Foreign visitors, including American nationality, are required to extend visa when their visa is about to expire in order to be able to legally stay in Vietnam in accordance with immigration law. In this article, we will share details about the procedures for extending and renewing Vietnam visa for American, and answer questions related to: the documents needed to be prepared for Vietnam visa extension for American? Cost of Vietnam visa extension for American? Processing time for Vietnam visa extension for American? etc.
Currently, to extend the period of stay in Vietnam, American people have two ways: visa extension or visa renewal. Let’s clarify the differences between Vietnam visa extension and Vietnam visa renewal for American citizens.
a/ Vietnam visa extension for US passport holders
Visa extension means that you will be allowed to continue to stay in Vietnam for a certain period of time without having to exit and re-enter Vietnam. If you extend your visa, you will be given a extended stamp on your passport showing the new period of stay. However, visa extension is valid for single entry only, consequently, if you leave Vietnam, this visa extension will automatically expire immediately.
Vietnam visa extension for American citizens is done within the territory of Vietnam, so you can extend your stay without leaving the country.
b/ Vietnam visa renewal for US passport holders
Visa renewal means you will be issued a new visa sticker and a new stamp. Visa renewal will be a multiple entry visa, so you can exit and re-enter Vietnam many times if the visa is still valid.
Vietnam visa renewal for American people can be done within the territory of Vietnam, OR exit, apply for a new visa and re-enter Vietnam.
Visa must be extended / renewed before the expiry date. The documents must be fully prepared according to regulations. Besides:
Vietnam visa extension stamp
American citizens holding a Vietnam business visa can apply for an extension to prolong their stay in Vietnam for commercial purposes. When applying for visa extension or renewal, American citizens need to have sponsorship documents from a local company in Vietnam.
Required documents to apply Vietnam business visa extension for American citizens include:
In case of entry with a business visa but currently do not work for any company and do not have any sponsor company, American people can contact a visa agent in Vietnam to sponsor them and apply for extension as usual. This visa agent will prepare the documents on your behalf.
Currently, American citizens can extend up to 3 months for business visa. Depending on the needs of stay, American citizens can also request in application form to extend 15 days, 1 month or 2 months.
For cases wanting to stay in Vietnam for a long time (from 1 year to 5 years), American people may consider switching to a temporary resident card. The temporary residence card can allow American to stay in Vietnam for a long time continuously without needing to renew or exit Vietnam.
American people entering Vietnam for tourism purposes and holding a tourist visa can apply for a visa extension for the same tourism purpose. American citizens can go directly to the immigration offices to apply or through a visa agent to sponsor for applying a tourist visa extension.
Required documents for Vietnam tourist visa extension for American citizens include:
For tourist visa, American nationals can also apply for an extension of 15 days, 1 month, 2 months or 3 months. Normally, if you apply by yourself at immigration office, you can only apply for maximum 1-month extension. If you have a visa agent, you can extend from 2 to 3 months.
Currently, Vietnam has all immigration offices in 63 cities. American citizens can go to the immigration office in their locality to apply for visa extension. However, some cases can only be extended in offices in the big cities, while other small offices cannot handle.
3 addresses of Vietnam Immigration Department you can come to extend or renew your visa:
In addition, if you go through a visa agent’s sponsor, you do not need to go directly to the immigration office. These agents will prepare your documents and will help you to extend at the Immigration Department.
Vietnam Immigration office in Ho Chi Minh city
In case of not required sponsoring organization/company, American citizens can directly go to one of Immigration offices addresses to apply for a Vietnam visa extension. The working time of Vietnam Immigration Department is from 8am to 5pm, from Monday to Friday, no appointment required. You should come in the morning and prepare complete documents that corresponds to your situation.
After submitting your visa extension request, the immigration officer will give you a receipt and schedule a date to receive the results. Note: During the visa extension processing period, you will not be able to get back your passport for any reason.
If you go through a travel agency or visa agent to apply for visa extension, you do not need to go to the immigration office. You just need to provide your original passport, other documents they will normally prepare for you.
The fee of Vietnam visa extension is one of the most concerned issues for American people. Currently, the price of visa extension for American people depends on many factors: the type of visa you currently have, date of entry, place of entry, visa duration you want to extend, etc. To check the specific cost of visa extension for your case, you can contact us via email info@vietnamimmigration.com
Usually, the cost of business visa extension will be lower than the cost of tourist visa extension.
Processing time of Vietnam visa extension for American citizens can take from 5 to 7 working days. The processing time may vary depending on the type of visa you have, the length of stay you want to extend, the type of extension, etc. If during the time you apply, there are many other extension applications, processing time can also be longer.
You can also use the expedited visa extension service to get results in 2 working days. This service is for those who need to renew and get back passport urgently.
When being in Vietnam, some cases need to change visa type from tourist visa to business visa or vice versa, from business visa to tourist visa. This conversion is intended for changing to meet some requirements in Vietnam’s labor law or immigration law.
In fact, American citizens can only change the type of visa (change the purpose of entry) if they leave Vietnam, then apply for a new visa and re-enter Vietnam. If you are still in the territory of Vietnam, you cannot switch from a tourist visa to a business visa or vice versa regardless of whether you extend or renew your visa.
At the same time, changing the purpose of entry is not recommended, as it may make your entry history into Vietnam appear unreasonable, and the immigration officer may reject your visa in the next application.
Above is summary information about extension and renewal procedures of Vietnam visa for US passport holders, updated by Vietnam Immigration. Hopefully the above article has provided you with useful information. If you need more information, just contact us via email info@vietnamimmigration.com
