Buying a new scooter as an Expat

It sounds almost like a trip to the wet market to buy groceries.   If you indicated to the seller that you plan to register the bike in your name, just forget about that.  Maybe the dealer is looking for a little bonus in an envelope for what he anticipates will be the extra paperwork.      

Give your wife the cash and just have her go into another dealership without you.  I am pretty certain they will take her cash without question.  If your wife's official residence (hộ khẩu) book is in the same city you are in then she can transfer the ownership right away.   If it is in the countryside you may need to wait for your next trip home.  You also might want to get together with her and write down all the specs first so that the don't try to upsell her.

As Thigv has said, your wifes registration will govern where she can buy.

Thank you. My wife is also an expat (she is currently not here until next month) and I found some more information out. I have a multiple entry Visa and am waiting on my residence card. It seems that in order to register the bike with the police you have to have this card (a little different than in North America). It was supposed to be a surprise. I was hoping to buy it and then register it once the residence cards arrive. I dont think it works that way though. As for the letter from the employer that part still confuses me. I dont understand why they would need that.

Thank you all for your help.

Give this guy a call.
https://www.tigitmotorbikes.com

I made an apparently false assumption that your wife was a citizen.  If not then you do have some problems getting the bike registered and you also will have a plate number that identifies you as a foreigner and hence east pickings for the ones in the tan shirts.

Hi

I bought last year a first second hand bike, then later a second one.
Just paid, that's all. No registration with the police.

Good to know. I'll upgrade my go pro in that case 

DELAFON wrote:

Hi

I bought last year a first second hand bike, then later a second one.
Just paid, that's all. No registration with the police.

New and old are different processes for foreigners.

Thank you everyone. I found this out for buying a new bike as an expat. You will require the following:

1) Passport
2) Your Temporary Resident or Permanent Resident Card (This is different then a multiple entry visa or visa)
3) This part seems ridiculous, but whatever. A letter from your employer granting you permission to buy a bike with some official stamp. I think notarize it to be safe.
4) Information from you employer about your assignment in Vietnam.
5) Paperwork establishing your residence. E.g. Your Lease agreement.

Once you have all of these things you may give your money away freely and purchase a motorbike. 

To be clear, this has to do with your registration to get a license plate. As a foreigner you will be given a "special license plate" with a NN number. By special I mean "hey look at me I am foreigner give me a ticket" special (thats what I was told anyhow)  . I also suspect if you by a used bike you must do the same process to register the bike in your name.

I will have to wait one or two more weeks to get my resident card then I should be good to go. I hope this information will help others.

JKru wrote:

Thank you everyone. I found this out for buying a new bike as an expat. You will require the following:

1) Passport
2) Your Temporary Resident or Permanent Resident Card (This is different then a multiple entry visa or visa)
3) This part seems ridiculous, but whatever. A letter from your employer granting you permission to buy a bike with some official stamp. I think notarize it to be safe.
4) Information from you employer about your assignment in Vietnam.
5) Paperwork establishing your residence. E.g. Your Lease agreement.

Once you have all of these things you may give your money away freely and purchase a motorbike. 

To be clear, this has to do with your registration to get a license plate. As a foreigner you will be given a "special license plate" with a NN number. By special I mean "hey look at me I am foreigner give me a ticket" special (thats what I was told anyhow)  . I also suspect if you by a used bike you must do the same process to register the bike in your name.

I will have to wait one or two more weeks to get my resident card then I should be good to go. I hope this information will help others.

That's why most people don't bother.

I can assure you it won't go through without some hiccup or gift.

Reply once you have done it, and good luck.

Ok still no residence card so I gave up with the following solution:

1) Bike number 1 I had registered in a Vietnamese friends name.
2) Bike number 2 saigonmotorcycle took care of. Highly recommend Trevor down there super standup guy!

There is no such thing as surprises for a Vietnamese wife.
The only surprise is how much it hurts you.

Your wife will be just as happy knowing she is getting a motorbike and will b even happier that she can save you the time and trouble to jump thru the thousand hoops you would have to jump thru.
In addition, my wife would be happy to take care of it, knowing whatever i did would be a more expensive outcome.
Good luck

Wxx3 wrote:

There is no such thing as surprises for a Vietnamese wife.
The only surprise is how much it hurts you.

Your wife will be just as happy knowing she is getting a motorbike and will b even happier that she can save you the time and trouble to jump thru the thousand hoops you would have to jump thru.
In addition, my wife would be happy to take care of it, knowing whatever i did would be a more expensive outcome.
Good luck

He said his wife is an expat so I doubt he will have those issues.     No way could I buy a new motorbike as a surprise for my VN wife, I value my peaceful life. 

Most Viet wives would love a new motorbike but not if you pick it out.   You need to let her pick the make, model, and color.  You will also have to let her haggle with the salesman.  That's just Marital Harmony 101 and applies to wives everywhere I know of (except maybe the haggling part.)