Visa for long term stay

Get a 1 year business visa,easy to find on the online visa companies. Don't listen to the embassy, they have no idea.

Sites like this( I dont use them, I just picked a random site).
https://www.vietnamvisaonline.net/artic … tnam-visa/

Welcome to yer rite of passage, Neil.   Rules? 

(1) There are no rules...

..aside from Rafferty's, rule-of-thumb and (not) the golden one...

(1)   THERE ARE NO RULES !     (Please?)  Remember this and read on.

Yes, this is Viet Nam.    Saving face is rule (2) in deference to (1) , so we have conflicting rules covering all rooms, houses, villages, towns, cities, areas, deltas, provinces, then the North, Centre, South, West...    ..and along the coasts (inc) Islands.   You get the idea..?

     Good.  When, not if you can get your mind wrapped around these (not) Western ways of how-the-world-works, please accept that this is Viet Nam: it works here.

      Humans think they are dominant by their virtue of adapting to change: so adapt.     Reading his story and (trying to) learn the language can help, but boots-on-the-ground prove yet again that if the map does not agree with the ground: the map is wrong...

Conflicting advice is the norm, coffee money a prerequisite for all bureaucracy, and (pretending to be) poor & proud huge advantage over ego and arrogance.   This is their world and you are a (temporary?)  visitor.   A.k.a Capitalism, change is inevitable, and to your advantage.   That may change too.   

I think Nietszche neatly nailed it with: there are no facts; only perceptions.

So remember Rule no. 1.

    *  You will find its self-evident truth in your own research

Welcome mate. I am from New Zealand aswel.  Actually getting a 3 months visa and renew it by crossing the board isnt as hard as it may sounds,  i did it couple of times.  flick me a message if you need any help.

thanks mate. So.. you have to do a quick in and out every three then?  The option as suggested  online  that is renewing at designated travel agents ..no go!

Neil Farrington wrote:

thanks mate. So.. you have to do a quick in and out every three then?  The option as suggested  online  that is renewing at designated travel agents ..no go!

A 1 year business visa you don't have to leave every 3 months. Do some research online, you will see what its all about.

Visa extensions are available. Just did a 3 month extension on a DN, Business visa, Canadian Passport, cost USD 200. 1 Year multi entry visa is available, prices ranges from USD250, Hanoi travel agent to $4-500, depending on the size of the visa company.

My experience: go to Actxplorer's website and connect with Thin or chris. Their rates are a little cheaper than e companies and their service is over the top. I run over a hundred people through their agency a year and have never had a bad experience. Their service and competency is over the top

I am not replying as any sort of authority and as posted there are probably no rules but in my experience my understanding is only Yanks can get a 1 year Visa.
If anyone finds any different I would love to know too as I am a Kiwi living here every 6 weeks in 10 and work in Oz the other 4.
I would love to get a longer term Visa.
Cheers

Pilbara wrote:

I am not replying as any sort of authority and as posted there are probably no rules but in my experience my understanding is only Yanks can get a 1 year Visa.
If anyone finds any different I would love to know too as I am a Kiwi living here every 6 weeks in 10 and work in Oz the other 4.
I would love to get a longer term Visa.
Cheers

Hi, welcome to the forum!
Six-month and one-year business visas (link is for reference only) are available for most nationalities.
US citizens can get one-year tourist visas with a 90 day re-stamping (exit-entry) cap.
Cheers!

Pilbara wrote:

I am not replying as any sort of authority and as posted there are probably no rules but in my experience my understanding is only Yanks can get a 1 year Visa.
If anyone finds any different I would love to know too as I am a Kiwi living here every 6 weeks in 10 and work in Oz the other 4.
I would love to get a longer term Visa.
Cheers

The 1 year American visa and the 1 year business visa are not the same. 1 year American visa you have to leave every 3 months and reenter. 1 year business visa you dont have to.

Hi Neil

Which would be perfect for me...but i'm not American and because I don't qualify for the Business Visa

Hi, I have been here for 1 year and 3 months so far. I first had a 6 month visa then returned to Canada for a holiday.  On my return to Vietnam I had a 1 year Visitor's Visa.  I will need to go out of the country to obtain another if I wish, but have not had to leave and return in all this time, except for my holiday. I am retired.
I could have had a 2 year Visa, but I was not sure how long I could stay, so happily took the 1 year. Good luck!

Pilbara wrote:

Which would be perfect for me...but i'm not American and because I don't qualify for the Business Visa

Why don't you qualify?

Cambodia have just introduced a retirement visa for $250p.a ??, hopefully VN will follow this example.  . I got a business visa on arrival when I moved here in 2014 (AUS passport) and never had any problems with that.

Pilbara :
Which would be perfect for me...but i'm not American and because I don't qualify for the Business Visa
Why don't you qualify?

Cut yer cunning, Col.   You know full well they cannot ask questions...     

https://booking.vietnam-visa.com/step1.html

Us citizens can get a tourist class visa for 12 months

Business visa is available to others for 12 months.

I did wonder at some stage....  what would happen if you had a flight booked out of Vietnam but you got to the gate late and missed it? (I was very close to this once).
Would you be able to just get another VOA downstairs and re-enter on a new 3 month visa without ever physically leaving the country? (assuming you have/get a V.O.A. letter with the correct starting date).
Has anyone ever "faced" this?

you would need to come in through arrivals and immigration, so just 'going downstairs' is not an option.

Andrew Paul Gregory wrote:

you would need to come in through arrivals and immigration, so just 'going downstairs' is not an option.

Is it not possible to go downstairs to the Arrival level from the Departure level, using the escalator that can be found behind the Transfer Desk at the Arrivals level?

There needs to be some way to deal with people who miss flights, I'm sure it happens all the time...

If there is no way at the Vietnamese airport, you can buy a return flight to Cambodia.
Return at the same day and don't leave the transit zone at the airport in Cambodia (then you don't need a Cambodian visa).

Andy Passenger wrote:

If there is no way at the Vietnamese airport, you can buy a return flight to Cambodia.
Return at the same day and don't leave the transit zone at the airport in Cambodia (then you don't need a Cambodian visa).

Sure you could also go to Bangkok or KL where you can actually go into town for a bit without needing a visa.

[email protected] Mr. Johnny made for me  2 years business visa with 1 extension. I know this office for 10 years, very trustful service with office in Hanoi and SGN.

jonasp wrote:

Andrew Paul Gregory wrote:

you would need to come in through arrivals and immigration, so just 'going downstairs' is not an option.

Is it not possible to go downstairs to the Arrival level from the Departure level, using the escalator that can be found behind the Transfer Desk at the Arrivals level?

There needs to be some way to deal with people who miss flights, I'm sure it happens all the time...

It so happens there is a way to deal with people who mis-judge the dark passages inside airport immigration.
But yeah, sounds like a good idea, I'm pretty sure you won't get caught.

Gobot;

" It so happens there is a way to deal with people who mis-judge the dark passages inside airport immigration.
But yeah, sounds like a good idea, I'm pretty sure you won't get caught..."

Grasshopper requests you reveal your secrets of subtlety, O Wise one...

All I get is a plethora of protests...       

Hi Neil
My partner and I are moving to Vietnam in the next few months . We have found in all our trips to Vietnam that things are much easier to organise when you are there than trying to do it from this end. We are going to apply for Business visas via a sponsor letter from friends of ours. If you know people in Vietnam this may be an option for you as well. Will be interested to see how you get on

A Green wrote:

Hi Neil
My partner and I are moving to Vietnam in the next few months . We have found in all our trips to Vietnam that things are much easier to organise when you are there than trying to do it from this end. We are going to apply for Business visas via a sponsor letter from friends of ours. If you know people in Vietnam this may be an option for you as well. Will be interested to see how you get on

You can obtain a business visa without knowing someone in VN.

gobot wrote:

jonasp wrote:

Andrew Paul Gregory wrote:

you would need to come in through arrivals and immigration, so just 'going downstairs' is not an option.

Is it not possible to go downstairs to the Arrival level from the Departure level, using the escalator that can be found behind the Transfer Desk at the Arrivals level?

There needs to be some way to deal with people who miss flights, I'm sure it happens all the time...

It so happens there is a way to deal with people who mis-judge the dark passages inside airport immigration.
But yeah, sounds like a good idea, I'm pretty sure you won't get caught.

http://pixen.netlify.com/pix/tiger_pit.jpg

I suppose that's why Singapore is  the Lion City. Lots of "dark" passages there connecting Arrivals and Departures. Those lions and tigers must be well fed! Strangely enough, there are many airports like this, outrageously allowing Arriving and Departing passengers to mingle freely "airside". I suppose to notice that requires observation and thought. I guess that's not for everyone.

Whether or not it is possible to pass freely from Departures to Arrivals at TSN is an open question, it certainly is possible the other way around (and needs to be, for people who transfer to another international flight eg to Cambodia or Laos). What is sure is that it is no issue in airports like Singapore or even to a lesser extent Bangkok. Some airports are more restrictive though and allow one-way traffic only from Arrivals to Departures, asking for boarding passes as you pass through security from Arrivals to Departures (without passing immigration). This barrier is however avoided at some airports like Singapore where they do the security scan and boarding pass check directly at the gate.
If anyone has personal experience with this it would be useful.

Assuming above-board passage is possible, what is even more relevant to my initial musings is how Immigration would deal with you and there would no doubt be various scenarios depending on level of  spontaneous disclosure, travel documents involved or even the price fluctuations of local coffee.
If you have no real idea(s) then it's perhaps best to to refrain from commenting.

P.S. I'm not advocating this as a solution, more as a theoretical exploration.

"Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction."

Bazza139 wrote:

All I get is a plethora of protests...       

Bazza,
Is that a three-month plethora or a business plethora? Or do they give you a plethora of business?

😉

Plethora......is that a Greek mathematician.

jonasp wrote:

If you have no real idea(s) then it's perhaps best to to refrain from commenting.

P.S. I'm not advocating this as a solution, more as a theoretical exploration.

"Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction."

Doh! Ok Aristotle, I didn't realise your musings were "wise" "theoretical explorations" and protected from "foolish" comments.

Anyway you misunderstood the photo. The 'tiger pit' metaphor alludes to wartime traps, and my "real idea" of Vietnamese prison. Where suspected smugglers who are caught trying to evade airport immigration will find themselves. Theoretically.

Duh...   WoW!!!   ..so that's wotit means...     

Colin's escape...

"Plethora......is that a Greek mathematician."

Nah, I thought it might be Platitudius..?     

Neil doesnt seem to interested in his own thread.

Perhaps most of the reply are off topic.

"Perhaps most of the reply are off topic"

Comic relief becomes a necessity once self-evident truths have
been pointed out ad infinitum.

Comfort >complacency>corruption

Always has.   Always will?   That is the Question...     

Ntcons wrote:

Perhaps most of the reply are off topic.

Most threads go off topic.

Col: "Most threads go off topic"

   ..how else can we mere mortals justify our existence..?