Most Efficient Embassy for DN Visa Application

who told you that you can ONLY apply for a DN visa at an Embassy?

Missybon wrote:

Hello All,

I'm a US citizen in HCMC on a tourist visa. I will need to leave the country to apply for a DN visa at an embassy abroad.

I'm wondering if anybody has any insights or experiences as to which embassies/consulates are the most efficient.  I have applied for tourist visas before at the Vietnamese consulate in Osaka, and they were pretty good. Not crowded and they kept to their timeline.

The Embassy in Washington,DC was less efficient. Late and a bit secretive about fees.

I expect to stay pretty local Phnom Penh, Singapore something like that.

Any insights are greatly appreciated.

You can apply online through a trustworthy visa on arrival agent.

Once you are approved, you leave the country and you return through an international Airport, using your VOA approval letter printed from email.

Good luck

Thanks for your reply.

The people I am working with have said I would not be eligible to remain in the country and apply for a visa. I have heard that it might be possible to do it all without leaving, these people also started at maybe and came back with a no.  Which is fine.

Have you found any embassies better than others?

Missybon wrote:

Thanks for your reply.

The people I am working with have said I would not be eligible to remain in the country and apply for a visa. I have heard that it might be possible to do it all without leaving, these people also started at maybe and came back with a no.  Which is fine.

Have you found any embassies better than others?

I've never gone through an embassy.

I've always used my trusted agent in Hanoi.

Thanks for the info.
I'm just learning how to reply to specific comments. The last one didn't work.
I have done VOA for tourist visas before. I didn't realize this could work with a business visa as well.
I'll look into it.

Missybon wrote:

Thanks for the info.
I'm just learning how to reply to specific comments. The last one didn't work. (This one too. I have a lot to learn beyond visa stuff.)
I have done VOA for tourist visas before. I didn't realize this could work with a business visa as well.
I'll look into it.

Missybon wrote:

Thanks for your reply.

The people I am working with have said I would not be eligible to remain in the country and apply for a visa. I have heard that it might be possible to do it all without leaving, these people also started at maybe and came back with a no.  Which is fine.

Have you found any embassies better than others?

When you say the people you are working with, I assume you mean your employer?

You won't have any problem going through an agent if this employer agrees to be your sponsor.

When you contact the agent, instead of them providing a sponsor, which seems to be a problem for a lot of people, you would be able to give the name of your actual employer to be your legitimate sponsor.

It can be done through an embassy, but I believe only through an embassy in the United States for a US citizen.

Even in the United States, it can be done through the mail.

But from here in Vietnam, I truly believe your best bet is to line up your official sponsor, and contact a trustworthy VOA agent.

They will email you your letter of approval for visa on arrival, and then it's just a matter of you leaving the country and returning.

Whatever Visa you are currently on will continue to be valid up to its expiration date.

Then when you return to the country here your new Visa will go into effect and your old Visa will no longer be valid.

Take Oceans Advice, and find a Visa Agency .... As a matter of fact, you may want to ask for his VISA agent contact, because after my arse hole agent quoted me $650 to file for my TRC ( which is $155 )  i would never recommend that agency to anyone! ( Mark Up prices are one thing, but that was just pure price gouging assholery )

the "Moc-Bai" border is processing 1 year DN VOAs with the condition that the invitation letter exclusively states to be collected at that specific border ). Some people have been getting their DN visa through that border, and some have not .... it wont hurt to ask ( saves   you a plane ticket )

jefJones wrote:

Take Oceans Advice, and find a Visa Agency .... As a matter of fact, you may want to ask for his VISA agent contact, because after my arse hole agent quoted me $650 to file for my TRC ( which is $155 )  i would never recommend that agency to anyone! ( Mark Up prices are one thing, but that was just pure price gouging assholery )

the "Moc-Bai" border is processing 1 year DN VOAs with the condition that the invitation letter exclusively states to be collected at that specific border ). Some people have been getting their DN visa through that border, and some have not .... it wont hurt to ask ( saves   you a plane ticket )

You are right about Moc Bai.

However my agent in Hanoi recommended against it only because that approval letter is so specific that it limits flexibility at the last moment.

As you implied, once the person gets that specific notation on their letter of approval, they cannot then choose to come in through an International Airport

I believe my agent in Hanoi is currently charging $190 for the one year category D N business Visa.

Of course, there is an additional $135 stamping fee to be paid in US dollars at the airport on arrival.

OP:

Ask your employer to provide an invitation letter to be submitted to the agent with your application.

It's possible there's an official form for this.

Check the website for the San Francisco consulate, as I think that's where I saw something about the official way for the invitation letter to be generated

OP, send me a private message if you need further assistance

$190?!?!? ... I HATE YOU!!! All of my previous DNs were being charged at $240 ....

THIS is the freaking problem!!! We need a platform to allow Expats to share this information WITH a way of updating the information as things change ( which everything is always changing around here ) ... We seriously need better tools & organization!

jefJones wrote:

$190?!?!? ... I HATE YOU!!! All of my previous DNs were being charged at $240 ....

THIS is the freaking problem!!! We need a platform to allow Expats to share this information WITH a way of updating the information as things change ( which everything is always changing around here ) ... We seriously need better tools & organization!

Anyone can share their information on here regarding current prices, but we are not supposed to promote a particular agency or agent.

I understand what you're saying though.

I took it upon myself to get educated about the specifics of Visa pricing and availability because there was so much confusion when I first started reading the Forum.

Some people were saying that certain visas were totally unavailable, and others were saying that only US citizens could get certain kinds of visas.

And we have the Visa agents who duck their heads in here every now and then in the middle of a thread and promote themselves.

As you know, the agents will charge whatever the market will bear.

i completely understand why things change so much .... but collectively Expats have enough information to publish it to the public to FIX some of this price gouging & misinformation...

We ARE the resource ... we just need a platform to organize! ( Fred!!! Hint Hint ) A sticky thread is NOT going to cut it .... we need a spreadsheet or something! Take the top 5 contributors from these forums and let them manage it. ( sure as hell not me, i feel ashamed ( I thought i was getting a good deal at $240 )) ....

Missybon wrote:

Thanks for your reply.

The people I am working with have said I would not be eligible to remain in the country and apply for a visa. I have heard that it might be possible to do it all without leaving, these people also started at maybe and came back with a no.  Which is fine.

Have you found any embassies better than others?

If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a few more questions about your employment, actually your employers.

If you are working for them, by now you should have a contract of employment; an actual written contract.

Have they provided that for you?

Then, your employers have 90 days to obtain a work permit for your employment.

However, if they are on the ball, you should get the work permit fairly quickly.

At that point, you are eligible to apply for a TRC.

Have they mentioned any of this to you?

Are you aware if any or all of this paperwork is being processed?

I ask, because the word on the street is that many employers are trying to avoid the expense of work permits and any involvement in TRC applications, including avoiding compensating the employee for costs involved.

So, if they are telling you to go get a category DN business Visa, but they aren't offering to sponsor it for you, then they must expect you to get one of the questionable visas where the VOA agent provides you a sponsor from an XYZ company unknown to you.

I know I'm speculating a lot here, but if that's your situation, I highly recommend that you insist on your employer either facilitating your path to a TRC, or, your employer act as your sponsor for a fully legitimate category DN 1-year Visa.

THE REASON IT'S IMPORTANT:

With a 1-Year Category DN Business Visa, you can only legally work for your visa sponsor.

If you continue to work for these people, and get a new DN Business Visa, and your employers are NOT the sponsor, your employment will be illegal.

I've been to the Vietnamese Consulates in New York and San Francisco.
NY was faster, no one else was there, and I could wait 20 min for my visa.

In San Francisco, it was much busier, had to wait on line and then had to return the next day for the visa.

If you are in the USA, it's far better to get visa ahead of time, then at airport upon arrival.

Missybon wrote:

Thanks for your reply.

The people I am working with have said I would not be eligible to remain in the country

He stated he was in Vietnam

we are seriously going to have to take a day and write out a long sticky post about the Visa process around here! The problem is going to be listing off all of these "factors" ....

But i would LOVE to organize a list of businesses to serve expats ( Hospitals, Visa Agencies, Grocery Stores ) .... just keep building a comprehensive list and let Expats maintain the list based on their own recommendations and not from adverts from the locals.

Thank you all for the advice and insights.

I apologize, I was unclear about who 'my people' are. I do not have an employer who is an official company able to sponsor me.

I am working with an agency that seems to do a lot of things, one of which is to assist people like me in the visa process.

They said I would need to get a Business Visa first (DN) which they could be the sponsor for.  After that I would need to establish a legitimate company or business relationship with a legitimate company and then apply for a work permit.

In the case of teaching English classes that would mean information about my degrees, number of students here and proof of adequate space (1.5 sqm/student ?) and a five year lease... and on and on. They would also help with the paperwork but would not be able to be the sponsor/business for that.

Their fee for arranging the paperwork to apply for a DN at an embassy abroad is  180 USD.  I did not think to ask about a VOA, but I will.

Again, many thanks for all your advice.

A "company" that helps "foreigners" with things like VISAs but did not bother informing you about VOA? ( Does this even sound like a competent agency? )

"Teaching" English is going to be the SAME process ... the EMPLOYER would be legally responsible to deal with your work permit which is attached to your visa ....
( what in hell are they telling you? )

Any "regulations" about the size of a classroom would be more regulated ON THE SCHOOL, not the teacher ..... Unless you mean you are going to OPEN A SCHOOL .... in which case your are going to be up for a very big surprise with Bureaucratic Paperwork & Stamping ( I hope you have a LOT of money!!! )

All of this sounds fishy as hell!!!

Could we be so bold as to ask what the name of this company is?

I don't want to set the company up as good guy or bad guy.
I'm not sure how I managed to overlook VOA as well, so...

They were recommended by a trusted friend, which may not be much but was a place to begin.
I think their services are meant to help foreign companies get set up in Vietnam, and as a part of that they offer visa consultation and services.

And for visa and paperwork purposes it would require me opening a school. We also discussed some other options- becoming a partner in an existing business or forming my own company and doing something else that is of interest to me and requires less paperwork and expense than opening a school.

Thanks again for all your thoughts.

ohhhh ... that word "Consultation" ..... ok, that explains it ALL!! There are a "LOT" of those around here.

Anyways, best of luck to you ... things are a bit chaotic here, but you'll get used to that quick! But i will leave you with the advice: Do NOT discuss anything about "business" or "money" with any Vietnamese outside of any very close Vietnamese family you might have now, or in the future. Find some expats that have been around vietnam for the last 10 years, those are the ones that have managed to not die from stress and managed to make a living!