Any Updates on the newly passed 12 month tourist visa for US citizens

Blackyvanhorne wrote:

thats great news for you!! I arrive hcmc on oct 4th and Im from Canada, and have never been to vietnam.  Should I just try my luck at the airport for a 1 year visa, business or tourist?

You will need a visa letter from an agent before arriving at the airport in Viet Nam.. Some airlines will ask to see your visa before allowing you to fly.

Blackyvanhorne wrote:

thats great news for you!! I arrive hcmc on oct 4th and Im from Canada, and have never been to vietnam.  Should I just try my luck at the airport for a 1 year visa, business or tourist?

THAT video would definitely sell a lot of popcorn...

Delta Airlines (with a connecting flight on Vietnam Airlines) wouldn't even let me check my baggage in San Diego until I'd gone inside the terminal and had my Visa On Arrival (VOA) letter & passport verified.

Not meaning to offend, but you sound totally clueless regarding the visa approval process, especially since you've already got your airline reservation.

I highly recommend that you contact a reputable VOA agent now.


Good luck

Scruffydog wrote:

Apologies for my ignorance but I'm rather to this. My family and I have visited Vietnam on numerous occasions , this has been for vacation periods of a month each year.

We are now investigating the option of possibly staying for a year or so (as we have located a suitable school for our daughter).

Is this possible ? Under which Visa category would anybody advise ? We are also not US citizens.

Cheers
Scruffy

I'd rather not speculate off-topic in this sticky thread.

I sent you a private message with contact info for my own trusted Visa on Arrival agent, a personal friend here in Vietnam.

However, it's always best to inquire first at the
Embassy or Consulate in your country.

Cheers!

zissel wrote:

Are you referring to Russian tourist visas? And for what length of time and the cost.
Thanks,
Kurt

No.

Please read the title of this sticky thread.

Thank you

THIGV wrote:

If you are still in the US and are considering applying for a one year visa-on-arrival, may I suggest that you take a peek at my post #476 in the VEC thread, the third paragraph in particular.

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 12#4633809

A visa from the consulate means no waiting in the visa-on-arrival lines and may cost no more or maybe even less.

You are correct that the Visa from the Consulate (or Embassy) costs less, since there is no Visa On  Arrival (VOA) agent's fee included.

Also, since there is no regulation of fees paid to agents, the price difference could be staggering, as I've personally seen quotes for VOA letters as high as $2,000.00 USD for a 1 year category DN Business Visa (for U.S. citizens) and as low as $199.00 USD (plus mandatory $135.00 USD cash stamping fee payable on arrival).

However, in the post you linked to above, you state:

"I see no reason to be fooling around with a visa-on-arrival company" in a post where you are initially talking about a VEC.

We (I) see U.S. citizens posting here almost daily, seeking a 1 year Visa that doesn't require border runs, yet they don't have a sponsoring business here in Vietnam that will support their application for a 1 Year Category DN Business Visa.

For those people (myself included) a trustworthy VOA agent is a huge help in providing both a sponsor as well as an official approved VOA letter.

I'm about to utilize my trusted VOA agent (a personal friend in Hanoi) for my new 1 Year Category DN Business Visa.

I am confident that my experience will be just as easy as it was last year:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=562887&p=10#4324545

No "fooling around", just the path of least resistance.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

THIGV wrote:

A visa from the consulate means no waiting in the visa-on-arrival lines and may cost no more or maybe even less.

You are correct that the Visa from the Consulate (or Embassy) costs less, since there is no Visa On  Arrival (VOA) agent's fee included.

Also, since there is no regulation of fees paid to agents, the price difference could be staggering, as I've personally seen quotes for VOA letters as high as $2,000.00 USD for a 1 year category DN Business Visa (for U.S. citizens) and as low as $199.00 USD (plus mandatory $135.00 USD cash stamping fee payable on arrival).

I did not write it down and have forgotten    the exact amount but I did inquire with the SF consulate about the price on the I yr tourist visa.  If I recall it was around $200 so a good bit less than your $199+$135. 

At that time you also posted:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

We (I) see U.S. citizens posting here almost daily, seeking a 1 year Visa that doesn't require border runs, yet they don't have a sponsoring business here in Vietnam that will support their application for a 1 Year Category DN Business Visa.

For those people (myself included) a trustworthy VOA agent is a huge help in providing both a sponsor as well as an official approved VOA letter.

....No "fooling around", just the path of least resistance.

You have now posted the following:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

UPDATE:

I just received my new (second) 1-year Category DN Business Visa at Nội Bài airport.
....According to my trusted visa agent, only American citizens can be approved for this type of Visa through an agent.

I am somewhat surprised that you are still advocating for the DN visa in light of the recent postings that may indicate that some blacklisting may be based on the fact that people have obtained DN visas without obtaining work permits.  https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=827419  In particular, check out post #7.  i too posted on that thread, perhaps in a more critical tone than I feel today.   You have posted on this thread yourself. 

It is always natural to take the path of least resistance, particularly in Vietnam, but I am still amazed that the system allowed agents to set up DN visas with shell companies with whom the visa holder had no real relationship.  This is not a criticism of those who hold the visas, or even the agents, but a criticism of the government for allowing such a situation to exist.  Can you imagine any developed country allowing profit motivated agents to set up visas?  Imagine the cost of a US visa in HCM if you could get one from a private office across the street on Lê Duẩn.  (When a consular official was selling US visas prior to 2013, the price was reportedly $15-70K. He got 64 months so he may be recently out of jail. )   Of course the current system in VN is an open invitation for corruption.  Now authorities may be making a correction but of course the cost falls on the foreigners, not the agents or officials.  It may be that the current crackdown does not yet include US citizens but who knows when that hammer may fall?  As Colinoscapee posted:

colinoscapee wrote:

If you have a 1 year business visa and don't leave for the whole year, immigration can look and see you didnt come here just for meetings.

A more sophisticated system would require real letters from real companies, perhaps evidence that salaries from international companies were paid to the visa holder while they worked in VN, or real evidence of attempts to establish new business.  Of course this would require real work and honest discretion on behalf of the government employees.     Not likely.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Anyone with questions is welcome to private message me.

Sorry if you didn't want this in public but I think I am more critical of the government than I am of others.

hyagly256 wrote:

Like THIGV, I am also surprised that you got that visa, OceanBeach. I have read the threads about blacklisting and it seemed that the 1 year business visa was the prime culprit. If you have information that that's not the case, please share.

I don't understand the purpose of one year business visa, but I know OB is not the only person who had/have it.  Another American expat here in VT arrived in VN on the same visa, reapplied for the 2nd year, and now almost half way through his 3rd year here.

He's not a member of this site so I cannot ask him to verify, but my husband and I know him personally and saw his visa when I helped him with apartment rental.

hyagly256 wrote:

Like THIGV, I am also surprised that you got that visa, OceanBeach. I have read the threads about blacklisting and it seemed that the 1 year business visa was the prime culprit. If you have information that that's not the case, please share.

Apparantly, based largely on his ethical concerns, THIGV is on a crusade of sorts without any personal experience in applying for, receiving and living in Vietnam with a 1 year category DN business visa for US citizens.

I think he has eloquently and completely stated his case.

I have shared my personal experience as well as the experiences of many U.S. citizens currently living here in Vietnam.

I am not pushing an agenda.

I am simply attempting to add my own anecdotal experiences to the mix of posts on this subject.

I have nothing else to add, except to ask you, a Canadian, to reread:

1. The title of this thread (visa for U.S. citizens)

2. All of the posts about blacklisting to determine the nationality of the complainant.

If my memory serves me correctly, the vast majority of those saying they have been blacklisted are not US citizens.

ON TOPIC, none of the information I have shared is relevant for Canadian citizens.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

hyagly256 wrote:

Like THIGV, I am also surprised that you got that visa, OceanBeach. I have read the threads about blacklisting and it seemed that the 1 year business visa was the prime culprit. If you have information that that's not the case, please share.

Apparantly, based largely on his ethical concerns, THIGV is on a crusade of sorts without any personal experience in applying for, receiving and living in Vietnam with a 1 year category DN business visa for US citizens.

Hopefully it was clear that my ethical concerns were not directed at those who hold DN visas but at the government.  Also although it seems as if only nationals of other countries have been affected by the blacklisting to date, you never know when the other shoe may fall on Americans.  Again this is not to find fault with the visa holders, just food for thought.  It should be evident that in Vietnam, what is legal one year may become illegal the next