🔄 Last updated: 13 July 2026
9 p.m. A knock at the door.
The local police. A residence check.
You hand over your passport. Your visa is perfectly valid. You have never overstayed by a single day.
But your name isn't in the system.
Because the owner of the apartment you rent never registered your temporary residence.
And here's the cruel part: it's their failure. It's your problem.
You might assume this is a passing inconvenience. It isn't.
Six months from now you'll want to extend your visa. Or apply for a temporary residence card. Or get a criminal record certificate for a work permit.
All three require your residence record.
🔴 NO RESIDENCE RECORD = NO PROOF YOU LIVED ANYWHERE LEGALLY.
You can't show where you were. And no authority issues documents against a blank.
Your landlord saved five minutes. You lost six months of unprovable residence.
📌 PART 1 — WHO has the duty? (Not you.)
Article 33, Law 47/2014/QH13:
The person directly managing or operating the accommodation establishment is responsible for declaring a foreigner's temporary residence to the commune/ward police where the accommodation is located.
"Accommodation establishment" includes:
- 🏨 Hotels, guesthouses, homestays
- 🏢 Rental apartments — including short-term / Airbnb-style lets
- 🏠 Private homes — including when you stay with a friend or partner
- 🏭 Dormitories and workers' housing
⚠️ The most common misconception
Many people assume that staying at a relative's home or in a private apartment means no declaration is needed. But under the current rules, if you hold foreign nationality, your residence information must be entered into the unified national system as soon as your stay begins.
There is no "but it's my friend's place" exemption. There is no "I'm only here three nights" exemption.
⏱️ The deadline: 12 HOURS
The deadline for declaring a foreigner's temporary residence is 12 hours from the moment the foreigner arrives; in remote areas it is 24 hours.
Nha Trang is urban. Your window is 12 hours.
💰 And it's FREE
Under the law, temporary residence registration for foreigners is completely free of charge.
If your landlord charges you a fee "for the residence paperwork" — they are billing you for a free task that the LAW obliges them to perform.
🚫 Agents may NOT do it on their own
The property owner, the accommodation owner, the direct manager, or a person legally authorised by the owner is the one who registers. Brokerage agents are NOT permitted to register a foreigner's temporary residence — unless the owner has legally authorised them.
Which means: if you rented through an agent and they say "don't worry, we handle everything" — ask whether they hold a written authorisation from the owner.
🚨 PART 2 — BREAKING: THE ENTIRE SYSTEM CHANGED ON 21 MAY 2026
This is the part most landlords — and virtually every guide still online — have not caught up with.
From 21 May 2026, the Ministry of Public Security officially unified temporary-residence declaration for foreigners and stay notification for Vietnamese citizens onto ONE shared software system:
- Website:
http://tbltkbtt.bocongan.gov.vn/ - Mobile app:
TBLT KBTT(Android + iOS)
From that date, all accommodation establishments must declare on the new system; they must NOT declare temporary residence on the old websites, and must NOT use the ASM software.
💀 The list of DEAD portals
The new system replaces the Hanoi temporary-residence declaration software (hanoi.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn) and the ASM stay-notification software.
The HCMC Immigration Division: accommodation businesses must stop using hochiminh.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn and the ASM software from 21 May.
The new system completely replaces the provincial websites (e.g. tayninh.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn) and the ASM software.
| Old portal | Status |
|---|---|
hanoi.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn |
💀 Discontinued |
hochiminh.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn |
💀 Discontinued |
[province].xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn (all provinces) |
💀 Discontinued |
| ASM software | 💀 Discontinued |
tbltkbtt.bocongan.gov.vn |
✅ The only current system |
🔐 And it now requires 2FA
Existing accounts still work, but the username must be prefixed with a local code (e.g. Tay Ninh: abc123 → tn_abc123), and users must install Google Authenticator to obtain the two-factor OTP.
🔑 This is the real reason your landlord "forgot"
Not because they're malicious. Because the system just changed, their old login no longer works as-is, and they now have to install a 2FA app.
A great many small apartment owners simply gave up at that step.
And you are the one who pays for it.
⚠️ An important note on rollout: at the time of announcement, the system was being deployed first in a set of provinces and cities — An Giang, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, Phu Tho, Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Ho Chi Minh City, and several wards of Hanoi. Rollout timing varies by locality and is still changing. Accommodation owners in Khanh Hoa should confirm the current procedure directly with their local commune/ward police — don't guess.
🔔 You can't control your landlord. You can control your visa.
Whether your landlord files the declaration is not in your hands.
But your visa expiry date is — and it's the first thing the police will check when they knock.
👉 Turn on free visa expiry reminders with Visa Tracker — free, no account needed.
Don't let one inspection find TWO problems instead of one.
✅ PART 3 — WHAT TO DO, STEP BY STEP
🔹 STEP 1 — Ask your landlord directly, TODAY
Send exactly this (in Vietnamese, so there's no misunderstanding):
"Anh/chị đã khai báo tạm trú cho tôi trên hệ thống
tbltkbtt.bocongan.gov.vnchưa? Cho tôi xin ảnh chụp màn hình xác nhận với ạ."("Have you declared my temporary residence on the
tbltkbtt.bocongan.gov.vnsystem? Please send me a screenshot of the confirmation.")
If they hesitate, change the subject, or say "nobody does that here" — you have your answer.
🔹 STEP 2 — Demand evidence, not a promise
You need something real in your hands:
- A screenshot of the declaration in the system showing your name and passport number, or
- The paper temporary residence declaration form endorsed by the commune/ward police
"I've taken care of it" is not evidence. It's a sentence.
🔹 STEP 3 — If your landlord refuses or won't do it
Three options, in order:
- Ask the landlord to formally authorise someone else (e.g. the building management) to file on their behalf.
- Contact your local commune/ward police directly and ask how to resolve your situation.
- 🔴 Consider moving. That sounds extreme — until your visa extension is refused.
🔹 STEP 4 — If you've been here months with no declaration
Don't discover this on the day you file your extension.
Ask now whether your record exists. A six-month gap found early can still be addressed. A six-month gap found at the counter cannot.
→ The TRC: five conditions and who qualifies
💸 PART 4 — What does the landlord actually face?
Decree 282/2025/NĐ-CP (in force 15 Dec 2025), Article 21 — accommodation failing to declare a foreigner's temporary residence:
| Number of undeclared persons | Fine (individual) |
|---|---|
| 1 – 3 people | VND 3,000,000 – 5,000,000 |
| 4 – 8 people | VND 10,000,000 – 15,000,000 |
| 9 or more | VND 15,000,000 – 20,000,000 |
Organisations: double the above.
⚠️ A WARNING ABOUT OUTDATED INFORMATION
A great many Vietnamese-language articles still cite Decree 167/2013/NĐ-CP for these fines.
Decree 167/2013 IS NO LONGER IN FORCE.
If you — or your landlord — are reading a guide that cites Decree 167/2013, that guide is out of date, and every figure in it is suspect.
⚠️ Common misconceptions
❌ "My visa is valid, so I'm fine." → A VISA AND A RESIDENCE RECORD ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS. The visa gives you the right to be here. The residence declaration records where you are. You need both.
❌ "I'm staying with my partner, so no declaration is needed." → IT STILL IS. The duty falls on whoever manages the accommodation — including a private home.
❌ "I'm only here three nights." → THE DEADLINE IS 12 HOURS, NOT 3 DAYS.
❌ "My landlord says nobody in Nha Trang bothers with this." → A LEGAL DUTY DOESN'T DEPEND ON WHETHER OTHERS COMPLY. And you — not your landlord — are the one who gets blocked at the visa counter.
❌ "I'll just file it online myself." → YOU CAN'T. The declarant must be the accommodation manager or a legally authorised person. You cannot file for yourself.
❌ "My landlord charged me VND 300,000 to do the paperwork." → REGISTRATION IS FREE OF CHARGE. Anything they charge is their own service fee, not a government charge.
❌ "My landlord filed it on khanhhoa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn."
→ THAT PORTAL IS DISCONTINUED. Since 21 May 2026 the only system is tbltkbtt.bocongan.gov.vn. Ask them to confirm again.
❌ "The agent said they'd handle my residence registration." → AGENTS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO FILE unless they hold legal authorisation from the owner. Ask to see it.
Sources
- Law 47/2014/QH13 (amended 2019, 2023) — Article 33: the duty to declare temporary residence rests on the person directly managing or operating the accommodation establishment
- Decree 282/2025/NĐ-CP (in force 15 Dec 2025) — Article 21: penalties on accommodation establishments failing to declare a foreigner's temporary residence (replacing Decree 144/2021 and earlier provisions — Decree 167/2013 is no longer in force)
- Ministry of Public Security announcement, 21 May 2026 — deployment of the unified system for foreigner temporary-residence declaration and Vietnamese citizen stay notification at
tbltkbtt.bocongan.gov.vn; discontinuation of the provincial websites and the ASM software - Ministry of Public Security Portal (
bocongan.gov.vn) · Government e-Newspaper (baochinhphu.vn) · Immigration Divisions, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City Police - Khanh Hoa Provincial Police — guidance on temporary residence declaration procedures for foreigners
- Ministry of Public Security public service portal —
dichvucong.bocongan.gov.vn
Note: This article compiles publicly available information as of the update date and is not legal advice. Rollout of the new system and the exact procedure may differ by locality and is still in transition. Confirm directly with the commune/ward police where you live, or with the Immigration Division of Khanh Hoa Provincial Police.
ViEntry is a technology platform connecting you with independent service operators. ViEntry is not an immigration authority, does not file temporary residence declarations on behalf of accommodation providers, and does not guarantee visa outcomes. Temporary residence registration is FREE and is the accommodation provider's legal duty — nobody is entitled to charge you for it. All other service prices are for reference.
Landlord telling you "it's not needed" and you're unsure? Message us — even if you buy nothing. A six-month hole in your residence record costs far more than one message. Telegram @vientry_support · WhatsApp +84 963 091 001 · Hotline 0963 091 001
