Visa Questions For Thai And Vietnamese

[intumult]

Can I start by saying that hope this is posted in the correct place.

I have a Thai friend who has met a girl from Vietnam. They are serious about each other and he is talking of marrying her.

She has been in Thailand 3 months.

Not knowing much about Vietnam / Thai rules ....

1) She has no Visa or Passport - Does she need one?

2) If she needs a visa - What penalties does she face for being here without one?

3) Can she easily get a visa to work in Thailand?

4) Presuming she needs a Passport and a Visa - What would they cost her?

If my Thai friend wants to marry her and live with her in vietnam ....

A ) Can he get a visa easily?

B ) Can he work in Vietnam legally?

C ) Will he need a special visa / work permit?

D ) What about housing - Can he own land in Vietnam if he has only been through the Thai 'Wedding Party' and has no legal marriage papers?

Any other relevent information he may need?

Thanks for any help on this.

[PattayaParent]

Thai side

How did she get into the country without a passport????

She can enter WITH a passport and get 30 days which I think can be extended.

But I'd say she definitely needs passport at least.

Don't know about your other questions.

VN Side

A) Yes

Yes

C) Yes

D) Unsure. My missus tells me that foreigners can own land. In practice it is easiest for Viet Kiew (Vietnamese with foreign passports) but might not apply to 100% foreigners.

If he gets married legally he can get a 3 year visa to live in VN

[intumult]

How did she get into the country without a passport????

I presumed she got into Thailand the same way Thais get into Cambodia - using an I.D. card - and then decided to stay on. (At least when I was last at the border with Cambodia my then Thai g/f crossed the border with other family members using only their I.D. cards and I naturally assumed that Vietnamese might be able to do the same thing).

Maybe she crossed over at some unmanned point. I am reluctant to probe too deeply as the girl knows little about me and I do not want to panic her at all.

She has been here 3 months and employed by another Thai I know for at least 6 weeks.

As for the rest, thanks for the reply and the information. Is appreciated

[NanLaew]

Thailand and Vietnam have reciprocal no-visa arrangements in that Thais don't need a visa to visit Vietnam and vice versa. I am sure that working may be a different issue though, requiring some sort of paper trail.

However, the only countries that waived the need for passports that I recall were the US/Canada and US/Mexico but even that has changed now.

Since Thailand and Vietnam do not share a border, how she got here is irrelevant conjecture but I think she needs to get a Vietnam passport first and then address whatever Thai immigration requires for her to either stay in Thailand or return to Vietnam since any new passport will not have an entry stamp.

[intumult]

Thanks NantLaew.

I do know he wants to go to Vietnam to work and we were worried about her being caught here, working, in the meantime.

If she can 'visit' then I think that is the best thing for her to say.

Discretion would help of course.

A couple of months and I can see them married 'party style' and off to Vietnam - espaecially as they are talking of having a family and she would rather have the baby / babies in Vietnam. They can then see about a Viet passport for her.

Hope they are happy in whatever they do.

[lekatai]

Thailand and Vietnam have reciprocal no-visa arrangements in that Thais don't need a visa to visit Vietnam and vice versa. I am sure that working may be a different issue though, requiring some sort of paper trail.

However, the only countries that waived the need for passports that I recall were the US/Canada and US/Mexico but even that has changed now.

Since Thailand and Vietnam do not share a border, how she got here is irrelevant conjecture but I think she needs to get a Vietnam passport first and then address whatever Thai immigration requires for her to either stay in Thailand or return to Vietnam since any new passport will not have an entry stamp.

My girlfriend is Vietnamese,and has been in Thailand with me now for over a year,with trips back to Vietnam to get new visas every so often.It is true that Vietnamese do not need a pre arranged visa to come here to Thailand,as,like many other nationalities they can get the 30 day stamp on arrival,however there are no special arrangements to stay longer,and if she wishes to stay longer then she must get a tourist visa.This is easily obtained at the Thai Consulate in HCMC,when I was there with my girlfriend,they were very helpful and efficient.I think the cost was 25USD,but it might have gone up to 30USD now.She had to get a Vietnamese passport to come here,which I believe costs around 100USD.I did give her some paperwork to take to the Thai Consulate there when she went back for a holiday,asking them if she could have a 12 month Non Immigrant "O" visa,but they wouldn't do it,I don't know why,as I wasn't with her.She has had 4 Tourist visas now(although not back to back),as she always stays there for a few weeks,and there hasn't (so far) had a problem getting a tourist visa.I think it would be extremely difficult to get a work permit for a Vietnamese person here,unless they possessed some skill that was lacking here,(maybe cooking Vietnamese food?)As far as getting here without a passport,she probably crossed from Vietnam into Cambodia in the South,where the border controls are very porous,and then into Thailand at Had Lek near Trat. We lived on the Thai / Cambodia there,and it was very easy to do.