Post: #1

Does anyone else on the ground in Vietnam have info on the current visa extension/renewal process? I'm pretty much being forced to go to Cambodia for a visa run now because the government "canceled" (aka made prohibitively expensive to bribe) renewals for foreigners. Being quoted $150 for a one-month extension when I paid $100 for 3 months back in October.

The price has gone up and down in the 1.5 years I've lived here, but it's getting absolutely insane now.

Post: #2

(01-22-2016 10:57 PM)Sweet Pea Wrote:  Does anyone else on the ground in Vietnam have info on the current visa extension/renewal process? I'm pretty much being forced to go to Cambodia for a visa run now because the government "canceled" (aka made prohibitively expensive to bribe) renewals for foreigners. Being quoted $150 for a one-month extension when I paid $100 for 3 months back in October.

The price has gone up and down in the 1.5 years I've lived here, but it's getting absolutely insane now.

Not good. I know more than a few guys who fled Thailand for Vietnam, when getting a long term visa became more troublesome.

Post: #3

You just made me realise I'm in the same situation, mine expires 6th Feb but looks like I'll have to leave. It's suspended because of the elections and then after that is Tet, so it's just not going to happen.

Post: #4

Forgot I made this thread. Just an update, since I'm doing this again in a few weeks:

I wound up taking a bus from Saigon to Phnom Penh for $17, used an eVisa to get into Cambodia. Left Saigon after 8 am, got to PP and managed to make it to the travel agency before 5 pm. Dropped off my passport, paid $75 bucks for a 3-month, single-entry visa--which is cheaper than I've ever paid for one. Got it back the next morning right after they opened, hopped on a noon bus back to Saigon and I was home for dinner.

The entire process was cheaper and faster than handing it off to a Saigon agency, who usually take 5-7 business days. The cost of a hotel room, bus tickets and Cambodian visa pale in comparison to the lying and highway robbery of Vietnam's agencies. I'm heading back to PP at the end of April, going to check their price for a multiple-entry visa.

Also, if you're like me and you enjoy people-watching, the bus ride between HCM and PP is pretty fun. My seat was next to a Khmer girl who spoke pretty good English. She made me coffee when the bus stopped at the border, got me extra water from the back without asking while I was asleep, and (against my better judgment) offered to take me to the travel agency on her brother's tuk-tuk.

I'm paranoid enough already, and I was ready to bail out the side at every red light. Turns out she was just a nice girl, and they dropped me off without trying to murder me or take my wallet. Didn't ask me to pay, either.