Comments on: Living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam as Expats: 31 Pros & Cons to Know

By: Jackie

Jackie — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 08:53:46 +0000

Hello Andrew,

Thanks for reaching out!

Unfortunately, Vietnam does not have a retirement visa so it’s not an ideal place to retire.

The only visa available at the moment is a 30-day single-entry tourist visa. Once the 30 days are up, then you’ll need to do a visa run at the Moc Bai Cambodia-Vietnam border or leave the country by flight and come back in. You would need to do this every month.

Multiple entry visas for 30 days and 90s are not available yet.

Otherwise, you’ll need to have a job to get an official work permit and a Temporary Resident Card (TRC). You’ll need to get a lot of documents notarized and officiated to get the work permit and TRC.

We heard you can invest in a business or if you have a Vietnamese spouse, then you can stay long-term.

As with getting an apartment, it’s recommended to stay in an Airbnb first to figure out which location you want to live in. Most expats stay in Thao Dien (Thu Duc/formerly District 2) or District 7. Then you can work with an agent to find an ideal place to live.

Let me know if you have other questions.

By: Andrew Price

Andrew Price — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 02:31:15 +0000

Hi,
I’m looking at moving to Ho Chi Minh at the end of the year from the U.S. To pretty much retire and relax, I’m 35 and was wondering about visa in 2023 and how to go about it. I’ve lived in china before and Thailand years ago. Is it best to get a hotel for a month and figure out where to rent an apartment once I’m there like I did in other countries?

Thanks so much

By: Jackie

Jackie — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 08:56:32 +0000

In reply to Mack Johnson. Hi Mack. Thanks for the suggestion on a post of finances and banking in Vietnam. It's an area that we haven't explored yet as we still use a U.S. based ATM card to withdraw money.

By: Mack Johnson

Mack Johnson — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 02:15:51 +0000

Hello,
Thank you for writing this article. It was very interesting and had a lot of helpful points and information. When I made the move to Saigon, Vietnam earlier in the year, I found it very hard to find any clear information on finances and banking in and outside of Vietnam. As a suggestion, a future post on how to manage your finances abroad, especially in Vietnam would be extremely helpful as it is a very important topic.