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What should I do if I'm told to wait until my Vietnam tourist visa expires before reapplying?

Vietnam VisaTourist VisaApplication ProcessVisa ExpirationVisa TypesBorder CrossingVisa Fees
Mar 18, 2025
16 days ago
Anonymous *************
ORIGINAL POSTER
DTV ISSUE: I am in Da Nang, they have said I still have a valid tourist visa, so I must wait until this expires and re-submit application. I have another month until it expires, has anyone had this response? Do I have to leave and come back to Vietnam in a month? re-upload all documents? pay again? Thanks!

Email reads "You still has valid TR visa. Please wait under the visa is expired and resend this application again"
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The user is currently in Da Nang and has been told that they must wait for their valid tourist visa (TR) to expire before reapplying for another visa (DTV). They are seeking advice on whether they need to leave Vietnam and return, re-upload their documents, and pay the application fee again. Comments from the community suggest that the user should wait until their current visa expires, as they cannot hold two visas simultaneously. Additionally, some users discuss experiences with similar situations, explaining that others have successfully navigated visa processes by exiting and re-entering Vietnam with multi-entry visas.
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Todd *********
You lost the 10k baht application fee. You will need to re-apply and pay again.

You cannot cancel your METV and you cannot hold two visas. You will need to ride out the METV until it’s over, then you can reapply for DTV
16 days ago
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Oliver *********
Is there a Thai Embassy in danang
16 days ago
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Todd *********
@Oliver ********
 no
16 days ago
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Adam *****
@Oliver ********
 all evisa anyway, application would be sent to the embassy in HCMC
16 days ago
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Oliver *********
@Adam ****
 is it possible for me to get a evisa from Danang or I gotta go to the embassy?
16 days ago
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Adam *****
@Oliver ********
 yes you can apply from Da Nang
15 days ago
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Adam *****
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Zack ***
In Thailand embassy Yangon you have to make the payment physically by taking an appointment. At the time of payment I shared my concern of having a valid METV with them and they said I can cancel the METV if I do get DTV. Thats exactly what happened.
16 days ago
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Zack ***
Greg Bewick yep. I just crossed immigration no questions asked at all at Suvarnabhumi.
16 days ago
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Zack ***
@Greg *******
I never claimed they all do the same. Just sharing my experience.
16 days ago
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Greg ********
@Zack **
 Maybe she should jump on a flight to Yangon then:-)
16 days ago
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Greg ********
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Greg ********
@Zack **
 Not all embassies apply or interpret the guidelines and rules the same. There are different local interpretations and discretion in processing.
16 days ago
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Greg ********
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Dany ********
just use your tourist visa and apply for DTV later. 90 more days ;)
16 days ago
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John **********
It looks like you have a multi entry tourist visa so you have no option but wait until it reaches its valid until date. If you had a single entry tourist visa you could just enter Thailand on it and leave again then it's no longer valid, but yours allows you to come and go as much as you want for 6 months. You can't cancel a visa but you can continue to use this visa until it expires. You also can't hold 2 visas at the same time
16 days ago
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James ********
@John *********
 Correct ✅
16 days ago
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Anonymous *************
ORIGINAL POSTER
Thank you, would you imagine that if I re-enter Thailand this week they will give me 30 days of visa (my TR visa says it expires 12th April, but if they gave me 30 days I'd be able to stay until 18th April if I left tomorrow? I am wanting to stay in Thailand for Songkran, leaving on the 12th would be a shame, just seeing what my options are. Specific question I know, no worries if you don't have information. Thanks again!
16 days ago
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John *******
Anonymous participant even if you entered on April 12th, they would give you 60 days stamp. The dates on the visa are the dates for when you can use it to enter Thailand, the stamp you get at the airport from immigration states the number of days you are allowed to stay.
16 days ago
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George *************
Anonymous participant don't confuse visa validity and permission to stay. You can use your visa while it is still valid, once it expires it cannot be used. If you use your visa you will always get the same permission to stay entitled by that visa. Your permission to stay based on a visa does not disappear when your visa expires. Once you have been stamped with a permission to stay until date, it doesn't go away just because the visa expires.

When you are outside thailand visa validity is important as it determines whether you can enter Thailand.

When you are inside Thailand, only the permission to stay you get stamped in with is important.
16 days ago
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James ********
Anonymous participant each entry gets you a 60 days stamp on arrival into Thailand. plus that can be extended to get 30 added days at your local Thai Immigration office for 1900 Thai baht.
16 days ago
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James ********
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Greg ********
Not seen this happen before but if that is what they are saying you will have to wait until the METV is expired. Have a nice holiday - lots to do in Vietnam for a month and you will 45 days Visa Exempt.
16 days ago
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Anonymous *************
ORIGINAL POSTER
Yeah I was not expecting it to be an issue, I don't know anyone who left on the day their visa expired, everyone I know who got their DTV still had time valid on theirs... I plan to return to Thailand, and then back to Vietnam mid April then I guess
16 days ago
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Greg ********
Anonymous participant Be aware there is a big holiday end of April in Vietnam It starts 30th April - 50th Anniversary of Reunification (North and South after fall of Saigon) and then May 1st - they are rolling it into a big holiday.
16 days ago
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Greg ********
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Adam *****
Is it SETV or METV? If SETV, border bounce to Thailand deactivate it (but then you'll have to apply for a new Vietnam visa)
16 days ago
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Anonymous *************
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Adam ****
 I don't think it is either? It just says it is a TR tourist visa for Thailand, valid for 6 months, expires mid April, multiple entries. I have done extensions and border runs (all within the necessary time it has said)
16 days ago
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Dany ********
Anonymer Teilnehmer thats a METV then. multi entry tourist visa.
16 days ago
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James ********
Anonymous participant that's the problem.
16 days ago
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Adam *****
Anonymous participant so that's a METV, maybe wait until that expires before applying for DTV.
16 days ago
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James ********
@Adam ****
 Yep 👍 that's the problem. It's been reported before as a reason to deny the issue of the DTV visa. As the applicant already has a valid METV multiple entry tourist visa.
16 days ago
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James ********
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Gianmaria ********
How did they know you had a TR visa?
16 days ago
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Winston ************
@Gianmaria *******
 the eVisa system shows all previous and active/current visas. I guess some of you who never needed a visa to enter Thailand don't know. I'm not from a visa exempt country so I know this.
16 days ago
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Anonymous *************
ORIGINAL POSTER
I applied for TR visa from the UK online, so there is an online record of this
16 days ago
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Anonymous *************
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Gianmaria *******
 I guess it was on my record
16 days ago
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Anonymous *************
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Andr *****
No thats unusual. I left after 4 weeks on my tourist visa and reentered after 4 days and showed them the DTV and all was good.
16 days ago
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John *******
@Andr ****
 - what type of tourist visa did you have? Was it multi-entry? If no, it is effectively canceled when you left the country.
16 days ago
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Anonymous *************
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Andr ****
 When you applied for your DTV, where did you apply, and did you still have time valid on your tourist visa while you were out of the country?
16 days ago
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Anonymous *************
ORIGINAL POSTER
Multiple entry
16 days ago
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Andr *****
No I did applye at the embassy of my home country. And yes I still had time left on my tourist visa. But I don't get the problem. Appeantly you left thailand so it shouldn't be a big deal to issue you the DTV and activate it when you arrive
16 days ago
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Greg ********
@Andr ****
 Was your visa a single entry or multiple entry? If a single entry it would be automatically cancelled when you left even with time left on it. With a multiple it runs a full 6 months and would still be "Live" such as is the case with this poster.
16 days ago
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Andr *****
@Greg *******
 I arrived with a tourist visa. Reentered with my 5year multiple entry DTV no problems at all
16 days ago
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Andr *****
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Anonymous *************
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Andr ****
 Did you apply via Ho Chi Minh?
16 days ago
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James ********
Anonymous participant you have the METV multiple entry tourist visa in your passport. That's why you cannot get a new Thai Visa until what you now have has expired.
16 days ago
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Wayne *******
@James *******
 so if it was a single entry with like 20 days (example) left on it, the single entry would now be void?
16 days ago
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James ********
@Wayne ******
 the METV multiple entry tourist visa is valid for entry into Thailand for 6 months from its date of issue... 🚫 NOT from the date you first enter Thailand.
16 days ago
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James ********
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