5 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

One used to be able to extend a 1 year tourist visa in country, so, pretty much a retirement visa, but they ended long stay visas. I have no idea why Vietnam did not want to be known as a retirement destination, but it appears they will soon be appealing to that market.

Last time I was in Danang, there was a lot of construction of high rise condo buildings.

It will be interesting to see what deal they offer.

Something I will be looking at strongly in November

23 hours ago, QPRFC said:

Vietnam's visas can't really get any easier than they are now. I've not heard of a visa refusal even with multiple one day border runs to BKK and KUL every 90 days. TRC are relatively simple provided you meet the criteria. Shame there's still no Retirement Visa available.

And just as you say that...

I hear a lot about guys doing border bounces every 90 days but cannot work out how these would work for Brits or Americans...

Brits get 45 days Visa Exempt so we could do it every 45 days, but Americans don't have a VE option so would need to get a new Visa which takes a minimum of 3-5 days and can only be applied for if you're physically outside of Vietnam.

AFAIK TRCs can only be got if you're on a Work, Investment or Family type visa.

Masstourism ahead...

As a retiree the thought of potentially moving to a country that is going the same way as Thailand has wrongly gone in the past in my opinion does not appeal. A permanent building site to cope with increased tourist numbers, the undesirables, heavily budget Chinese orientated. Everything that makes it desirable at the moment will likely be eroded rather quickly.

16 hours ago, Chivas said:

Something I will be looking at strongly in November

Vietnam is my Plan B. Currently, the main thing ruling Vietnam out as a genuine retirement destination is no long stay visa.

It will be interesting to see what deal they offer. Set the bar too high, and their long stay visa is useless. Set the bar too low, and the country will attract a lot of rubbish. They will probably be aiming for the sweet spot of attracting foreigners with decent financial capacity.

7 hours ago, SamSpade said:

And just as you say that...

I hear a lot about guys doing border bounces every 90 days but cannot work out how these would work for Brits or Americans...

Brits get 45 days Visa Exempt so we could do it every 45 days, but Americans don't have a VE option so would need to get a new Visa which takes a minimum of 3-5 days and can only be applied for if you're physically outside of Vietnam.

AFAIK TRCs can only be got if you're on a Work, Investment or Family type visa.

I spoke to a friend in Vietnam about this a while ago. He told me agents can arrange fast track. So you are stamped out of Vietnam, then you message the agent to let them know, the agent then arranges that your eVisa application gets processed straight away. You then receive the eVisa via email minutes later, and are then good to cross back over into Vietnam because it's now on the Vietnam immigration system.

7 hours ago, kinyara said:

As a retiree the thought of potentially moving to a country that is going the same way as Thailand has wrongly gone in the past in my opinion does not appeal. A permanent building site to cope with increased tourist numbers, the undesirables, heavily budget Chinese orientated. Everything that makes it desirable at the moment will likely be eroded rather quickly.

Good point.

It will be interesting to see how Vietnam handles the sharp increase in tourism, and possibly expat retirees. Like in Thailand, there will be hot spots for tourists, and places away from the hot sports for expats.

I think it will also be interesting to see how they develop the infrastructure, as in, the size, scale, and quality, to cater for the influx of tourists and expats.

19 hours ago, Explorator en Action said:

Even though there are thousands of empty condominiums in Hanoi, Saigon, Nha Trang and Danang..........prices keep going up, not down - that are overpriced by any countries standards.

Same Same Thailand.

3 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

I spoke to a friend in Vietnam about this a while ago. He told me agents can arrange fast track. So you are stamped out of Vietnam, then you message the agent to let them know, the agent then arranges that your eVisa application gets processed straight away. You then receive the eVisa via email minutes later, and are then good to cross back over into Vietnam because it's now on the Vietnam immigration system.

But isn't a lot of the current negativity about Thailand, including from yourself, about the amount of foreigners who are using agents here to get what they want from Thai immigration?

But it's ok to do that in Vietnam?

5 hours ago, NanLaew said:

But isn't a lot of the current negativity about Thailand, including from yourself, about the amount of foreigners who are using agents here to get what they want from Thai immigration?

But it's ok to do that in Vietnam?

What negativity?

Thailand, as a retirement destination, is merely a product to me. I have not imprisoned myself emotionally, or financially. No problem for me to shop around.

Thailand is now facing real competition. It will be interesting to see how they handle it.

Most countries in South East Asia are corrupt. When in Rome.

I make Thailand work for me, not the other way around.

Edited yesterday at 05:42 PM1 day by KhunHeineken

3 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

What negativity?

Thailand, as a retirement destination, is merely a product to me. I have not imprisoned myself emotionally, or financially. No problem for me to shop around.

Thailand is now facing real competition. It will be interesting to see how they handle it.

Most countries in South East Asia are corrupt. When in Rome.

I make Thailand work for me, not the other way around.

As you so often like to accuse others of doing, you miss the point completely.

You have stated your dislike for agent-assisted long stayers in Thailand, yet here you are condoning agent-assisted border bouncers in Vietnam.

Those dirt tunnels along the ho trail must be cozy 🫠

6 hours ago, NanLaew said:

You have stated your dislike for agent-assisted long stayers in Thailand, yet here you are condoning agent-assisted border bouncers in Vietnam.

Wrong. You must be confusing me with another member.

I use agents myself. I've posted that many times.