Monday, 08/04/19
If you wish to extend your stay without having to leave the country, you can do so by applying for a visa extension or renewal via the Vietnam Immigration Department or via travel agents in any of the three major cities in Hanoi, Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh. It is recommended that you do it through the Immigration Department from 5 to 7 days before the visa expiration date to make sure that you will not charged for the penalty fee of overstaying. Documents for tourist visa extension you must submit include original passport, current visa, and immigration stamp, last date of entry, port of entry and details of your current address in Vietnam. The extension is only possible for a period of 1 or 3 months, depending on the current visa you have and your nationality. Please note that only a limited number of nationalities are eligible to apply for a visa extension/renewal, and the requirements change accordingly as well.
YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE EXTENDING OR RENEWING THE VISA IN VIETNAM
Extending and renewing the Visa mean that the Vietnam Immigration Department will issue a new Visa stamp or visa sticker paper on your passport with new expiry date, so you are able to stay in Vietnam until that day. With visa extension and visa renewal, you do not need to leave the country, because the procedures will be done while you are in Vietnam. Your visa must be extended or renewed from 5 to 7 days before the visa expiration date to make sure that you will not charged for the penalty fee of overstaying.
The visa extension and renewal include following cases:
Note that the visa extension length depends on the current visa type, nationality, the time of the year and purpose. So we recommend you to contact directly to our team to check your case. Only a limited number of nationalities are eligible to apply for the visa extension or renewal, and the requirements change accordingly as well
CONDITIONS FOR VISA EXTENSION AND RENEWAL
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS FOR VISA EXTENSION AND REVEWAL
Required documents for business/ working Visas
Foreigners who are working, doing business and having the sponsor company in Vietnam, containing a valid visa and passport marked the visa type of DN / LD / NN1 / NN2 / TT should prepare the following dossiers:
a. The relatives recognized as spouse must have a marriage certificate;
b. The relatives recognized as children must have a birth certificate.
The processing time: 5-7 working days
Required documents for tourist, visitor visas
Foreigners who come to Vietnam for the purpose of tourist, relative visitor containing a valid visa and passport marked the visa type of DL, VR or visa exemption stamp should prepare the following dossiers:
You must apply extending Vietnam Visa some days before your visa date expires; it’d better before at least 1 week (for 3 months visa, preferably 2 weeks). Because it takes you 7 days to finish as submitting your passport and requirement at Vietnam Immigration Department Office, so applying soon may help you active in some ways.
If your passport is lost or stolen, you must follow the following steps:
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU OVERSTAY YOUR VISA IN VIETNAM
Overstaying your visa means to stay longer in Vietnam than the visa legally allows you to. There are two types of penalty fees you must pay if that is the case – the “fine” fee, and the extension (if you want to and are able to) exit fee (if you are forced to leave the country). If you have only overstayed your visa for a period of less than 3 days, you are not required to go to the Immigration Office, and you can pay directly at the airport and get an exit visa to leave the country. The penalty fee for a longer overstay will be about 500,000VND ($25USD) per day. However, this way is not officially legal, and may result in immigration remark in your passport. The best way for you is certainly getting Vietnam visa extension to avoid paying fine fee at Vietnam airport when leaving, because the extension takes you a few days more.
If you still want to remain in Vietnam, should pay the “fine” fee and get a visa extension stamp. A few legal documents will be required for this process, so contact the Immigration Department or visa agent in advance. If you overstay your visa due to a lost passport, the options are the same. But you must contact your embassy or consulate to apply for a new passport/travel permit/diplomatic note, then contact the local police where you are temporarily staying and write up the passport lost report, and finally arrange for a visa renewal through the Immigration Department.
Of course, the longer you overstay, the more complicated the procedure will be as the Immigration Department will need to track your legal activity record during this overstay period. Please remember that overstaying is a serious offense and to avoid all this, pay attention to your visa validity and that it coincides with your date of departure. Mistakes are made sometimes as we are all human.
How much is fine overstay visa fee in Vietnam?
If you are overstaying for a few days, the fines will be charged by day, penalty will be definitely applied for those who stay in Vietnam more than as stipulated in their visa validity; Whoever intentionally commit repeated offenses for a long time, without respecting for the law, the level of punishment may include administrative penalties, limitation of Vietnamese immigration and enforced deportation.
Below is the amount of fines basically
+ In case of overstaying up to 10 days fine: 1,250,000 VND (55 USD) is a common penalty;
+ In case of overstaying up to 1 month: 4,000,000 VND (175 USD) is a common penalty;
+ In case of overstaying from 1 to 3 months: fines of about 10,000,000 VND (440 USD)
+ In case of overstaying one year: the penalty is more than 16,000,000 VND (700 USD) and forced exit, restrictions on entry and exit and prohibited within the specified period.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VISA EXTENSION AND RENEWAL
Visa extension:
Extending the visa means that you will be able to stay longer in Vietnam without leaving the country and this allow to extend your stay in Vietnam without reentering if you exit Vietnam before your visa expired. So it means you must apply new visa if you wish to come back Vietnam after leaving. Hence the extension fee is much cheaper than visa renewal
In order to apply visa extension, your current visa has to meet some requirements of Vietnam Immigration Department. Your current visa type has to be correspondent to your staying extending requirement.
Visa Renewal:
Visa renewal is similar to extension, a small difference that you are granted a new visa stamp and visa sticker paper on your passport with the new duration permission. The staying length is valid from 1 month to 3 months depending on multiple factors like what documents and visa type do you have, your nationality, the time of the year, the visa law in Vietnam changing all the time and other stuff. Moreover the visa renewal fee is higher than the visa extension fee because you have to pay stamping fee and visa sticker fee for the government.
For the reasons mentioned above, you have the option of applying a new tourist or business approval letter for one month/three month, single/multiple entry visa which can be picked up the new visa at Moc Bai border grossing, where you cross to Cambodia and return instantly. This will certainly be more convenient, cheaper and save you a lot of hassle and time. While this procedure is not well-received by some officials, it is still perfectly legal.
Note that If you would like to upgrade your current visa from duration of 1 month to one of 3 months, or upgrade the current visa from single entry to multiple entry, you will have to go through the visa renewal process.
DURATION AND VALUE OF VISA TYPES
WHERE TO GET VIETNAM VISA EXTENSION?
Here are the contact details of the three major Immigration Departments located in all 3 of the major regions of Vietnam – North, Center and South:
OTHER INFORMATION RELATED TO VIETNAM'S WORK PERMIT, VISAS AND TEMPORARY RESIDENCE CARD
For further information please contact:
Discovery Indochina Travel Co., Ltd
5th Floor | Platinum Building | 145 Dien Bien Phu Street, District 1 | Ho Chi Minh City | Vietnam
Tel: 028 39102358 | 028 39102359 Mobile: 0938228856 | 0906640505
Email: Info@visa5s.com or Visa@ditravel.vn
www.visa5s.com | www.ditravel.vn
