For a long time now I have been writing about how I don't think that anyone ever gets busted for overstaying their visas in Vietnam. It has always appeared as though if one doesn't want to leave when their visa expires and is prepared to pay the overstay fine that maxes out at $800, they could do so without much trouble.
This has recently taken a turn that I didn't foresee but doesn't yet apply to a great number of people. I still know tons of people that are simply here without visas and have faced no issues other than the fact that they cannot leave.
The latest round of "busts" have been happening to people that actually did have visas but they were acquired under false pretenses.
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A couple of people that I know and a few other people that I do not know but know people who know them, have been approached by Immigration officials about their "investment visas." This visa is a scam of sorts that people have been using for years in Vietnam and if you actually are investing in something it is totally legitimate. The problem is that certain agencies used this as an opportunity to make money off of people and they way it worked was like this
- The agency would set up a bank account that is meant to be yours or the company's and then deposit the requisite amount of money that is required to apply for an investment visa. This money is meant to be used to develop a company or business of some sort and if legitimate, it comes along with a long-term visa
- The agency holds your passport as collateral in order to make sure that you aren't just going to run off with the money but I have also heard that they have connections in the banks so that if your idea was to steal the money that they would be able to take the money back anyway.
- Once the papers are approved by the government and you have the necessary documents that "prove" that you invested in an existing Vietnamese company you get a long-term visa
- Then the agency takes the supposed investment money back out of the account but you still have your paperwork "proving" that you did invest in said company
The major problem with this wasn't that it is circumventing the system so much as it is that too many people were doing it. The government here isn't terribly good at auditing and for the most part they leave small businesses alone and just take your word on your tax documents. Only recently did a big purge begin once it was discovered that there was a nationwide (or so it appears) network of visa agencies that were intentionally defrauding the government. There is no doubt in my mind that the Immigration officials themselves were in on this and cashing in on it as well but leadership changes and with new leadership, new officials take over the positions and perhaps they were trying to make a name for themselves by investigating the very large amount of "investors" that just happened to be investing the minimal amount of money that is required in order to obtain this visa.
The people holding these visas are being punished by being deported. The real trouble is for the agents themselves, some of which have gone into hiding and have completely disappeared from the scene.
I think that it is probably not a great idea to attempt to get a scammy visa from an agent that you know you are not qualified for in an effort to falsify your legitimacy in a particular country is concerned. I still stand by my original opinion that it is probably a better idea to just overstay your visa and then pay the fine afterwards. It remains to be seen if by doing this you end up being banned from re-entering the country, but I do know a lot of people that have overstayed, paid a bribe to someone higher up, and then were immediately allowed back into the country.
I really feel like agents in this country are actually quite dangerous, especially if they claim to have some sort of shortcut that circumvents the law. If you don't actually have the.... I think it is $11,000 to invest into something, than the investment visa is not the right one to use. If you DO have that sort of cash, a company doesn't necessarily have to spend you money, it just needs to be provable on a balance sheet that the money actually exists and it did in fact come from YOU.
Stay away from visa agents is the lesson here. In the 5 years that I have lived here I have seen a lot of them come and go and I think that this adds some credence to my suspicion that they were all breaking the law in the first place. Not obeying a rule and claiming ignorance, such as simply overstaying a visa, is regarded as something that can just be ignored if you pay the fine. Intentionally lying to the government and falsifying documents is another matter entirely.