Vietnam is one of the countries that has opened its borders earlier than some others, Vietnam visa procedures are still difficult for foreigners to enter. This difficulty is not only for international tourists but also for experts, businessmen and foreign investors.
Visa procedures are also one of the factors that European businesses in Vietnam believe are making the environment to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) less attractive.
Want to invest but not easy
From March 15, Vietnam officially opened its doors to foreigners, including tourists, experts and foreign managers, to enter in the form of visa exemption, temporary residence card, permanent residence, etc. But according to businesses, so far, applying for a visa to Vietnam is still not easy even though this is a condition to stimulate tourists to come, develop investment and business...
Talking to Tuoi Tre news, Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Na Na, director of Hana Company - an enterprise specializing in providing business license registration services for foreigners, said that in the past time, many foreigners have had difficulty getting visas. to work and invest in business in Vietnam.
Specifically, according to Ms. Na, many Koreans want to enter Vietnam to do business, but encounter difficulties in the stage of "having an investment".
In the past, the regulations on granting investment visas were more open, but now, new regulations are applied after amending the law, so foreigners who want to have an investment visa for up to 1 year must have a capital contribution of less than VND 3 billion and a first visa. For a maximum investment of 3 years, the investment value must be from 3 billion VND or more.
For those who have lived in Vietnam, if they want to extend their visa, they must have a tax report and have a business operation for 3 years. "However, there are people who just opened their business for only 2 years, then closed the business, and it is difficult to apply for a visa or temporary residence card to continue to return to Vietnam," said Ms. Na.
The recent story given by Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan, business director of Vivutravel, at a travel forum also received many shares from many units. Tuan said he did not understand why Vietnam was hesitant to reinstate its visa policies.
"We want to make a visa for a foreign partner to come to a meeting, but we have to go online to register for a number on the Immigration Department from 6 am and then next Thursday to submit the application," Tuan said.
Similarly, the deputy general director of a travel company with a strong visa service segment in Ho Chi Minh City said that a lot of visa applications that this unit makes for business and expert customers are rejected for unknown reasons. due to...
Recently, a Lebanese businessman opened a business in Vietnam with a staff of about 6-7 people, but his visa application still failed.
Due to the need to be present for internal training, the CEO had to take a detour by buying a 7-day package tour into Vietnam, paying a series of hotel costs, entrance tickets, vehicles... with sightseeing tour schedule.
Although he has entered Vietnam to solve his work, this businessman costs more.