It has been about a month since I started at my job, and I JUST now finished gathering all of my paperwork for my work visa and gave it to HR. With any luck, I'll be able to get a visa extension so I do not have to hop the border to Cambodia in 2 weeks when my tourist visa runs out.
So, I came here with ZERO paperwork. (How did I manage to kick around the idea of moving to Asia for 2 years and didn't think to bring any paperwork with me? Because I am an irresponsible moron, that's why)
So, learn from my mistakes. If you are coming to Vietnam and you want a work visa, bring:
1. your original diploma from your college/university
2. your police check
3. passport photos
I didn't do this. I'm dumb. Luckily, I was able to wing it. And also, despite how insane some things about Vietnam are, most government buildings aren't that bad. Despite the language barrier, a lot of things mostly make sense. Mostly.
Here are all the documents I needed to get my work visa and how I got them:
1. My diploma from Temple University. I had to contact my school and have them send it expedited (expensive). It took 3 weeks. Then I had to take my diploma to the American Consulate where they notarized it for me for $50. THEN I had to take the notarized form to the ERO (I have no idea what that stands for, maybe external residence office?) and they took it, made me pay another 60,000 VND. They kept it for 24 hours to translate it and give me a big red stamp. I had to pick it up the next day.
2. My American Police Check. So apparently, I could have gotten around this, but I was nervous. I went to the IOM (Immigration Office) and they fingerprinted me. Then, I found an FBI channeling service that promised to expedite my background check request called "National Background Check." I paid them a buttload of money, and sent my fingerprints to them. They sent my background check to my mom in the US. She sent the fingerprints to me. Then I had to get that notarized the same way as the diploma. Ick.
3. My Vietnamese Police Check. UGH. This one. This one sucked. No one spoke English, anywhere. No one wanted to help me. I was extremely confused. After several false starts and much annoyance, this is what happened: I had to get my landlord take my passport to the local police station and have them sign some paper stating that I live in my apartment. My lease wasn't good enough, apparently, and neither was the "house book" that every house in Vietnam apparently must keep. Then I had to take that paper to the Department of Justice attached to another paper, ALL in Vietnamese with zero translation. (They, of course, lost this paper once. I had to go do it again). Then they gave me a receipt and told me to come back and pick up the results in 3 weeks.
4. Health Check. I did this at a Vietnamese hospital. It was confusing. I think that not speaking Vietnamese worked in my favor; I witnessed hundreds of people waiting in various lines, I cut them ALL.
5. A certified copy of my passport (and visa). I had to go to the People's Committee Office in District 1 and see a notary. This was fine. No one spoke English, but they didn't need to, the place ran like clockwork.
6. 6 Passport Photos: I had to go to a photo center. This was also fine. And cheap. And my photos came out really good, I wish I'd bought extras.
7.My Celta Certificate. It took Apollo about 5 weeks to get the actual certificate to me. I picked it up and had it notarized at the same time I did my diploma and American Police Check.
No comments:
Post a Comment