One of the only downsides of being a digital nomad and living in countries significantly less expensive than the one that is on the cover of my passport is the fact that in order to stay here legally, there are some hoops that I have to jump through to get visas. Thankfully, there are many countries out there that will allow you basically endless amounts of tourist visas if you are willing to go through the process. The process is different everywhere you go and Vietnam is unique in this approach in that once you are issued the visa, you only have around 48 hours to actually use the visa. In other countries that I have traveled to, when you get a visa you have a very long amount of time, sometimes up to a year, to actually use the visa.
So Vietnam is a little unique and a bit of a pain in the ass in that regard.
src
Recently, Vietnam reversed course on their tourist visas and brought back the default 90-day tourist visa for most countries in the world. They also extended visa exemption for a lot of countries but it remains to be seen if this can be used over and over again. If I had to guess I would say that no, this cannot be used endlessly since it is kind of regarded as the "true" tourist visa for actual tourists, whereas the 90-day tourist visa is seen as people that want to live here and are willing to make a trip once every 3 months in order to make that happen.
We are in the beginning stages of the rollout of the 90-day visa and there are two camps of people: People that are having zero issues at all and are easily and seamlessly leaving and re-entering the country with their 90-day stamp intact and there are the people that are having loads of problems and end up having to change their flights, lose money, perhaps go to another country and re-apply for their Evisas multiple times at expense to themselves.
There is one distinct and very identifiable difference between these two groups of people: The ones having no issues at all used and agent and the ones running around like chickens with their heads cut off decided they were going to do it themselves.
At this current moment in time I know 2 people that are "stuck" outside of Vietnam because they left here with an EVISA that they had applied for, but didn't wait until they actually received confirmation of said Evisa and instead just assumed that it would be delivered within the 5 day time period that the website / app informs them it would take. These aren't just people that are fresh off the boat either: one of them is a guy that has lived here longer than most of the people I know and I find his idiocy particularly frustrating.
I spoke to him last night on a messenger of some sort and he told me that TWICE he has had to change his flights because the Evisa hasn't come through yet. Of course he is booking non-refundable tickets as well so that is just money that is lost and he has no legal grounds to claim a refund. The Vietnamese government is notorious for not even answering the phone if you call them about an inquiry into the status of your Evisa and if you are lucky enough to get someone on the phone you better speak Vietnamese because the one and only time I called Immigration in this country the gatekeeper spoke zero English outside of "hello." I don't think they are necessarily intentionally being unhelpful, that just isn't the way their Immigration works. Don't think this is exclusive to Vietnam either. Other countries are notorious for not really giving a damn about visa issues unless you actually know someone who works there and calling them is a waste of time.
here is one way you can save yourself a bunch of time, frustration, and probably money as well: Use a f**king agent!
I have said this time and time again to the people that I know here in Da Nang that are endlessly having problems with the government website that you apply on. I have said this to the people that try to call Immigration as well. I have also said it to people who actually take time out of their day to physically go to Immigration only to be turned away and given the app or website address.
Agents are agents for a reason. They are connected to someone on the inside. They also speak Vietnamese and I would imagine that the phone gets answered when they call because they probably have the private phone number of someone that works inside of Immigration. They certainly do not call the main switchboard portal.
src
I don't have a great deal of sympathy for these people that are trapped outside of the country at the moment because it is not like the agents are charging crazy money for this service. For 10-35 dollars they will do everything for you including filling out all the forms and then following up to make sure that you have your evisa on time.
I suppose what a person needs to consider is how much do you consider your time to be worth? I consider mine to be worth at least $10 a day so why on earth would I spend an entire day, probably a fruitless day at that, attempting to chase down a government official to give me an Evisa, when they likely aren't even authorized to offer it to you anyway?
The agent knows these people and has access to them all the time. If you are currently living in or considering living in Vietnam just know that maintaining your visa isn't really that difficult. It becomes difficult when you try to do it yourself though and at least in part this might be by design. The agents and the officials that they know are getting kickbacks by helping those that are willing to pay and honestly, is 10 -35 dollars really out of your budget? Because if it is you may wish to consider not moving abroad from your own country in the first place.
I think a big part of this has to do with the culture of most people these days. We like to believe that we can do everything on our own because apps have taught us (incorrectly) that we don't need human interaction in order to accomplish anything that we want. Well if you feel that way about visas in Vietnam, good luck! You're gonna need it.
We have the same self-induced problems here with a lot of the folks trying to "save money" by doing visas on their own as well. It almost never works out for them too
I just don't understand it. The people who do it themselves are insisting that they are "fighting corruption" by doing it themselves but I just don't understand why someone would put themselves through all that trouble for something that costs and extra $10. Let's imagine it only took them an hour, and it always takes longer than that, isn't your time worth a little bit? I would much rather be relaxing next to the pool and NOT doing paperwork if it costs me a mere 10 bucks for the process.
I have an agent I use for all my documents like passports, visas etc. I see it as money well spent and I avoid queues and hassles which to me is money well spent. I have a friend travel agent as well who I support and she has helped me get onto flights when I have been stuck. Air France cancelled their flight due to a bomb scare about 7 years ago and she got me on stand by for Swiss Air which didn't work out, but got me on KLM instead. There were hundreds of passengers scrambling for seats and she got me on another flight the same evening.
While the occupation isn't as prevalent as it used to be I will almost always use an agent rather than saving a few bucks by doing it myself. Hell, even if the flight costs 20% more I would rather know that some professional who knows the industry inside and out has got my back when something goes sideways like you are describing. It is totally worth it in my mind.
⋆ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴜᴛʜᴇᴀsᴛ ᴀsɪᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ
⋆ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ
⋆ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ
⋆ ᴅᴇʟᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɴᴋs 25 ʜᴘ⇾50 ʜᴘ⇾100 ʜᴘ⇾500 ʜᴘ⇾1,000 ʜᴘ