,

Addendum. actual no Work Permit.

If your friend did not have a work permit, then he did not have a work visa.  Even if the school reopens and hires him, he will still probably have to leave.

ty for comment. i not hear any more details at the moment

i suggested he try for another teaching job

maybe problem is he dos not have teacher TESOL and can only work schools w/o paperwork

Yes.

Only illegal jobs.