禁漫天堂

As my visa will run out in a few weeks (wow that was fast) I am weighing the options of leave VNAnd return under a new visa.

Time flies when you're having fun, no? BTW, how was your Tet trip?

A couple of questions please-What is the going cost to use a service and since I am Near HCMC, I assume I would go there and then what, do they run shuttles or does the visa seeker make his own way to the border?

Your nearest (and most economical) crossing would be the land border at Moc Bai, VN - Bavet, CAM. I'm unsure as to what sort of transportation services agencies offer. Many members opt to arrange their own transportation to the border and back.

A Cambodia VOA (visa on arrival) to enter Cambodia from the Moc Bai, Vietnam exit point can be purchased at the Bavet, Cambodia immigration desk there. If I recall reports from members correctly, the cost is $30US.

I have used the E-visa method twice before as I was coming from the US, When doing a border run, does that require an e-visa or can a visa be applied for and granted when returning to the border or airport?

To reenter VN you must hold a new eVisa. There is no VOA available on demand at the border. VOAs can be arranged through an agency, but they are valid for a maximum of a 30 day stay in VN (not the 90 day validity of an eVisa). On top of their being valid for a maximum of 30 days, members have reported that the cost for a VOA is prohibitively expensive.

The E-visa seemed pretty quick but still seemed to take a few days.Any advise would be very welcome, as always. - @Dannyroc3

If you opt to exit VN via a land-border crossing, it has been reported by members that immigration will not be aware of your exiting for up to 7 business days. Add to that the 3 days turnaround on eVisa applications and you could be looking at up to two weeks out of country before receiving your new eVisa allowing reentry. EVisa applications will not be approved until immigration receives notice of the foreigner exiting.

The reason for this land-border crossing delay of up to 7 days is due to the fact that it is the VN military who man all land-borders, while it is VN immigration officers who man all air-route crossings (airports). The VN military and VN immigration do not share a common computer system/database. Leaving via air results in immigration receiving immediate notice of your exiting.

If you'd like, I can PM you the name of an agency which has been used by, and received good reports from, many expat.com members. The agency is able, for a nominal fee, to expedite your eVisa application resulting in your spending less time out of country.

edit: the less time you wish to spend out of country, the higher the agency fee

Feel free to ask any further questions you might have.

@Aidan in HCMC

Thanks so much for the reply.

So glad to be past Tet.馃榾

I think I read reports here of someone going through the land border and a delay in when their EXIT posted in the system.

Though as I understand streams of people are crossing and returning in short order so maybe that case was a fluke?聽 Or maybe using an agency somehow expedites or bypasses this problem?

It would seem to do the border crossing without an agency means crossing into Cambodia, then going online to apply for an Evisa which would then require waiting for the EVSIA to process, that why I don't know how people can return within hours unless an agency walks the new visa through?聽

I watched a few recently made videos but they all used an agency so I am left to assume- there is no -Cross-and-comeback method when applying for an Evisa.

Of course, the other option was to take the occasion to fly to Singapore or someplace but We just got back from Nha Trang and so the simple Border-run will likely happen.

So yes if you or anyone has contact info for an agency with good experience, please pass it to me.

Years ago when聽 I was at the Moc Bai border crossing, I met a few groups going over and then back in one day.聽 Those expats told me they had paid a travel/visa agency and the agency arranged for all the paperworks and all the expats had to do were to line up early in the morning for the bus at several spots in HCMC. Is that still a thing?

Years ago when I was at the Moc Bai border crossing, I met a few groups going over and then back in one day. Those expats told me they had paid a travel/visa agency and the agency arranged for all the paperworks and all the expats had to do were to line up early in the morning for the bus at several spots in HCMC. Is that still a thing? - @yng68bld

No longer so.

Immigration has strictly cracked down on (completely halted) the ability to get an E-visa approved for anyone while they are still physically inside Vi岷縯 Nam.

The main visa agent contact of mine (here in 膼脿 N岷祅g) who was able to do that has since halted that service.

The only "shortcut" now available is to arrange (pay in advance) with a trustworthy visa agent to be prepared to submit a pre-completed E-visa application as soon as the foreigner processes OUT of Vi峄噒 Nam.

The agent provides a contact method (WhatsApp, Zalo, Email, FB Messenger, etc) and the foreigner contacts them as soon as they have completed their exit processing.

The agent then immediately contacts Immigration and gets an urgent approval for a new E-visa, which is then emailed to the foreigner.

For individual foreigners, that process is currently taking approximately 4 hours, so a wait is required before attempting to re-enter Vi峄噒 Nam.

Any trustworthy visa agent anywhere in the country can accomplish this for foreigners using any authorized border checkpoint where E-visas are accepted for entry into Vi峄噒 Nam.

So an agent in H脿 N峄檌 can conceivably do this for someone crossing and reentering at M峄檆 B脿i near HCMC, "IF" they are willing.

I've been surprised at how few agents are willing to get involved in these arrangements, as those who are have been charging $200 USD and more for the individualized service.

The major trustworthy visa agent here in 膼脿 N岷祅g is still doing twice-weekly border runs by bus (H峄檌 An/膼脿 N岷祅g/Hu岷� to Lao B岷�o & return) but because NO ONE makes the trip with their E-visa pre-approved, she must process the entire bus load of foreigners once they enter into Laos & begin waiting there.

So the border runs that used to take 10 to 12 hours max (6 AM to 6 PM) are now taking 15 to 16 hours, depending on where you board the bus (its a LONG trip from/to H峄檌 An) with travellers scheduled to return to 膼脿 N岷祅g by 10 PM at night.

@Dannyroc3

PM sent

Hope that helps. Feel free to ask further questions.

Not sure how useful this is to your situation: I watched on utube a U.S. guy do a visa run from Da Nang on an organised bus for this service. Can't remember length of visa he renewed. Around a 12 -15 hr round trip IIRC. I think the service in Da Nang charged him 160$US. Youtuber is called will travelz.