Located in the northeast part of Ho Chi Minh City, the Thu Duc District is famous for being a university town. It is home to some of Vietnam’s top universities, so it’s not surprising to find a crowd of university students in the area. The Thu Duc District connects Ho Chi Minh City with Dong Nai and Binh Duong, which are two of the most important economies in South Vietnam. Because of this, Thu Duc has seen a series of large-scale infrastructure projects in recent years and has been a favorite area to live for many foreign visitors.
If you are a foreigner based in Thu Duc and you need to extend your visa since it’s due to expire soon, you can apply for a visa extension from the Vietnam Immigration Office in Ho Chi Minh City. It’s located in Nguyen Trai Street in District 1.
https://www.vietnamimmigration.org/ho-chi-minh-city-immigration-office/
What is Visa Extension?
Before you go to the Vietnam Immigration Office in Ho Chi Minh to apply for a visa extension, it’s important that you understand what does the visa extension means. When you apply for a visa extension, you will be given a new duration for your stay in Vietnam. So if you are holding a visa that is due to expire this week, you can have it extended for one more month, allowing you to stay in Vietnam for a longer time.
Please note that in order for the new duration to apply, you must first exit the country before your first visa expires. So if you are planning to exit Vietnam but would like to go back to the country using the same visa, you can apply for a visa extension.
You will not be issued a new visa with the visa extension. Instead, you will use the same visa but the validity of that visa will be extended. Thus, the cost of a visa extension is cheaper than a visa renewal. With a visa renewal, you will be given a new visa, which is why it costs more.
Requirements to Apply for a Vietnamese Visa Extension
To apply for a visa extension, you must meet certain requirements, as required by the Vietnam Immigration Department.
- First of all, you can only extend your visa for the same duration as that of your existing visa. So if you are holding a one-month visa, you can only extend it to one more month. But if you have a three-month visa, you can extend it for up to three months.
- Next, your passport should be valid for at least six months from the date you applied for a visa extension. Your passport should have extra blank pages for your visa stamp to be attached.
- You must fill out the visa extension application form. The form is known as the NA5 form or the Vietnam Immigration Form For Visa Extension. This can be downloaded from the website of Vietnam Immigration. You can print the form and fill it out ahead of time. If it’s not possible for you to print the form, you can go directly to the Vietnam Immigration Office of Ho Chi Minh City and they will provide the form for you to fill out. Form NA5 for visa extension
- You also need to submit a copy of your existing visa. The visa must be submitted together with your passport.
Aside from the requirements above, the Vietnam Immigration Office might require you to submit additional requirements before they can process your visa extension. You can call them in advance to find out if you need to submit additional requirements.
How to Apply for a Visa Extension in Thu Duc City
Once you have all the requirements ready, you can go to the Vietnam Immigration Office and apply for the visa extension. Here’s how:
- Go to the Vietnam Immigration Office and fill out the NA5 form if you have not filled it out yet. Make sure you fill it out completely and provide your complete address in Thu Duc City.
- After you fill out the form, submit it to the staff along with your passport and other requirements. They will check the form and the other requirements. If everything is all set, they will ask you to pay the processing fee. The cost will depend on how long you have requested for your visa to be extended.
- It will take around a week or more to process the visa extension. If you need the process to be rushed, you can request this but you will be charged more.
- Once your visa extension is approved, they will call you to collect your passport from the Vietnam Immigration Office. If it’s approved, you will find a stamp in the passport indicating the new validity of your visa.
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