Edition 9 September 2026
Vietnam visa options for long stays
Vietnam has no digital-nomad visa and no golden visa. Your route in is a 90-day e-visa, US$25 single entry or US$50 multiple, priced by Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC from 1 April 2026. Twelve passports get 45 days visa-free under one 2025 rule, and twelve more under a second. Neither route extends inside the country. Longer stays need a Vietnamese sponsor.
Current at 9 September 2026. Dollars at VND 26,000 to US$1, the rate of 8 September 2026.
Ninety days, and the clock starts before you land
Up to 90 days, single or multiple entry, open to every passport, through 83 entry ports (evisa.gov.vn, read 10 September 2026). You file from outside Vietnam on a valid passport. The portal names no six-month rule and no processing time.
CHECK The 83 figure is right, its date is not: the series traces it to vietnam-briefing.com, 24 July 2025. The list rose from 42 to 83 on 2 December 2025, under Resolution 389/NQ-CP (english.luatvietnam.vn, read 10 September 2026).
The 90 days run from the issue date, not when you land. Nothing extends in country (danangvisarun.com, verified 13 July 2026; evisasvietnam.com, read 10 September 2026). Thailand lets you add 30 more days. Vietnam gives you a border, and Moc Bai to Cambodia and back costs US$58 to US$120.
Who skips the e-visa:
- 45 days, any purpose, 15 March 2025 to 14 March 2028 (Resolution 44/NQ-CP): Germany, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland.
- 45 days, tourists only, 15 August 2025 to 14 August 2028 (Resolution 229/NQ-CP): Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland.
- Nobody: United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Cyprus.
CHECK EY reads Resolution 44 to cover any entry purpose, Resolution 229 for tourists only (ey.com, August 2025). One guide flattens both into one tourist line. It merges two rules and an expired pilot (myvietnamvisa.com, read 10 September 2026). Some lists call Austria and Greece exempt; both need the e-visa. Bulgaria may fall instead under a pact of 22 June 2026, on diplomatic passports only.
The money test is a US$25 fee, not an income floor
Fees are set in dollars by the Ministry of Finance, under Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC of 27 March 2026 (english.luatvietnam.vn, read 10 September 2026). Single entry is US$25 (VND 650,000), multiple entry US$50 (VND 1,300,000). A residence card costs US$145 to US$200, banded by length. Refused fees are not returned.
CHECK It allows dong or dollars, while the portal takes dong only, so expect a small spread (myvietnamvisa.com, read 10 September 2026).
No income test applies. The thresholds sit on the investor route, in dong.
| Route | Money in | Visa | Residence card |
|---|---|---|---|
| DT4 | Under VND 3bn (US$115,385) | 1 year | None |
| DT3 | VND 3–50bn (US$115,385–1,923,077) | 3 years | To 3 years |
| DT2 | VND 50–100bn (US$1,923,077–3,846,154) | 5 years | To 5 years |
| DT1 | Over VND 100bn (US$3,846,154) | 5 years | To 10 years |
Sources: emerhub.com and imidaily.com, read 10 September 2026. A flat gets you nothing.
CHECK The residence card is the part in doubt. The research gives those years as visa lengths; the guides add the card column, and give DT4 none. Fragomen says cards now go to LD2 work and TT dependent holders only. That adds a swap step and two weeks (4 February 2026). Those guides still describe DT1 to DT3 cards. Local practice, or stale guides. One guide glosses VND 3 billion as US$130,000.
What the e-visa will not let you do
Work for a Vietnamese employer, or take a Vietnamese client (asialongstay.com, 1 July 2026). Hold a work permit. That needs a sponsor. Open a bank account. That needs the permit, a residence card valid 12 months, or an investor visa (statrys.com, 23 April 2026). Without one you live on cash.
Convert your licence. That needs a residence card valid three months (Circular 12/2025/TT-BCA). A 45-day guest cannot. An e-visa holder should expect refusal. Vietnam takes 1968 Vienna permits only, so US, Canadian, Chinese and Malaysian 1949 permits are worthless here.
Also closed: a dependent visa, a scooter in your name, and a solid lease (vietnamrenty.com, 18 June 2026). Renting in Ho Chi Minh City covers your landlord's filing.
CHECK Remote work for a foreign employer is unclear. Reading one: Article 8.2 of the 2014 entry-exit law bars paid work on a tourist visa. The city's Department of Labour calls online work a crime, fined VND 15–25 million (US$577–962) (migaku.com, read 10 September 2026). Reading two: not allowed, not covered, but ignored, under Labour Code Articles 151 and 154, with no known fine or removal (asialongstay.com, 1 July 2026). Decree 282/2025 adds a third band, VND 20–25 million for the wrong visa purpose.
The compliance load starts three days before you land
The pre-arrival form is free, opens 72 hours out, and gives you a QR code. It reached Tan Son Nhat on 15 April 2026; the portal names no other airport yet.
CHECK Whether you must file it is unclear. Fragomen says arrivals "must" file within three days (1 June 2026). A second source calls it required for anyone using a visa (vietnamnet.vn, 6 May 2026). The Singapore embassy in Hanoi says "encouraged". No source names a fine (25 June 2026). That is legal status against airport practice. File it.
Your landlord declares you to the ward police within 12 hours of landing, not you. Keep the receipt: a residence card, a work permit and a licence swap all want it. A host who fails to register you costs VND 3–5 million (US$115–192), Decree 282/2025/ND-CP Art. 21 (tanvanlang.com, read 10 September 2026).
Overstay is priced by Decree 282/2025/ND-CP from 15 December 2025, and deportation starts at 16 days over (vietnamnews.vn, 12 December 2025).
| Overstay | Fine, VND | US$ |
|---|---|---|
| Under 16 days | 500,000–2 million | 19–77 |
| 16 to under 30 days | 5–10 million | 192–385 |
| 30 to under 60 days | 10–15 million | 385–577 |
| 60 to under 90 days | 15–20 million | 577–769 |
| 90 days to 6 months | 20–25 million | 769–962 |
| 1 year or more | up to 40 million | up to 1,538 |
CHECK anlawvietnam.com reads that second floor as VND 7 million, not 5 (read 10 September 2026). A paper at rollout against a firm reading the decree's table. The ceiling agrees.
Decree 59/2026/ND-CP digitised deportation on 1 April 2026, and Decree 286/2026/ND-CP, effective 15 September 2026, cross-references immigration and work-permit records.
Then tax. You're resident on worldwide income after 183 days in a calendar year. The same applies within any 12 months from your first day (Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC). A 183-day lease does it alone, and visa runs do not reset.
Who this route is wrong for
| If you are | Why this fails | Instead |
|---|---|---|
| A remote worker wanting certainty | No carve-out for foreign-paid work | Thailand's DTV: 5 years, 180 days a stay |
| After a bank account and VietQR | Cycling gets you no residence card | An LĐ job, or DT3 upward |
| A freelancer with local clients | Vietnamese clients are unauthorised | DN backing, or your own DT firm |
| Retiring | No retirement visa exists | The Philippines' SRRV, or Thailand's route |
Law 118/2025/QH15 created UĐ1 for skilled workers and UĐ2 for their families on 1 July 2026, both valid five years. The Immigration Department lists no UĐ1 filing channel or fee (immigration.gov.vn, read 11 September 2026). Filing needs VNeID Level 2. Business accounts became required on 1 June 2026, and Decree 320/2026/ND-CP opens personal accounts to card-free foreigners on 28 September 2026.
Living in Southeast Asia 101 ranks the seven long-stay routes in the region, with every threshold and what each one blocks.
Cycle it if you are testing the city, not settling in it
Vietnam will let you stay, not settle. Most people moving to Ho Chi Minh City on foreign pay cycle the 90-day e-visa. It costs US$50 to US$150 a year in fees. Stay under 183 days and you stay outside the tax net.
Want a bank account, a scooter in your name and a solid lease? That needs a sponsor: a job, or VND 3 billion. On a stated legal basis, the country is Thailand.
What this page does not cover
- The seven long-stay routes in the region, ranked, with every threshold
- Arrival cards and overstay fines for seven countries
- The 1968-vs-1949 licence trap, in seven countries
- The tax-residency threshold for seven countries, 180 to 183 days
All of it is in Living in Southeast Asia 101 — 60 pages, $49. See what's inside
Related
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Written by Mihailo Pavlovic. We last changed this page on 21 September 2026.