Overstaying a visa in Vietnam can cause major complications for both travelers and entrepreneurs exploring the country’s business landscape. Vietnam’s immigration laws are strict, and overstaying any visa—whether tourist, business, or work-related—can lead to significant travel-related problems such as fines, deportation, and blacklisting.
All Vietnam visas have a fixed validity, which varies by citizenship, but the rules for overstaying are consistent. If your visa expires while you’re in Vietnam, you’ll be subject to overstay charges and must either extend or apply for a new visa. These penalties can be severe, including deportation or even a permanent ban from re-entering the country.
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To address overstays, the government has introduced an exit visa to help foreigners legally leave the country. In this article, we explore the consequences of overstaying a visa in Vietnam, from fines to legal repercussions, and how to manage these situations effectively with support from consultancies.
Confused About Visa Types in Vietnam
The Vietnamese visa is of several types, making it hard for most foreigners to determine which one fits their agenda. Usually, tourists or businessmen traveling to the country get confused between 3-month and 1-month single visas. Apart from that, Vietnam also has multiple entry visas, which might be more useful for entrepreneurs traveling for business.
Read More: Guide to Vietnam Visas: Types, Application Procedures and Cost for Foreign Investors
However, whether you are applying for a single-entry visa or a multiple-entry visa, you need to specify the validity period in your visa application to prevent any overstay in Vietnam. The maximum duration a foreigner can stay in the country is 3 months, starting from the day they arrive. Also, one must remember that single-entry visas only allow for one-time entry into the country, and they automatically expire once you exit. In contrast, the multiple-entry visas will allow you to enter and exit Vietnam any number of times as long as the validity period is not over.
Foreigners arriving in the country by air can opt for visa-on-arrival (VOA), which is not available to other types of travelers like those taking the sea route. People traveling by any means other than flights should apply for a visa at the Consulate or the Vietnam Embassy in their country.
The Vietnamese visa requirements are quite complex and differ from country to country. However, there is an exemption list providing all the information regarding the countries that have free visas. Foreigners need to check this exemption list available in Vietnam to understand if they are required to apply for a visa or not. In case your country is not on the list and you forget to apply for a visa, you will not be allowed to enter Vietnam.
Other than these issues, you should also check for the following common mistakes in your Vietnam visa application.
- Details given in the passport and the visa application do not match.
- Confusion regarding the arrival date: you are only allowed to enter Vietnam on the date specified in your visa.
- Be sure about your visa extensions.
- Not checking all the information given in the approval letter
- Not confirming visa status given in the receipt
- Being unaware of the validity of your visa and overstaying a visa in Vietnam
- Forgetting to extend your visa.
Read Related: Vietnam Immigration Blacklist: How Does It Affect Foreigners Traveling to Vietnam?
Consequences of Overstaying Visa Vietnam
Overstaying a visa in Vietnam means staying in the country for a longer period than what is demarcated in your visa, which actually leads to an expired visa. Moreover, foreigners who overstay in Vietnam often face harsh consequences like fines and blacklisting.
The overstaying visa penalties depend on the circumstances or reasons for overstaying, along with the type of visa. As per Vietnamese immigration law, the Vietnam visa overstay charge can range from VND 500,000 to VND 40,000,000 based on the number of days the concerned person has overstayed. Moreover, the immigration department can also blacklist you and deport you forcefully if you overstay in Vietnam. The blacklisting period usually lasts 1-3 years, during which the blacklisted person is not allowed to visit Vietnam again for overstaying a visa.
In certain extreme cases, the legal consequences of overstaying a visa can lead to imprisonment. Hence, it is crucial for entrepreneurs and other visitors traveling to Vietnam to be cautious about their visa validity and immediately apply for an exit visa if they have accidentally overstayed.
Vietnam Visa Overstay Charge: How Much Fine Do You Have to Pay?
As per Article 8 of Circular No. 144/2021/NĐ-CP, the Vietnam visa overstay charge is divided into the following slabs based on the number of days overstayed.
If you are overstaying for one year or 365 days, then you risk deportation along with the prohibition of not entering Vietnam in the future. Such individuals also have to pay an overstaying fine of VND 16,000,000 (US$700) or more.
Recommendations for Your Overstaying Visa Vietnam
Foreigners who have overstayed in Vietnam for a few days need not worry, as such unintentional overstaying is accepted by the immigration department if you provide a valid reason in an honest declaration. However, in the case of business visa overstays, you should contact an agency to get visa sponsorship for an extension, as there is limited scope for that.
The most popular recommendation when it comes to visa overstaying is to pay the fine to an immigration officer when you exit from Vietnam. However, this is only applicable when you have overstayed for a day or two, and the fine is VND 500,000 VND (US$25).
But paying the fine to the immigration officer at the time of leaving the country is not the ideal way to settle it, as your passport gets marked for overstaying. This can lead to potential problems when you try to visit Vietnam again.
Moreover, if you want to stay in Vietnam and do not want it to be marked as an overstay, you have to apply for a visa extension at the nearest immigration office. Additionally, you can also take the help of travel consultancies. However, it is crucial to remember that there is a processing fee for this extension.
Furthermore, foreigners should keep in mind the visa extension period and leave Vietnam before the visa expires again. Repeated overstaying can lead to serious consequences like deportation and blacklisting.
Final Note on Overstaying Visas
In case you have already overstayed your visa, then follow the steps given in this article to apply for an exit visa in Vietnam immediately. But before that, please get in touch with the immigration authorities for more accurate information and proper consultation.
Although we do not assist in single-entry visa applications or extensions, we are here to help you with business visa or investor visa applications. We can do this through product registration services, secretarial services, or company registration service requests.
Download the full PDF guide for the Vietnam Visa Guide now!
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