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Parrothead

A buddy who lives in Battambang Province, finally realizes he needs to change his Cambodian visa from a Tourist, to an Ordinary (work visa). He originally flew in to Cambodia from the US, securing his Tourist Visa upon entry. He extended it, later having to go out and return to start it again. He's done this twice now, going against what I advised him to do early on. That was, rather than renewing his Tourist Visa every third month, he should have submitted, upon his return from Thailand,  a request for a Business / Ordinary visa. 

 

Having been here six months now, he got rejected from entering Thailand (at the Pailin border crossing), this time. They told him he can not return until next year - as in 2019, next year. (This goes back to the Almighty Thailand creating that senseless limit of "2 visa-free border crossings per year" mess, back in 2016.)

 

Either way, the long and short of it is, this is his fault. He should have taken my advice early on. Afterward, although he didn't take my advice, he still has experienced at least two crossings into Thailand, where he could have sorted it out properly. He, like so many others, simply did not do his research, over and above not listening / taking valuable advice that could have saved him a fair amount of money. 

 

But, even after all of that, I still felt obligated to help him. After being notified that Thailand rejected his border crossing this time, I sorted out that he had two options to choose from:

 

  1. He could still fly directly into Thailand in order to do his border run.
  2. He could visit the nearest Vietnamese Embassy / Consulate to secure a visa to go into Vietnam for his border run.

 

Flying into Thailand wasn't an option, due to him being a bit light in the wallet, while waiting for his retirement money at the end of this month. So, option number two was going to be the go to plan. 

 

I wanted to confirm that an American citizen did, in fact, have to secure a visa prior to crossing the border into Vietnam. Confirmed.

 

I then happened to notice there was, correction - is, a Vietnamese Consulate right here in Battambang. This is something I did not previously know, although I have passed that very building countless times, over my years here. Go figure. I am oblivious to some buildings in the city. Fortunately, Chan was awake at midnight, when all of this was going on. She informed me of the specific location of the Vietnamese Consulate, making my research just a wee bit easier.

 

Here is a map showing the location of the Vietnamese Embassy / Consulate, for anyone visiting Battambang that may wish to secure a visa:

vietnamese_embassy.png

 

Anyway, he secured his visa yesterday, and will head to the Cambodia-Vietnam border in a few days. Hopefully, he will have a one month EB visa in his passport, upon returning to Battambang.

 

Oh, the one-month visa he secured, is a multiple-entry visa. So, he can come and go as often as he wishes, during the validity of the visa. The Vietnamese have their stuff together, it seems.

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John_Galt

I never new Vietnam had a consulate in Battambang. Useful information in case I ever need it. 


I know nothing about it but couldn't Laos have been another option? 

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Parrothead
1 hour ago, John_Galt said:

I know nothing about it but couldn't Laos have been another option?

 

I suppose so, John. However, the only Laotian Embassy / Consulate in Cambodia, is located in Phnom Penh. What I was in hopes of, was that he would be issued a visa to Vietnam the same day, so he could have traveled to the border that same day. However, that did not happen. 

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John_Galt
20 minutes ago, Parrothead said:

 

I suppose so, John. However, the only Laotian Embassy / Consulate in Cambodia, is located in Phnom Penh. What I was in hopes of, was that he would be issued a visa to Vietnam the same day, so he could have traveled to the border that same day. However, that did not happen. 

 

I actually thought Americans can go to Laos without getting a Visa beforehand. 

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andy

How will a EB visa help him if he is not working? Can he apply for a ER visa.

I did not know Americans had to get a visa for Vietnam. Many Brits and Europeans get free entry for around 15 days. Although I think I posted somewhere that American visa to nam is the cheapest followed by the Europeans and the Chinese being the most expensive.  

 

 

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Parrothead
1 hour ago, John_Galt said:

I actually thought Americans can go to Laos without getting a Visa beforehand. 

 

No idea. Vietnam was the first thing to come to mind, though.

 

1 hour ago, andy said:

How will a EB visa help him if he is not working? Can he apply for a ER visa.

 

To my knowledge, you cannot secure an ER from a border run. Or, can you? 

 

 

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Parrothead
21 hours ago, andy said:

I did not know Americans had to get a visa for Vietnam.

 

It's been my understanding that, since I first arrived in Cambodia, Americans must purchase a visa before making a border crossing into Vietnam.

 

 

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andy

EB to ER I understand. But I think not from a Tourist visa.

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Parrothead
1 hour ago, andy said:

EB to ER I understand. But I think not from a Tourist visa.

 

Exactly. He had, in fact, purchased a bus ticket to Phnom Penh, thinking he could do that. That is, he thought he could have his Tourist Visa, directly converted to an ER - Retirement Visa. We stopped him from taking the bus and costing him even more money.

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