How To Apply A Visa Extension Or Exit Visa When Your Vietnam Visa Is Expired And Overstayed

Overstaying is a serious problem that any foreign nationals to Vietnam should avoid. And there are good reasons for that, the punishment can vary from paying fine which is counted by days of overstaying, restriction on traveling and more. Not only is it extremely costly but also has unpleasant impact on profile to the Vietnamese government. Therefore, visitors must always pay close attention to the valid period of their Vietnam visa and if needed, extend or renew their visa before the expiry date. In this article, we would like to deliver you an overview of what happens if your Vietnam visa is expired and overstayed and how to extend it.

1/ What Problems You May Encounter When Your Vietnam Visa Is Expired And Overstayed?

It is a really bad idea to let your visa expire and overstay in Vietnam. This is one of the offenses that Vietnamese government have very severe sanctions on. Below are the risks that you have to take if your Vietnam visa is expired and overstayed:

• Overstaying and expired visa may affect your ability to re-enter Vietnam.
• Overstaying Penalty will be definitely applied for those who stay in Vietnam more than their visa validity (normally they are monetary fine, restriction on entry and exit to Vietnam and execution).
• Foreigner must leave the country in a limited period of time due to an exit visa stipulated in your passport (applied for overstaying for many days or more than 1 month), normally you have about 15 days for an exit visa.
• The visa extension term and length of stay are limited than others.
• Overstaying (if it is recorded in the immigration system) is a bad credit for foreigners when they attempt to obtain the new visa or extend their visa. The effects include shorter remain period granted, extra requirements for the future visa application and extension, longer procedure and proceeding time.

2/ What Should You Do In Case Your Visa Is Expired And Overstayed In Vietnam?

Depend on how long you were overstayed, there are many situations you may take care of:

• You overstay for less than 1 week: The Immigration Department still allow you to apply for visa extension and continue to stay for another period of time.
• You overstay for over one-week period: you can only apply to the Immigration Department to issue an exit visa (normally valid for 15 days) and ask you to depart as soon as possible.
• You overstay for a long time which is condemned by the Immigration Department that is a serious offense: you can only apply to an exit visa must leave the country in term of the exit visa and not allow to enter Vietnam with the period of specific time decided by VN Immigration Department.
• For cases of overstaying due to Covid 19 or some specific reasons, you still can apply for a visa extension if you overstay less than 3 months. However, it’s not recommended to overstay too long. The more overstayed you are, the more difficult you have to face when processing visa extension or exit document.

Regardless of whether you stay or leave Vietnam, you must pay fine for your overstaying. It is worth paying attention that you have to pay two types of fees in case you overstay with your expired visa. The first one is the fine for overstaying and the second one, depending on your need, extension fee (for those want to continue their stay in Vietnam) or exit fee (for those want to leave Vietnam or are forced to leave Vietnam by the authority).

If you overstay in Vietnam because your passport is lost, the first thing to do is contact your embassy/consulate to obtain new passport/travel permit/diplomatic note and the local police of your temporary domicile to fill out a passport lost report. Then, you can follow the same proceedings as for other overstaying foreigners in the Immigration Department.

Please also note that the Immigration Department must trace back your legal activities during the time period so the longer you overstay the longer and more complicated procedure to follow. Therefore, it is best to avoid this situation and extend or renew your visa when appropriate.

3/ Procedures To Apply A Visa Extension Or Exit Visa When Your Vietnam Visa Is Expired And Overstayed

Your Vietnam visa is expired and overstayed for many reasons, accidentally or intentionally such as loss of passport, Covid 19 pandemic, forget to extend the visa or forget to leave the country before visa expiration date. Yet, the most important things now, you are not allowed to leave the country without paying the overstaying fee and applying for a new visa extension or an exit visa stamp. So, come to the Vietnam Immigration department or find a trusted visa agent to handle your expired visa and overstaying issue as soon as possible. The longer you overstay, the more complicated the procedure will be as the Immigration Department will need to track your legal activity record during this overstay period. Please remember that overstaying is a serious offense and need to avoid all this, pay attention to your visa validity and make sure that it coincides with your date of departure.

4/ Required Documents To Apply Visa Extension Or Exit visa For Expired And Overstayed Visa Cases

a/ For those who submit to the Immigration department, the following documents are required:

• Original passport with validity more than 6 months;
• Your current Vietnam visa & entry immigration stamp;
• Original copy or photo of residential registration certificate confirmed by the local police where you are staying in Vietnam;
• Letter for explanation about why you let your visa expire;
• Application form NA5 for visa extension or exit visa

For people that have been granted a business/ working Visa, beyond these above documents, please provide the following documents:

• Notarized true copy of Vietnam work permit or work permit exemption certificate (for those granted the work permit in Vietnam);
• All the forms for visa extension or visa renewal must be signed and sealed by company’s legal representative;
• Notarized certified copy of legal entity’s documents: enterprise registration certificate, certificate of investment registration certificate or establishment of Representative Office;
• Seal registration certificate and tax code registration certificate (if any).

For people with lost/ stolen passport, please provide the following documents:

• Original copy of confirmation letter from their embassy or consulate in Vietnam;
• Original copy of letter for passport lost report must be certified by the local police station in Vietnam.

b/ For those who do visa extension through the travel agency, only original passport and current visa inside are required.

 5/ How Much Is Fined For Expired And Overstayed Visa Cases In Vietnam?

Paying fine for the overstay period is a must. If you are overstaying for a few days or less than 1 week, the fines will be charged by day, the fine will be definitely applied for all those who stay more than as stipulated in their visa validity in Vietnam. Whoever intentionally commits repeatedly offenses for a long time, without respect for Vietnam laws, the level of punishment may include administrative penalties, limitation of Vietnamese immigration and enforced deportation. The fines of overstaying in Vietnam are based on the number of overstayed days.

Below is the amount you must pay basically but be aware that this is merely the fine paid to the authorities for your overstaying. You are also required to pay extension or exit visa fee to stay or leave Vietnam additionally.  Similarly, application via a third-party agency can be higher in price due to the services and advisory fees.

• In case of overstaying less than 2 days fine: 600,000 VND (25 USD) is a common penalty;
• In case of overstaying up to 7 days fine: 1,250,000 VND (53 USD) is a common penalty;
• In case of overstaying up to 14 days fine: 3,000,000 VND (128 USD) is a common penalty;
• In case of overstaying up to 1 month: 5,000,000 VND (212 USD) is a common penalty;
• In case of overstaying from 1 to 3 months: fines of about 10,000,000 VND (425 USD);
• In case of overstaying one year: the penalty is more than 16,000,000 VND (680 USD) and forced exit, restrictions on entry and exit and prohibited within the specified period.

This information is about problems you may face when your visa is expired and overstayed and how to solve this problem. Of course, there are a lot of cases which this article cannot fully cover. In case you have more questions about your specific case, please send us an email through info@vietnam-evisa.com , we will response right after getting your question.