5-Years VISA - 90 Days renew

What kind of five year visa?

If its a marriage visa - i.e. you married a Vietnamese, there is no need to leave the country for a 90 day renewal.

TVBZ28 wrote:

Hi folks,
I am here in SG finally, carrying a 5-yrs VISA - and now wonder if I decided to stay for more than 90 days, how and where should I extended? I've heard that in the past we have to leave VN for a week or so then return for another 90-days VISA. Thanks for any comment or input. Too bad I missed the expat gathering yesterday in SG.

Cheers,
TVB

At the top of the page is a Thread called VEC, this is what YOU have.

There is no 5 year visa in Vietnam 
Yours is a 5 year VEC (Visa Exemption Certificate) which you should renew each 3 months or leave the country.
You should read old threads related to your query before ask.

eodmatt wrote:

What kind of five year visa?

If its a marriage visa - i.e. you married a Vietnamese, there is no need to leave the country for a 90 day renewal.

I am really curious about this so called "marriage visa: that you and Jaitch refer to. He hasn't answered maybe you can enlighten us on this new type of visa please.

charmavietnam wrote:

There is no 5 year visa in Vietnam 
Yours is a 5 year VEC (Visa Exemption Certificate) which you should renew each 3 months or leave the country.
You should read old threads related to your query before ask.

Maybe you should as well, directly above your post , is another telling him what he has. And what he needed to do.
BTW, are you an old woman, Charma?

It seems that the OP is a Việt Kiều 
I think he obtained the VEC  with related documents not marriage certificate.

Budman1 wrote:

eodmatt wrote:

What kind of five year visa?

If its a marriage visa - i.e. you married a Vietnamese, there is no need to leave the country for a 90 day renewal.

I am really curious about this so called "marriage visa: that you and Jaitch refer to. He hasn't answered maybe you can enlighten us on this new type of visa please.

Haha, I have a Work permit now, so now my " 5 yr Marriage  " Visa is no longer of any use, I now have to get a TRC, ( does that mean I'm not married anymore as well???? ).

bluenz wrote:

BTW, are you an old woman, Charma?

Budman1 wrote:

eodmatt wrote:

What kind of five year visa?

If its a marriage visa - i.e. you married a Vietnamese, there is no need to leave the country for a 90 day renewal.

I am really curious about this so called "marriage visa: that you and Jaitch refer to. He hasn't answered maybe you can enlighten us on this new type of visa please.

Well, you get married to a Vietnamese person (male if you are female and vice versa, gay marriage is not allowed in Vn). Then you apply for a Visa exemption certificate which lasts 5 years. It takes a couple of days. After that you have to renew your permission to stay every 90 days, currently there is no charge and no requirement to leave the country.

eodmatt wrote:

Budman1 wrote:

eodmatt wrote:

What kind of five year visa?

If its a marriage visa - i.e. you married a Vietnamese, there is no need to leave the country for a 90 day renewal.

I am really curious about this so called "marriage visa: that you and Jaitch refer to. He hasn't answered maybe you can enlighten us on this new type of visa please.

Well, you get married to a Vietnamese person (male if you are female and vice versa, gay marriage is not allowed in Vn). Then you apply for a Visa exemption certificate which lasts 5 years. It takes a couple of days. After that you have to renew your permission to stay every 90 days, currently there is no charge and no requirement to leave the country.

" currently there is no charge "
What, you mean we've all been paying that 210 k every 90 days when we didn't have too?????
There was also a $10 application fee, ( 2010 ).

bluenz wrote:

eodmatt wrote:

Budman1 wrote:

I am really curious about this so called "marriage visa: that you and Jaitch refer to. He hasn't answered maybe you can enlighten us on this new type of visa please.

Well, you get married to a Vietnamese person (male if you are female and vice versa, gay marriage is not allowed in Vn). Then you apply for a Visa exemption certificate which lasts 5 years. It takes a couple of days. After that you have to renew your permission to stay every 90 days, currently there is no charge and no requirement to leave the country.

" currently there is no charge "
What, you mean we've all been paying that 210 k every 90 days when we didn't have too?????
There was also a $10 application fee, ( 2010 ).

I think we had to pay a one-off application fee for the 5 year exemption (40 USD rings a bell but I'll ask my wife when she wakes up). and you have to have at least six months passport validity. A stamp every 90 days is then supposed to be free.

This may or may not be helpful: http://vietnamconsulate-ny.org/consular … -exemption

When I lived in Mozambique we had a saying that covered all of the frustrations of living with the bureaucracy there: T. A. B.

= That's Africa Baby.

There are times that I have to remind myself here, not to be frustrated by the sometimes unfathomable workings of officialdom. T. V. B

= That's Vietnam Baby!

eodmatt wrote:

bluenz wrote:

eodmatt wrote:

Well, you get married to a Vietnamese person (male if you are female and vice versa, gay marriage is not allowed in Vn). Then you apply for a Visa exemption certificate which lasts 5 years. It takes a couple of days. After that you have to renew your permission to stay every 90 days, currently there is no charge and no requirement to leave the country.

" currently there is no charge "
What, you mean we've all been paying that 210 k every 90 days when we didn't have too?????
There was also a $10 application fee, ( 2010 ).

I think we had to pay a one-off application fee for the 5 year exemption (40 USD rings a bell but I'll ask my wife when she wakes up). and you have to have at least six months passport validity. A stamp every 90 days is then supposed to be free.

This may or may not be helpful: http://vietnamconsulate-ny.org/consular … -exemption

When I lived in Mozambique we had a saying that covered all of the frustrations of living with the bureaucracy there: T. A. B.

= That's Africa Baby.

There are times that I have to remind myself here, not to be frustrated by the sometimes unfathomable workings of officialdom. T. V. B

= That's Vietnam Baby!

Have you actually renewed your VEC yet?
Yes I remember now, it was supposed to be 400k, but they only charged me 200k for some reason, ( who was I to argue? ).
There was a post only yesterday, under VEC , that informed us that they now charge 213 k, ( fluctuating $ ).
Still a lot better than the 735k I had been paying every 90 days for 2 yrs, while foolishly waiting for a decision on my PR application.
Remember nothing is free for a Foreigner in VN.

bluenz wrote:

eodmatt wrote:

bluenz wrote:

" currently there is no charge "
What, you mean we've all been paying that 210 k every 90 days when we didn't have too?????
There was also a $10 application fee, ( 2010 ).

I think we had to pay a one-off application fee for the 5 year exemption (40 USD rings a bell but I'll ask my wife when she wakes up). and you have to have at least six months passport validity. A stamp every 90 days is then supposed to be free.

This may or may not be helpful: http://vietnamconsulate-ny.org/consular … -exemption

When I lived in Mozambique we had a saying that covered all of the frustrations of living with the bureaucracy there: T. A. B.

= That's Africa Baby.

There are times that I have to remind myself here, not to be frustrated by the sometimes unfathomable workings of officialdom. T. V. B

= That's Vietnam Baby!

Have you actually renewed your VEC yet?
Yes I remember now, it was supposed to be 400k, but they only charged me 200k for some reason, ( who was I to argue? ).
There was a post only yesterday, under VEC , that informed us that they now charge 213 k, ( fluctuating $ ).
Still a lot better than the 735k I had been paying every 90 days for 2 yrs, while foolishly waiting for a decision on my PR application.
Remember nothing is free for a Foreigner in VN.

I haven't renewed my VEC yet because I have only just (September) received it, having got married in August. I'll have to wait 5 years before renewal and no doubt there will have been numerous changes in the law by then.

But ..... TVB!

" I haven't renewed my VEC yet because I have only just (September) received it, having got married in August. I'll have to wait 5 years before renewal and no doubt there will have been numerous changes in the law by then.

But ..... TVB!"

Sorry to be the bearer of the bad news, but this 90 day fee has been around for a few years now, but you only pay when you pick up your passport , ( unless they stamp it while you wait in HCMC? Up here it's a 3 day job ).
I thought it would have increased when they almost doubled the Arrival tax fees last year.
Did you get the full 5 yrs?, as my country only issues a 5 yr Passport now, the VN's withhold 6 months , so by the time I got it all sorted out, I only got about 4 yrs and 3 months. But now I have a Work Permit, I have to go through all the bullshit of changing to a more expensive TRC, ( made much worse by a school, and idiots in Immigration up here, who have no idea of what they are doing ).
( I don't trust anything I read that is older than 12 months, sometimes even 6 months old ),

Very wise! I'll see what happens in January when I go to renew my 90 days permit.

eodmatt wrote:

Budman1 wrote:

eodmatt wrote:

What kind of five year visa?

If its a marriage visa - i.e. you married a Vietnamese, there is no need to leave the country for a 90 day renewal.

I am really curious about this so called "marriage visa: that you and Jaitch refer to. He hasn't answered maybe you can enlighten us on this new type of visa please.

Well, you get married to a Vietnamese person (male if you are female and vice versa, gay marriage is not allowed in Vn). Then you apply for a Visa exemption certificate which lasts 5 years. It takes a couple of days. After that you have to renew your permission to stay every 90 days, currently there is no charge and no requirement to leave the country.

The point I was trying to make is that there is no separate visa category for marriage. For the people that meet the requirements of a VEC and are holders it's just one of the benefits. Matter of fact the VEC itself isn't listed as a category either. That because it's a separate program for VK's.

Please let me re-post this:

" Back in Aug 2007 the program first came into effect, after the 3 month  exception period expired upon first entering Vietnam you could extend upwards to a year at a time Vs. the current 3 months, that went into effect around May or so 2009 when they started to enforce the visa rules. The purpose of the VEC was to facilitate overseas Vietnamese and their family's to return to Vietnam for short periods (up too 3 months) without applying for a visa. It was never intended to be a 5 year resident card, or a  marriage visa. After a period of time the decree was in effect Immigration started  interpreting it to include spouses of VN citizen's living in Vietnam, with foreign passports".

Rick

Budman1 wrote:

eodmatt wrote:

Budman1 wrote:

I am really curious about this so called "marriage visa: that you and Jaitch refer to. He hasn't answered maybe you can enlighten us on this new type of visa please.

Well, you get married to a Vietnamese person (male if you are female and vice versa, gay marriage is not allowed in Vn). Then you apply for a Visa exemption certificate which lasts 5 years. It takes a couple of days. After that you have to renew your permission to stay every 90 days, currently there is no charge and no requirement to leave the country.

The point I was trying to make is that there is no separate visa category for marriage. For the people that meet the requirements of a VEC and are holders it's just one of the benefits. Matter of fact the VEC itself isn't listed as a category either. That because it's a separate program for VK's.

Please let me re-post this:

" Back in Aug 2007 the program first came into effect, after the 3 month  exception period expired upon first entering Vietnam you could extend upwards to a year at a time Vs. the current 3 months, that went into effect around May or so 2009 when they started to enforce the visa rules. The purpose of the VEC was to facilitate overseas Vietnamese and their family's to return to Vietnam for short periods (up too 3 months) without applying for a visa. It was never intended to be a 5 year resident card, or a  marriage visa. After a period of time the decree was in effect Immigration started  interpreting it to include spouses of VN citizen's living in Vietnam, with foreign passports".

Rick

I don't disagree with you, just saying how it is and how i got one.

The likelihood is though, that we (my good lady and I) may move to a less "difficult" country (trying to be diplomatic) before the five years is up, as even she gets frustrated with the contrived bureaucracy that goes on here.

It's not only your lady's dilemma but most of the citizens'  that they cannot stay peacefully by holding justice 

eodmatt wrote:

She gets frustrated with the contrived bureaucracy that goes on here.