Why You Might Extend/Renew Tourist Visa Effective Before July 1st 2020

Makes sense.

Expect to see further changes to Visa Policy here.   Those 30 day DLs were drafted way before the Virus hit.   

Now it's a totally different ball game.  Have you noticed a swing of the pendulum back in favour of the Tourist.  Before we had the $350/400 visa extension/extortion game,,,then after foreign embassies got involved we have the $10 DIY 30 day extensions,,,now we've got the stay till 30th June deal with NO penalties provided you entered after March 1st.

What's next...they'll give us free Pho to stay.  Every single expat I know that is looking at shifting to the new apartment buildings has been offered discounts of up to 40% to stay.   

A contact who works with immigration here says they're starting to realise that “ maybe” nobody will bother coming given all the restrictions, quarantine, airline delays & uncertainty.  Plus,,,,financial risk since Travel insurance won't cover anything virus related now. It's a known pre existing event.

There's a very good chance they'll be looking at empty hotels for ages & the loss of airport landing taxes costs them a packet.  I flew in mid March & only ONE guy on passport control.   The place was deserted.

Staff are being stood down.  My lady friend is a “party” girl & government worker,,,her department has laid off 75% of staff.   That's getting common in govt departments now.    There's some worried people in Immigration at the moment.   

No border traffic , No jobs.

We could be seeing a revision of the Visa policy. 

Besides,,Bali has a great retirement visa system. $800 PA, renewable in country & after 5 years you can get a permanent resident permit.

Phillipines also has good options for retirees,  Cambodia is cheap as chips $290 PA , no documentation required & renewable in country.  Cambodia is not everyone's cup of tea.......but a lot of retirees here do sweet f@ckall with their days anyway.   

Plenty of options out there.

Ontheroad57 wrote:

Expect to see further changes to Visa Policy here.   Those 30 day DLs were drafted way before the Virus hit.   

Now it's a totally different ball game.  Have you noticed a swing of the pendulum back in favour of the Tourist.  Before we had the $350/400 visa extension/extortion game,,,then after foreign embassies got involved we have the $10 DIY 30 day extensions,,,now we've got the stay till 30th June deal with NO penalties provided you entered after March 1st.

But as the US Embassy points out, the "stay till June 30th" extensions are for people planning to leave the country by June 30th.

Those are stopgap measures to keep those who are leaving from technically overstaying.

If a person intends to stay, those stopgap extensions do not apply to them.

So if a person has a tourist visa expiring on, say, June 7th, and they wait until June 20th to apply for an extension TO STAY in Vietnam, they will be considered to have overstayed their visa and will be subject to fines AND the possibility that their extension request will be denied, causing them to receive an immediate order to leave.

A lot of people are saying the same things about how important the tourist is, but don't forget that these new restrictions are to curb illegal employment and criminal activities.

There is no indication that the government is going to back away from that.

On the contrary, just yesterday someone posted in another thread an interview with a top immigration officer.

He was quite clear about the plans for the government to crack down hard beginning on July 1st.

Ontheroad 57 maybe you're right but for me, it's a no-go, bought land with my girlfriend in Hoi An. I'll decide to put some cards in her hand but will keep the jokers.  . The party will be after the construction of our house. I've just to decide what kind of visa: TRC or VEC and for those in a steady relationship on a tourist visa, it's maybe the moment to go for it.