While planning your international travel, you need to consider many factors and requirements. Moreover, you need to have the proper documentation at hand before departing. One of the mandatory documents and, perhaps, the most important is gaining your Visa. An approved visa allows you to visit the intended country for a set period. This period usually ranges from a few days to up to a few years. The set period depends upon the country’s visa process and guidelines.
Vietnam is one of the most popular tourist destinations. Some citizens are exempt from having to require a Visa while visiting Vietnam. Therefore, you should check if you require a visa to visit the country. However, most country’s citizens need an approved visa to be able to visit Vietnam. That is why you should know the required information to be able to apply and, if required, extend a Vietnam visa.
The good news is that you do not need to apply by physically visiting the Vietnamese embassy. You can fill and submit your application online. The entire process is relatively quick and easy. Ensure that you’ve all the required passport information available to you. After submitting your e-visa form, you will receive an email with the approval. Please note that although you receive the e-visa digitally, you will still need to keep a hard copy with you. When you arrive in Vietnam, you will need to show this printed e-visa to complete immigration procedures. The e-visa is generally a single entry visa, which permits you to stay in the country for about a month or more.
In case you amend your plans and need to extend your Vietnam e-visa for any reason, you will need to contact with the Immigration Department in the city where you stay to ask for visa extension. A visa extension would allow you to get new permission from the country to increase your stay for more time. However, please ensure that you are applying for an extension of a visa before your current Vietnam e-visa expires. Remember that you should apply for an extension before the expiry of the initially approved visa. Otherwise, you will have to face penalties corresponding to the duration of your overstay in Vietnam.
Before you apply to extend your Vietnam visa, you need to ensure that your approved visa is in line with the guidelines set by the Immigration Department of Vietnam. The following are the guidelines that correspond to the visa extension that you can apply and get approved for:
You should note that in case a need arises to extend your stay in the country, most tourists opt for extending their Vietnam visa instead of renewing it. The reason is that applying for an extension is cheaper than a renewal. So, we suggest you plan accordingly and make an informed decision.
If you require a visa extension, please contact with the Immigration Department in the city where you stay to ask for visa extension, in some case you will be asked for a sponsoring or guaranteeing from a travel company in Vietnam, please ask a travel agency for help.
In case you are required to exit the country, then you will need to apply for new e-visa to enter back Vietnam from neighboring countries such as Laos, Cambodia or China (This option also called visa run). Thus, you will need to exit from Vietnam then come back to Vietnam in short time with a new visa. For the called “visa run”, you are required to leave Vietnam to be able to apply for the new visa application, however, you need not go back to your resident country. You can apply for new e-visa application then come back the country at any border checkpoints of China, Cambodia, and Laos:
Some buses travel between these countries to help you facilitate visiting these crossings or checkpoints.
In case you are accepted for visa extension or renewal without leaving the country, your passport will be kept for 7 days for processing.
In case you are required to leaving the country, you should make new e-visa application at least 3 business days before the new arrival date. You will need to travel to a neighboring country then come back with new visa. It is advisable that you should submit your request at least a week before your e-visa expires. It will help to counter any potential delays and give the processing an ample amount of time. The e-visa approval will be sent digitally via email. When you return to Vietnam, you need to present a printed copy of the e-visa at the border.
There are penalties for each overstayed day spent in the country. To avoid any potential penalties, you should extend or renew your Vietnam visa before its expiry. The Immigration Officers at the airport are in-charge of receiving such fines. If you’ve overstayed for under three days, you can directly pay the fine. The penalty is around 500,000 VND (USD22) per overstayed day. Once you have paid the fine, you will be granted an exit visa to leave the country.
In case you overstay for over three days, you need to report to the Head Office of the Immigration Department. But this time, present your passport as well as pay the fine. The penalties increase as per the number of overstayed days since the visa expiry. The following are the fines as per the corresponding overstayed period :
There are some extreme cases. Tourists who overstay for between three months to one year after their Vietnam visa has expired. They can face fines of over VND 16,000,000 (USD 700). Further, restrictions will be imposed on them if they ever plan to come back to Vietnam.
https://www.vietnam-evisa.org/services/view/vietnam-visa-extension-and-renewal.html
https://www.vietnam-immigration.org.vn/visa-extension.html
If you want to extend or renew your Vietnam visa in Dong Nai province, you can choose one of the two following options: 1. Visit the Vietnam Immigration Department in Dong Nai province Address: 161 Pham Van Thuan street, Tan Tien ward, Bien Hoa city, Dong Nai province 2.
– If you want to extend or renew your Vietnam visa in Bac Lieu province, you can choose one of the two following options: 1. Visit the Vietnam Immigration Department in Bac Lieu province Address: 37B Ba Trieu, Ward 3, Bac Lieu town, Bac Lieu province 2.
If you are staying in Bac Kan province and you are in need of extending your Vietnam visa for a longer trip in Vietnam, there are two options for you as below: 1. Come to the Vietnam Immigration Department in Bac Kan province Address: 12 Truong Chinh street, Bac Kan town, Bac Kan province.
In case you are staying in Bac Giang and would like to extend your Vietnam visa, you can choose between 2 options below: 1. Visit the Vietnam Immigration Department in Bac Giang province Address: 51 Cao Ky Van, Tran Nguyen Han ward, Bac Giang province.
If you want to extend or renew your Vietnam visa in Vung Tau city, you can choose one of the two following options: 1. Visit the Vietnam Immigration Department in Vung Tau city Address: 02 Thong Nhat street, ward 1, Vung Tau city Phone: (064) 3852361 Fax: (064) 3848973 2.
There are two options for you to choose to extend or renew your Vietnam visa in An Giang province as below: 1. Visit the Vietnam Immigration Department in An Giang province Address: 6 Ton Duc Thang street, My Binh ward, Long Xuyen city.
What is Vietnam visa extension? Vietnam visa extension helps travelers to stay in Vietnam for an extra period of time legally after their visa is expiring. Without using this service, people must exit Vietnam once their visa is expired and apply for a new Vietnam visa if they want to enter Vietnam again.
