the landlord gave me the utility bills and I will try not to bother him again - just hoping the embassy will accept them but I'm guessing they won't - any thoughts on Cambodia vs Laos? (they were both very easy and quick from my experience but that was going back more than 5 years)

@Hakim ***********

That's an interesting idea - not sure if it's an option.

@Jeremy *******

Again, after they told me they can't accept the document that they accepted the previous day, my first reaction was to ask for my passport back with the plan that I would just fly to Cambodia / Laos / Malaysia (I just came from Japan and it seemed difficult to do visas there, Canada is a bit far) but then the embassy staff talked me out of it by explaining that the house registration document is a few pages and the landlord must have just accidentally copied the wrong page. Hence, I left my passport with her and I'm now trapped in Hanoi until Monday at least.

that's interesting - I thought I read somewhere official that there was a limit of 3 times within 6 rolling months

@Jeremy *******

Great minds think alike - I tried that yesterday but they told me because I've shown my rent contract, that pathway is now the only option

@Andy *********

good advice - unfortunately, I've done 3 of those already this year and the embassy staff reckon I wouldn't get away with another one (by air nor land)

@Brandon ***********

this is proving to be very true for me

A similar thing happened to me at a shopping mall car park recently - I tried explaining to the cashier that it's my car but she still charged me - maybe a language barrier issue.

@Nigel ********

thanks

Buying a house here is generally more like buying a boat in a Western country - it will most likely depreciate in value over time because it isn't built to last and/or because the community in which it's located will become ghost town after a new one opens down the road with a bigger pool (as well as the risks related to the legal system in a developing country where corruption is widespread and coups happen every decade or so).

You better buy property in a Western country with a stable economy and robust legal system, rent it out, and use the rental income to rent a home here - then every few years, you can move into the new home with new furniture and new electronics in a community with new facilities (including a bigger pool) and not need to worry about whether the next military coup will come with a government who decides to have your house.