There is a lot of chatter in the expat community at the moment about people who live and work here in Vietnam getting their visas abruptly denied for no apparent reason. I have a few friends who are worked up into a panic because they spend their days looking at FB posts about how everyone is getting kicked out who is on anything other than a legitimate business visa.
This is a very real concern for sure, but I think that the people who spend their time looking at FB groups for their information are doing themselves a great disservice as far as their mental health is concerned because as I am sure almost anyone sensible knows, FB is filled with a ton of drama queens, liars, and trolls.
Yes, there are people who are getting a stamp in their passport that is called an "exit visa," referred to by some as an "XC" (no idea if that is the real term) which means they have 6 weeks to get their affairs in order and leave the country. If you were the type of person that overly relies on social media for your information you would think that the sky was falling and that there was a great purge of foreigners. At least for now, this doesn't seem to be the case.
src
I don't know everyone here but in the 15 months I have lived here and this is mostly because of the bowling league I co-formed I know around 50 people. These people also know people that I do not know. Of all of these people, I know only 1 single person that this "get out" situation has happened to. Even friends of friends can not report any more than this.
So I want to look at this statistically as far as the current panic is concerned: I know around 50 people, and let's assume that of those 50 people they too know people that I do not know. I don't think it would be unreasonable to assume that our shared group of real-life friends is 200 or so (we are a very small portion of the population here) and out of all of those people we know a combined 1 person that is being kicked out? This is hardly something to panic about. We also don't know this guy very well. For all we know he could have been breaking the law with some sort of dodgy fake business visa and he just doesn't want to admit it.
I'm not going to say that things aren't going to get worse but we also have to look at this somewhat logically: What motivation could the government possibly have for kicking us all out? Literally everyone I know is stressing about this potential of getting their "walking papers" and this could be particularly bad for some people because as of now, there aren't very many flights even going out of Vietnam. Just out of curiosity I took a look at how I could get to other parts of the world and the options were very limited and some of them didn't exist at all.
For me, this situation, which I will have no choice but to face if and when it comes, could be even more difficult because I have a dog with me and as you may or may not be aware, transporting an animal can be a very tough process indeed.
Recently, I was looking at Qatar Airlines website to look at their pet policy and I found this
src
I've done a lot of flights in my life, particularly after I became an international man of mystery but I can honestly say that I have never seen a falcon in the cabin on any flight I have ever been on. Why falcons? There must be some sort of Qatari culture that I am unfamiliar with.
I do find it funny that they draw the line at 6 total falcons in economy class. Now I am curious what happens when more than 6 falcons end up in an area this small at the same time. I would imagine it is pure mayhem and pandemonium.
The point of all this is that rumors spread like wildfire, especially once you get a bunch of already-nervous people staring at FB all day and hoping to find real information there.
Just yesterday the government announced they were extending visa amnesty to everyone on a tourist visa until the end of June. They did this on the 5th of June so perhaps it isn't really a priority to them to get this information out there. By the way, they have updated this same webpage every month since May of 2020 and other than the date, the rest of the page is exactly the same.
For now, I would say to my fellow expats living in Vietnam to friggin' take it easy ok? If you do get your GTFO stamp you have a full 6 weeks available to you in order to make arrangements to get somewhere and it doesn't have to be your home country either. It's up to you and the destination. Furthermore, at least for Americans, you can get a letter from your embassy that entitles you to an additional month without penalty if you can convince the Consular representative that your are logistically or financially incapable of traveling. That brings this number up to 10 weeks.
Honestly, can you really not make arrangements to go somewhere in 10 weeks or do you just not want to? There is a difference.
For me, I would say that yes, I am concerned that this stamp will get passed down to me in the future and if and when it does, I will have no choice but to comply. For now though, all the FB-driven panic that is going on in our community seems a bit unnecessary and unwarranted.
I want to stay a bit longer, but if you decide I have to go... I guess I'll go
What is a Service Dog? A guide dog.., and all the rest go in the hold? I can't see a dog doing too well in there. What was the situation last time, or did you go by land? I have never see a dog on a plane and I have done my fair share of flying.
The situation last time was only a 2 hour flight so the trauma was more on me than it was for the dog I think. I'm sure it isn't a pleasant situation if your dog has a ton of freedom the way that mine does.
Service dogs can be seeing eye dogs, those dogs that can smell a seizure coming on or other disorders, and more recently they are comfort animals for people with PTSD or intense fear of flying but a lot of folks get their dog classified as this just so they can get the dog on the plane - I was contemplating this but thought it would be a disservice to those who genuinely have the problem.
There is a very small chance that the change in pressure can actually kill your dog but this is VERY small, even smaller than dying from Covid if you are under 20.
Not always a guide dog. Sometimes though. Now they have emotional support animals that open the scope from just a dog that helps a blind person. Lots of people have them these days to help them deal with trauma.
Thanks @slobberchops for being engaged in the ASEAN Hive Community. !ENGAGE 25
ENGAGEtokens.Yes well I've been over there and things are not clear cut as people who haven't lived there may think. Normally there is always a way to stay but you might have to pay an agent to arrange a visa for you. I have heard the VN government is starting to crack down on people without legit visas including people teaching illegally which is quite common there. They've always been quite lenient about people doing visa runs and so on but yes often times the smallest crackdown can put the masses into a panic. I reckon loads of people have little more to do than get worked up over social media posts :)
yeah, i looked in at one of the forums because someone I know was laughing about it. On a single post there was more than 500 responses, mostly from the same dozen people and it spiraled into nonsense. So much panic that there isn't even any useful information there. Of course there was the usual nationalistic folks on there saying the ol' "if you don't like it you can get out" type stuff too.
I know a few people that are actually jumping the gun and moving before they get kicked out, the way that a lot of folks leave sporting events early to beat traffic. This is very backwards thinking especially when you consider that there are very few flights in this part of the world at all and the supply, even if they did kick thousands of "us" out all at once would still exceed the demand.
Oh well, I guess if thinning the herd was their objective (the government's) they are achieving that end without even issuing these mystic final visas everyone is so concerned about.
Thanks @chrisinphuket for being engaged in the ASEAN Hive Community. !ENGAGE 55
ENGAGEtokens.Am surprised people still work themselves up over info from social media. Making effort to verify would've saved some of them a lot of stress.
The falcon is a strange bird to have as a pet, isn't it?
I've heard of "falconing" if that is even a word, where it is a sport of sorts and I guess you might need to travel with it to certain events or something. I have no idea. I think it would be wild if the owner couldn't get it under control in the cabin because from what I know, those things can cause some serious damage and are basically just killing machines... My shih-tzu on the other hand, couldn't really hurt anyone even if she wanted to.
Thanks @empress-eremmy for being engaged in the ASEAN Hive Community. !ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtokens.To get informantions about such an important thing from FB groups is not sensible.
Thanks @videoaddiction for being engaged in the ASEAN Hive Community. !ENGAGE 10
ENGAGEtokens.Vietnam is very hospitable and always welcomes international friends❤️
Thanks @trangtrang for being engaged in the ASEAN Hive Community. !ENGAGE 10
ENGAGEtokens.yeah, that seems a bit crazy. I mean the fact that they are just listening to what FB is saying is kind of dumb. I was thinking you were going to say that you actually knew someone this happened to. The fact that it isn't the case makes me think it might not be as bad as they are saying. I am sure there is a grain of truth to it... Thankfully Thailand is easing their restrictions and you are going to be back home for good!
i actually do know one person that this has happened to. But i don't really "know" the guy, he just joined the bowling group one day. This guy could have other factors involved in his expulsion that he isn't talking about for all we know. He could have gotten arrested, could have a criminal record, or could have "cheated" on visas in the past. There are a lot of unknowns here.
The only "knowns" that I and everyone else has access to right now is that of all of us, we only know a single person that has gotten the red stamp of GTFO in their passports, yet the entire community is whipped up into a fervor over the fear of getting kicked out. I'm not one of those people :)
Thanks @bozz for being engaged in the ASEAN Hive Community. !ENGAGE 40
ENGAGEtokens.Yeah panic is the name of the game right now. I am one of the people that is just taking it easy because what good is worrying about it going to do you? If my number comes up, it's up and there will be nothing I can do about it. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it rather than stressing out about it and participating in the Facebook nonsense that is going on in the community right now.
Thanks @gabe.radke for being engaged in the ASEAN Hive Community. !ENGAGE 35
ENGAGEtokens.I guess it isn't it as bad it seems, but for a while it seemed like Vietnam was going to be the easy visa leader in Southeast Asia. Laos needs to climb out of the shadows and take advantage of all this visa confusion.
You're already back in Thailand right?
⋆ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ
⋆ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ
⋆ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴜᴛʜᴇᴀsᴛ ᴀsɪᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ
⋆ ᴅᴇʟᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɴᴋs 25 ʜᴘ⇾50 ʜᴘ⇾100 ʜᴘ⇾500 ʜᴘ⇾1,000 ʜᴘ