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.
Need a Exit Visa in Vietnam? Check out InCorp Vietnam’s Immigration Services
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 like InCorp Vietnam.
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?
Definitions of Exit Visa Vietnam
To prevent any overstay in Vietnam and subsequent penalties for it, you must apply for an exit visa, which has now become necessary to legally exit the country. An exit visa in Vietnam is an exit permit issued by the Vietnamese Immigration Department that allows foreigners to leave the country within 15 days of issuance.
However, to get this legal document, you need to have a valid passport or equivalent international travel document along with a temporary resident card or valid visa. This exit permit prevents any overstaying visa in Vietnam issues as it allows foreigners to fly off the country when their passport gets lost or damaged. The Immigration Department takes 3-5 business days to approve an exit visa in Vietnam, and once approved, you can leave the country in a week.
The following types of people can apply for an exit visa in Vietnam:
- Foreign babies who are born in Vietnam
- Foreigners staying longer than their visa validity period
- Foreigners who have lost or damaged their passport
- Foreign workers whose labor contracts have ended. It is also applicable to those having a temporary resident card from the employer.
- Foreigners who have applied for a new passport in Vietnam
- Foreigners with an overdue visa.
Read Related: How Overseas Vietnamese Can Register for Permanent Residence in Vietnam?
Circumstances that Allow the Issuance of a Vietnam Exit Visa
As mentioned earlier, foreigners in Vietnam can apply for an exit visa under two circumstances: in case of damaged or lost passport issues and in case of expired or overstaying visa issues. In this section, we are detailing how the visa application and approval process works in each of these circumstances.
Lost or Damaged Passport
For travelers who have lost or damaged their passport, getting an exit visa in Vietnam could be a cumbersome process. Hence, we advise you to get in touch with corporate consultancies like InCorp Vietnam to sort out the following aspects:
- Reporting the lost or damaged passport to the nearest local police office
- Obtaining a nod from the police for processing of a new passport
- Submitting the passport lost or damaged police report to your country’s embassy in Vietnam along with your passport photos and application fees for a new passport.
- Visiting the Vietnamese Immigration Department with valid documents to apply for an exit visa in Vietnam
- Submitting the Vietnam exit visa application fees
- Obtaining the exit visa receipt and submitting it at your embassy for your new passport.
Expired or Overstaying Visas
In case you are overstaying a visa in Vietnam or your visa has expired and an extension is not possible, then you can apply for an exit visa. Any overstay in Vietnam that goes for more than 2 days results in a ‘no visa extension’ situation. In such circumstances, you can get an exit visa by fulfilling the following steps:
- Submitting your valid passport and other necessary documents.
- Paying the Vietnam visa overstay charge after providing reasons for the overstay.
- Paying the fee for the exit visa in Vietnam
- Receiving your exit visa and passport
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.
- VND 500,000 to VND 2,000,000 (US$22-88) for overstaying for less than 16 days.
- VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 (US$133-221) for overstaying 16-30 days
- VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 (US$221-441) for overstaying 30-60 days
- VND 10,000,000 to VND 15,000,000 (US$441-661) for overstaying 60-90 days
- VND 15,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 (US$661-885) for overstaying at least 90 days
- VND 30,000,000 to VND 40,000,000 (US$1320-1760) for those staying for longer periods and not complying with agencies forcing them to exit Vietnam.
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. InCorp Vietnam advises its clients not to take this route and apply for a visa extension, although it would take a few more days to process it.
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 like InCorp Vietnam. 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
InCorp Vietnam advises all foreigners who are traveling to Vietnam to be vigilant about their visa terms and conditions, especially the validity period and the expiration date. We suggest you keep all the necessary documents ready for visa extension whenever you are traveling to the country, especially if you want to stay here longer.
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.
How Can InCorp Vietnam Assist with Visa Consultation, Application, and Exit Visa Processes?
The skilled and certified legal experts at InCorp Vietnam can provide visa consultation services to foreigners as end-to-end solutions when they come to us with business registration-related queries.
We can assure you of a swift visa application or extension process, including the exit visa application, based on our knowledge and experience in assisting foreign clients. This will enhance the probability of you getting the exact type of visa needed to fulfill your requirements. We individually work with our clients to sort out all the prerequisites, making them choose the best visa for them.
Download the full PDF guide for the Vietnam Visa Guide now!
About Us
InCorp Vietnam is a leading market entry and corporate services firm in Vietnam. We are part of InCorp Group, a regional leader in corporate solutions that encompasses 9 countries in Asia-Pacific, headquartered in Singapore. With over 1,500 legal experts serving over 20,000 Corporate Clients across the region, our expertise speaks for itself. We provide transparent legal consulting, setup, and advice based on local requirements to make your business fit into the market perfectly with healthy growth.
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