I have visa from 25th - 30th April 2013. But I will be coming on 27th April and want to extend my visa till 8th May so that I can visit different places this time. What is the procedure for tourist to extend visa in Hochiminh? Any ADVISE please!
If you came into Vietnam through Saigon, then it seems to be easier and cheaper to extend your visa in Saigon and not Hanoi. I landed in the Hanoi airport on the 29th of November 2012. When my 3 month multiple entry (around $4.000.000 VND) tourist visa was expiring on the 22nd of February, 2012, I was in Saigon.
I was going to to Cambodia, but I guess it was going to cost almost $2.000.000 VND for a bus ride there and maybe more money back to HCM. The bus ride maybe cheaper if you are Vietnamese but I am American from the USA. Extending a visa or making a new visa in Cambodia may have been $400.000 VND to do, but then again, maybe not.
On the day that my visa was expiring, I was going to go to Cambodia, but then they said the borders close at 5pm on that Friday evening and that it would cost more money, like a late fee, to be allowed to go to Cambodia late, or it may have been not allowed.
I went to the Chi Cafe in District 1 of Saigon and it was going to cost like $800.000 VND or so to extend my visa for 3 more months but then they said it would cost more because I did not first came to Vietnam through Saigon. Had I been in Hanoi, it would have been cheaper.
I ended up going to another travel agencies to extend my 3 months Vietnam tourist visa for 3 more months for around $3.000.000 VND.
I was going to to Cambodia, but I guess it was going to cost almost $2.000.000 VND for a bus ride there and maybe more money back to HCM. The bus ride maybe cheaper if you are Vietnamese but I am American from the USA. Extending a visa or making a new visa in Cambodia may have been $400.000 VND to do, but then again, maybe not.
On the day that my visa was expiring, I was going to go to Cambodia, but then they said the borders close at 5pm on that Friday evening and that it would cost more money, like a late fee, to be allowed to go to Cambodia late, or it may have been not allowed.
I went to the Chi Cafe in District 1 of Saigon and it was going to cost like $800.000 VND or so to extend my visa for 3 more months but then they said it would cost more because I did not first came to Vietnam through Saigon. Had I been in Hanoi, it would have been cheaper.
I ended up going to another travel agencies to extend my 3 months Vietnam tourist visa for 3 more months for around $3.000.000 VND.
Here is the simple answer: Go to any travel agency and drop off your passport. Take a copy of your passport and the travel agency receipt and travel around by bus, boat, or train. It might take about a week for an extension, or less if you want to pay more to hurry up the process.
And Joey, the price for a multiple entry 3 month visa for Americans is 95 USD. If you go through a travel agency don't pay more than 120 usd/2.4 million dong.
And Joey, the price for a multiple entry 3 month visa for Americans is 95 USD. If you go through a travel agency don't pay more than 120 usd/2.4 million dong.
Dominick Grillo, I was not able to get a better price. I was not able to find a better price. Plus, it cost more money because I came to Vietnam through Hanoi instead of Saigon. You can extend a visa cheaper if you enter and extend through the same city, whether that be Saigon or Hanoi. If I first came into Vietnam via Saigon, then extending the visa would have been cheaper and if I extended through Hanoi, since I entered through Hanoi, it would have been cheaper as well.
I was asking people questions here on Couch Surfing, on Facebook, in emails, on Tagged, on Hi5, on forums, with people I know, to my families, other websites, and in person at travel agencies and restaurants in Saigon. I tried my best to get the cheapest price and ended up paying much more than around $2.000.000 VND. I paid almost twice that.
We are talking about extensions too and not simply getting a new visa. I have almost been in Vietnam for 6 months now. My visa expires at the end of May 2013. I first came into Vietnam on the 29th of November 2013.
I am not sure what I will do.
I think I cannot extend my 6 months to 9 months.
I think I have to leave this country, Vietnam.
Get a new 3 months tourist visa in another country and come back. I think I will have to do that to legally stay in Vietnam. I think I cannot just buy a new visa or a new visa extension in Vietnam.
I think non-citizens of Vietnam have to leave Vietnam every 6 months and get a new visa and come back. Well, maybe a few special exceptions exists, but those are rare.
I was asking people questions here on Couch Surfing, on Facebook, in emails, on Tagged, on Hi5, on forums, with people I know, to my families, other websites, and in person at travel agencies and restaurants in Saigon. I tried my best to get the cheapest price and ended up paying much more than around $2.000.000 VND. I paid almost twice that.
We are talking about extensions too and not simply getting a new visa. I have almost been in Vietnam for 6 months now. My visa expires at the end of May 2013. I first came into Vietnam on the 29th of November 2013.
I am not sure what I will do.
I think I cannot extend my 6 months to 9 months.
I think I have to leave this country, Vietnam.
Get a new 3 months tourist visa in another country and come back. I think I will have to do that to legally stay in Vietnam. I think I cannot just buy a new visa or a new visa extension in Vietnam.
I think non-citizens of Vietnam have to leave Vietnam every 6 months and get a new visa and come back. Well, maybe a few special exceptions exists, but those are rare.