VISA for living in Vietnam

Later this year I'm hoping to move to Vietnam, probably Hanoi, from Australia. I would be studying online at a non-vietnamese university because the cost of living is lower than Australia so it would allow me to live off other income. I'd also like to experience a different culture for a longer time than a holiday.
I'm assuming my only VISA option is a tourist visa. I'm having trouble finding more in-depth information.
Are tourist visas for Australian's 1 month or 3 months?
Can I get a visa extension and if yes do I have to leave Vietnam and for how long?
How many VISA extensions are possible, if any?
Can I rent an apartment if I'm only on a 1 or 3 month tourist visa?
Is there another visa available that I'm unaware of?
TIA

Thanks
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Later this year I'm hoping to move to Vietnam, probably Hanoi, from Australia. I would be studying online at a non-vietnamese university because the cost of living is lower than Australia so it would allow me to live off other income. I'd also like to experience a different culture for a longer time than a holiday.
I'm assuming my only VISA option is a tourist visa. I'm having trouble finding more in-depth information.
Are tourist visas for Australian's 1 month or 3 months?
Can I get a visa extension and if yes do I have to leave Vietnam and for how long?
How many VISA extensions are possible, if any?
Can I rent an apartment if I'm only on a 1 or 3 month tourist visa?
Is there another visa available that I'm unaware of?
TIA

Thanks
- @kijasmith
You are having trouble finding more information because only 30-day eVisas are currently available and no one knows when that might change.

We could waste a lot of time and tell you how things used to be, but that's not going to be information you can rely on for future use.
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Unfortunately, currently visa policy is very strict. You have to make visa runs each month and no one knows if you'll get a new evisa. If you live outside of Hanoi or HCMC, these runs may be quite expensive or taking too long time (mine is $306 - more than renting a 2 bedroom apartment per month). I would recommend to go to Thailand instead. There you need to make a visa run every 2/3 months (depending on if you have a paper visa) and flights are pretty cheap. You may also get 12 month student visa to learn Thai/Muai Thai/whatever with 2 classes a week. I lived there recently for 4.5 months and it was great.
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@htotatut Thanks, this might be an option. I did consider Thailand initially but I prefer Vietnam and also have a friend in Hanoi. But the student Visa might sway me. The VISA runs each run don't bother me, infact I'd probably try and do some cross-border travel whilst there and also come back to Australia every few months also.
How did you find the cost of living in Thailand compared to Vietnam? When I went on holiday in January 2020 I didn't think it was all that cheap, particularly in Phuket, although I won't want to live there. My choice would probably be Bangkok but are there other cities that you recommend for expats?
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@OceanBeach92107 I figured that was probably the case. But always worth asking as you just never know what experiences people are having and also suggestions like below are very helpful.

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@htotatut Thanks, this might be an option. I did consider Thailand initially but I prefer Vietnam and also have a friend in Hanoi. But the student Visa might sway me. The VISA runs each run don't bother me, infact I'd probably try and do some cross-border travel whilst there and also come back to Australia every few months also.
How did you find the cost of living in Thailand compared to Vietnam? When I went on holiday in January 2020 I didn't think it was all that cheap, particularly in Phuket, although I won't want to live there. My choice would probably be Bangkok but are there other cities that you recommend for expats?
- @kijasmith
I lived on Phuket and roughly the cost of living (alone) was about $1k usd per month. It is for renting a nice studio in a modern house (around 15 minutes from the sea), good food from BigC (mostly I cook myself), occasional boat trips, some restaurant visits, renting a motorbike. Phuket is still cheap yet and likely the prices will be low till the next December. Bangkok seems too big for me. I would like to try Koh Samui next time. It is difficult for me to compare prices in VN vs TH because here I do not live alone but VN is definitely cheaper.
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You should also consider Cambodia. Take a look at the various visas over on that forum. You can live in Siem Reap in an apartment for about $250 a month USD. I would look at various extensions you could get by arriving and getting the ordinary visa. Over on the Cambodia forum look up Joe Khmer. He knows all!

Take care and good luck.
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@Kaja2022
We are moving back to VN mid May, US, once muliti cultural, now seemingly only WOKE culture dominated. 5 year stipulations apply.  Visa runs bettet than this stuff.
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Are tourist visas for Australian's 1 month or 3 months?

- Only 1 month tourist e-visa is available for now
Can I get a visa extension and if yes do I have to leave Vietnam and for how long?
- It is not possible to extend an e-visa but you need to do visa run every 30 days
How many VISA extensions are possible, if any?
- No, not possible
Can I rent an apartment if I'm only on a 1 or 3 month tourist visa?
- Yes, of course. The landlord has to do a temporary residence registration at the local police for you.
Is there another visa available that I'm unaware of?
- There are some other types of visa going with specific conditions: business DN visa with a Vietnamese company sponsorship; investment ĐT visa for the investor who owns a Vietnamese company; TT visa for the spouse and children of Vietnamese citizens...
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@Kaja2022 Thailand for sure.

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An update for those seriously considering "living" in Vietnam on a series of tourist E-Visas requiring exiting Vietnam on or before the expiration date on one visa before immediately re-entering Vietnam on a new and separate visa:

Unsubstantiated rumors are circulating on the internet that some people are being refused a third consecutive E-Visa while staying in Vietnam on tourist status.

None of my sources can confirm that, and there is probably a certain percentage of people being denied a third visa because of their own bad behavior or an error during the application process.

But, as is often repeated in the forum, Immigration can change its policies overnight, and they don't need an official reason to deny a new visa.

Suspicion of illegal activity is more than enough for them.

I just had a very slight scare applying online for my second E-Visa from here in Vietnam.

I applied on Saturday, August 16th, knowing that they wouldn't begin to process it until Monday morning.

My previous E-Visa (July 4th) was approved in about 2 1/2 days, and Immigration states that applications are "usually" processed within 3 working days (Monday thru Friday except national holidays for them).

So when I checked online on Wednesday evening and my application was "still processing", I was just a bit apprehensive.

Fortunately, when I checked again after lunchtime today, it was approved and I was able to download it (for August 3 entry at the Bavet, Cambodia/Mộc Bài, Việt Nam land crossing).

August 3rd is also the last date of validity on my current E-Visa, so to answer an often-asked question, yes, you can exit and enter Vietnam on the same day.

Just make sure you apply for the correct date.

I'm posting all of this to share encouraging information, but also to remind people that, should your application for your next E-Visa be disapproved while you are in Vietnam, it's a good idea to have a plan B in effect (traveling to a different nation or returning to your home nation).

Good luck to everyone dealing with this issue in the future.
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@OceanBeach92107
Thanks for the post mate.
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Wow,
just read my post from this past April. Wife and knew we were done with my home country, USA. Many things go into decisions change places, in our case to VN. We both are fortunate to be here again.

MAc
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@OceanBeach92107 can you list some link to the trusted visa processor please ?

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    @OceanBeach92107 can you list links for trusted visa processors websites please ?
   

    -@mhmn85


No. We aren't allowed to promote visa agents in this forum.


You must request a personal recommendation through the use of the private message system.

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Can you personally help with that if i texted you ?

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Unsubstantiated rumors are circulating on the internet that some people are being refused a third consecutive E-Visa while staying in Vietnam on tourist status.
None of my sources can confirm that, and there is probably a certain percentage of people being denied a third visa because of their own bad behavior or an error during the application process.


    -@OceanBeach92107



Just to clarify...


Is this after the third consecutive 3-month visa or 1-month visa?


Basically, are they getting 3 months or 9 months?



Some people may find that that 6 or 9 months in Vietnam is sufficient though.


Also, if people are causing trouble, it's a reasonable policy.

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    Can you personally help with that if i texted you ?
   

    -@mhmn85


Send me a private message

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    Unsubstantiated rumors are circulating on the internet that some people are being refused a third consecutive E-Visa while staying in Vietnam on tourist status.None of my sources can confirm that, and there is probably a certain percentage of people being denied a third visa because of their own bad behavior or an error during the application process.     -@OceanBeach92107


Just to clarify...

Is this after the third consecutive 3-month visa or 1-month visa?

Basically, are they getting 3 months or 9 months?


Some people may find that that 6 or 9 months in Vietnam is sufficient though.

Also, if people are causing trouble, it's a reasonable policy.
   

    -@jayrozzetti23


Hey JR, that post was from July, 2022

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