Vinh Long Province lies in the Mekong Delta Region of Vietnam. Its capital, Vinh Long City, used to be a sleepy town that has now become a popular eco-tourist destination. Tourists visiting Ho Chi Minh would come to Vinh Long for a day tour of the city. The Mekong Boat Tour is a popular activity for tourists. This tour will take visitors to explore the floating markets at Cai Be and An Binh Island.
Since the number of foreign visitors that would come to Vinh Long has increased over the years, Vietnam Immigration has established an office in this province. The Vietnam Immigration Office in Vinh Long is responsible for overseeing the immigration status of foreigners in the area. They can also assist those who wanted to extend or renew their visa, allowing them to stay longer in Vietnam.
When requesting a visa extension in Vinh Long, the first thing you need to do is to fill out the application form. The NA5 form is the application form for visa extension in Vietnam. This form can be downloaded online from the website of Vietnam Immigration. But you can also get this form from the Vietnam Immigration Office in Vinh Long. Fill out the form completely and submit this together with the other requirements such as your passport and visa copy.
When you submit the requirements, the staff will check the application form. If there are any additional requirements that they need from you, they will ask for them before they can start to process your visa extension request. They will also collect the processing fees, and you can pay this in cash. The cost would vary, depending on how long you have requested for your visa to be extended. To be sure, it is best to call the Vietnam Immigration Office in Vinh Long to find out the cost.
The processing time for visa extension will take around 3 to 5 business days. Once your request has already been approved, the Vietnam Immigration Office in Vinh Long will call you about this. You need to exit Vietnam before your first visa will expire. When you re-enter, they will immediately stamp your passport for re-entry since your visa’s validity has already been extended.
If the visa extension will not apply in your situation, the Vietnam Immigration Office will ask you to apply for the visa renewal instead. The visa renewal can also be applied from the Vietnam Immigration Office in Vinh Long. What’s great about this option is that you will be given a new visa. With this visa, you would be able to stay longer in the country, depending on the visa’s validity. The visa will be attached to the pages of your passport, so your passport must have extra blank pages when you apply for a visa renewal. Your passport should also be valid for at least six months from the visa renewal date.
To apply for the visa renewal, just go to the Vietnam Immigration Office and fill out the form for your request. Then submit your passport and some other requirements. The staff will check your application and will then collect the processing fees. Since you will be issued a new visa, the processing fee for a visa renewal is usually more expensive. But since you don’t need to exit the country anymore, this option is still cheaper and more convenient compared to the visa extension.
Once your visa renewal request is approved, you can claim your passport from the Vietnam Immigration Office in Vinh Long. When you check your passport, you will find your new Vietnam visa attached.
When you apply for a Vietnam visa extension, you are requesting Vietnam Immigration to extend the validity of your visa. For instance, if your visa is only good for 30 days, but you needed to stay longer, you can ask them to extend it for 30 days more. But you cannot request for it to be extended for more than 30 days since the visa is only valid for 30 days. And when your request is approved, you are still required to exit Vietnam but you can re-enter using the same visa.
If you do not want to exit the country, you can choose the Vietnam visa renewal. Applying for a visa renewal is like applying for a new visa. Once it’s approved, you will be issued a new Vietnam visa that will let you stay in the country for a longer time. This option is highly recommended if you do not have a visa since you are eligible for visa-free entry in Vietnam.
If you’re still confused about the differences between the visa extension and visa renewal, you can hire a local agency to assist you with extending your stay in the country.
