Vietnam introducing 10-year visa... but don't get excited

Something that ends up being discussed in the expat community here in Da Nang and I presume other places where expats live is that there really aren't any long-term visas outside of work visas that exist here in Vietnam. There used to be fore American and French, but then without warning or explanation, those visas just disappeared. The Vietnamese government is quite fair I think as far as immigration is concerned and that is why there is a rather large long-term expat population here.

src

I don't know how the hype train gets started on visas that are super-long term such as the new 10 year one which hasn't really even been rolled out, but somehow the local rumor-mill gets everyone talking about it and the truth gets muddled in the gossip pond water.

This upcoming visa, should it even happen, is aimed at extremely wealthy people and highly sought after captains of industry. it is NOT for people like me that are just looking to stay here because it is cheaper than living in my own country. I didn't even bother to look too much into it when it was announced because as they say, this is not my first rodeo. Every year or so some news like this goes viral and it never pans out because as soon as people see that lo' and behold! the Vietnamese government isn't interested in issuing a long-term visa to a guy that teaches English online and spends 4 days a week getting blackout drunk at the local pub, they walk away from it.

Seriously, I can't help but find it a bit funny when a person I know and never see or hear anything about anywhere other than the pub thinks that somehow they are in high demand in visa circles. It's quite the opposite actually and those folks need to quiet down and just be happy that the government allows them to be here at all.

As it is right now here are your visa options for Vietnam unless you are extremely wealthy or have some sort of technical know-how that very few people in the world have

• A never-ending visa run for 45 or 90 days each time. You must leave the country every day by flight or bus. There is currently no limit to how many times you can do this

• an investment visa: This incorporates putting a rather large amount of money into a company and the minimum changes depending on what sort of industry, where the industry is located, and many other factors. Basically this costs $25,000 US or more

• A state-sponsored work-permit attached visa: You are sponsored by a business, normally a school, who gets you either singular or 2-3 year visas at a time

• Marriage visa: They have become increasingly apprehensive to issue these as there was briefly and uptick in fake marriage for visa exchange.

---

For me, options 1 and 3 are the best ones if you have a college degree and/ or a reasonable amount of time between online gigs. I work online and while it is a pain in the butt for me to jump on a flight once every 3 months it is very doable.

The main point in writing this is that the new 10-year visa that is all over the news and forums has muddled information because it is clickbait. Chances are you will not qualify for it and it isn't really worth looking into.

No offense, but the kind of people that would be looking at Vietnam for the sake of living here and little other reason are no the kind of people that the government had in mind when they suggested this 10-year visa. They want CEO's or extremely wealthy people who want to have a beachside villa here as a rental property. Not jo-schmo who is looking for a way to keep his $200 a month condo secured while he is down that the pub every day.