Announcement from Vietnam Immigration Department:
If you entered Vietnam with Visa Exemptions, E-Visas or Tourist Visas from March 1, 2020, you will be eligible for “automatic stay permit extension” until December 31, 2020, and are allowed to exit Vietnam at any time until December 31 without following any stay permit extension procedure. It means that if you are in Vietnam under those visa categories, you entered the country on or after March 1, 2020 and your visa becomes expired before December 31, 2020, you can leave Vietnam after your visa expiry date, but by December 31, without penalty for overstaying.
This is very important to understand that it means you don’t have to extend your visa to EXIT Vietnam by December 31, 2020. However, if you intend to stay in Vietnam after December 31, then you do need a visa extension.
If you entered BEFORE March 1, 2020, you will be eligible for the same policy if you show either of the following documents:
A certification by your diplomatic mission in Vietnam through an official Diplomatic Note stating that you are stuck in Vietnam due to Covid 19 (attached with a translation in Vietnamese);
Documents issued by the Vietnamese authorities certifying that you have undergone quarantine or treatment for COVID-19 or are stuck here due to reasons beyond your control.
You are required to show those documents when exiting Vietnam to ensure no charge for overstaying.
Again, this works only for those who will leave Vietnam by December 31, 2020.
In case you are eligible for an “automatic stay extension”, you are required to declare your temporary stay to local police and complete health declaration.
If you don’t meet the conditions in section 1 or have committed illegal actions, you shall be subject to the current laws of Vietnam.
For example, those in Vietnam under a business visa are required to extend visa before its expiry date.
What is visa extension or renewal?
This section will let you know what is exactly visa extension and renewal in Vietnam and how they are different from each other.
Visa extension
Visa extension is an action that is applied for foreigners who wish to prolong their current stay in Vietnam without leaving the country. By this action, you will get an extension stamp on your passport indicating your new stay duration.
Note: Visa extension is good for single entry only.
Visa renewal
Visa renewal almost the same as visa extension as it also allows foreigners to extend their stay in Vietnam without leaving the country.
However, if you renew visa, you will be granted a new visa sticker and stay duration stamp on your passport with the new duration permission. And therefore, the visa renewal fee is higher than the visa extension fee because you must pay stamping fee and visa sticker fee.
Note: This service is now not offered by the Vietnam Immigration Office. We will keep you updated immediately upon new developments.
Visa Extension/Renewal Requirements
To extend/review Vietnam visa, your original passport must:
be valid for at least 06 months from the time of extension/renewal.
have at least 02 blank pages.
Why should you choose a visa extension?
The only choice to continue remaining in Vietnam legally after your visa expiry date without leaving the country as visa run is not available during COVID 19
Save your cost as the extension fee is much cheaper than the renewal fee.
Avoid being taken into the blacklist of the Vietnam Immigration Department because of overstaying.
Have more time to settle your business in Vietnam which might be interrupted if you leave Vietnam and then come back with a new visa, or cannot come back in COVID 19.
If you would like to extend/renew your visa (for the first time), please follow these steps:
- Please contact us WhatsApp/ Viber : +(84)91 231 00 57/ email: apply@visa4vietnam.com
- We will inform you about the visa extension fee and necessary documents
- Please send us the our original passport to our offices.
- Wait some days to get your passport back together with your new stamped visa. See the below table for detail processing time for each type of visa:
1 month single - Extend 1 month single: Processing time 5-7 days
3 month single - Extend 3 months single: Processing time 10 days, Effective for 3 months visa
Important Notes:
You’d better extend/renew your visa at least 1 week (for 3 months visa, preferably 2 weeks) before your visa is expired.
Before you apply for visa extension, your passport must have 2 blank pages at maximum.
We assist for those extend /renew visa for the first time.
For tourist and business Visa, this visa extension/renewal is only applicable for 1 month or 3 months (single/ multiple)
