🔄 Last updated: 13 July 2026
🛑 STOP
If you've overstayed and you're about to do one of these three things — stop right now:
| ❌ Don't | Why |
|---|---|
| Go to the airport and fly home | You'll be stopped at the exit counter |
| Book a Visa Run / Border Run | You'll be stopped at the border gate. Money gone, days gone — and you're still overstayed |
| Wait a few more days and see | The fine jumps in tiers by day count. Every day you wait is a more expensive day |
Read this before you do anything. It takes six minutes. It can save you weeks.
⚖️ PART 1 — WHY YOU CANNOT SIMPLY LEAVE
This is what almost nobody knows — and it's the whole problem.
Article 27, Law 47/2014/QH13:
A foreigner whose permitted stay has EXPIRED is NOT ELIGIBLE TO EXIT Vietnam.
Read that again.
An overstay doesn't only stop you STAYING. It stops you LEAVING.
What that means in practice
You wheel your suitcase into Cam Ranh airport. You have a ticket. You have a passport.
You hand your passport to the exit officer.
They scan it. The system flags the overstay.
You don't board. You are taken to a different room.
You cannot "just leave Vietnam." Someone has to permit you to leave — and before that, your case has to be resolved.
🚫 PART 2 — A VISA RUN WILL NOT SAVE YOU
We sell Visa Runs. And we are telling you: if you've overstayed, DO NOT BUY ONE.
Why?
A Visa Run works by having you EXIT through a border gate, then RE-ENTER on a new E-Visa.
But step one is EXITING — and you are not eligible to exit.
You'll sit on a bus for 16 hours to Moc Bai, and be stopped right at the counter.
You come back to Nha Trang. You've lost the fare. You've lost two days. And you are STILL overstayed — just two days deeper.
No decent company will sell you a ticket in this situation.
If someone is willing to sell you a Visa Run knowing you've overstayed — that is your cue to walk away.
→ How to spot a visa scam in 10 seconds
🔢 PART 3 — COUNT YOUR OVERSTAY DAYS CORRECTLY
Before anything else, you need an exact number. Don't guess.
How to count:
Your first overstay day = the day AFTER the expiry date on your visa or stamp.
Example: your visa expires 10 July. → On 10 July you are still valid. → 11 July is overstay day one.
Count up to TODAY. Include today.
⚠️ This number matters more than you think
The fine doesn't rise smoothly — it JUMPS IN TIERS.
There are thresholds where one extra day pushes you into a markedly higher band.
Which means: every day you hesitate, you may be sliding into a costlier tier.
📊 The full tier-by-tier fine table under Decree 282/2025/NĐ-CP (in force 15 Dec 2025): 👉 See the detailed overstay fine table
This article doesn't repeat that table. Open it, find your tier, then come back here.
🔔 And if you HAVEN'T overstayed — pause here for one second
If you're reading this out of worry, not because you've actually overstayed:
You can avoid everything below with one 30-second action.
👉 Turn on free visa expiry reminders with Visa Tracker — alerts at 30 / 21 / 15 / 7 days. Free. No account needed.
Almost every overstay we see begins with the same sentence: "I thought I still had time."
✅ PART 4 — SIX STEPS, IN ORDER
🔹 STEP 1 — Go to Immigration yourself
You go to them. Before they find you.
Go to the Immigration Division of the Provincial/Municipal Police where you're living.
Why go yourself: someone who self-reports and someone who is caught are not treated the same. You can't erase the overstay — but you control how it's recorded.
🔹 STEP 2 — Bring everything
- ✅ Original passport
- ✅ Visa (or a screenshot if it's an E-Visa)
- ✅ Proof of where you live — temporary residence slip, rental contract
- ✅ Evidence of why you overstayed, if any: medical records, cancelled-flight confirmation, lost-passport report…
- ✅ Cash to pay the fine
⚠️ No temporary residence slip? That may be a separate problem — and your landlord may be the one at fault. → Residence registration: your landlord forgets, you pay
🔹 STEP 3 — Declare honestly
Give the real number of days. Give the real reason.
Don't invent. Don't minimise. They have your entry data — they already know the number.
If you have a genuine reason (hospitalisation, lost passport, cancelled flight), bring the evidence. Reasons can be considered. But they must be documented.
🔹 STEP 4 — Pay the fine and KEEP THE PAPERWORK
You'll receive an administrative penalty decision.
📄 KEEP IT. PHOTOGRAPH IT. BACK IT UP TO THE CLOUD.
It is the ONLY proof that you resolved this. You'll need it at the exit counter. You may need it applying for a Vietnamese visa years from now.
Lose that document and it's as if you never resolved anything.
🔹 STEP 5 — Ask outright: "What am I now permitted to do?"
Paying the fine does NOT automatically give you the right to stay.
Ask directly, and write down the answers:
- "Am I permitted to remain in Vietnam?"
- "How long do I have to leave the country?"
- "What document do I need in order to exit?"
- "Am I banned from returning? For how long?"
Don't leave without a clear answer to all four.
🔹 STEP 6 — Leave only when you're ALLOWED to
Only once your case is resolved and you hold the document permitting exit do you go to the airport.
Not one day sooner.
⛔ PART 5 — FOUR THINGS YOU MUST NOT DO
❌ 1. Don't believe anyone who offers to "erase the record" or "smooth it over"
It doesn't exist. Your immigration data sits in the Ministry of Public Security's systems.
Anyone claiming they can "delete it" is scamming you — and may be dragging you into an offence far more serious than the overstay itself.
❌ 2. Don't wait
The fine jumps in tiers by day. You're not standing still — you're drifting into a costlier band.
❌ 3. Don't try the border "just to see"
You'll be stopped. And now there's an additional record of you attempting to exit while ineligible.
❌ 4. Don't ignore the deportation question
Deportation does NOT replace the fine. It's an ADDITIONAL penalty.
You can be fined AND deported.
And deportation carries consequences that last for years — it stays in your record.
→ Deportation & entry bans: how long the consequences really last
🤝 PART 6 — WHAT ViEntry CAN AND CANNOT DO
We're being blunt, because you deserve to know before you spend money:
| ❌ ViEntry CANNOT | ✅ ViEntry CAN |
|---|---|
| Sell you a Visa Run while you're overstayed | Tell you exactly why you can't |
| Pay the fine for you | Explain what to bring |
| Represent you before Immigration | Answer your questions free, even if you buy nothing |
| Promise you any outcome | Once you've resolved it — support your new E-Visa application to return |
We are a technology platform. Not an immigration authority. Not a law firm.
For complex cases — long overstays, legal complications, deportation risk — get a Vietnamese lawyer, not a service company.
👉 Free Advisor tool — answer a few questions, see where you stand
⚠️ Common misconceptions
❌ "I'll just pay the fine at the airport and fly out." → NO. Article 27, Law 47/2014: an overstay means you are not eligible to exit. You're stopped before boarding — not waved through with a fine at the gate.
❌ "A Visa Run resets everything." → NO. A Visa Run begins with an EXIT — which you are not eligible to make. You'll be stopped at the border.
❌ "A few days over is nothing." → IT ISN'T NOTHING. There is a specific penalty band even for overstays under 16 days. And it goes on your record.
❌ "Deportation replaces the fine." → NO. Deportation is an ADDITIONAL penalty. You can be fined AND deported.
❌ "Someone says they can erase the overstay flag." → THEY ARE SCAMMING YOU. The data is in the Ministry of Public Security's system. Trusting them can pull you into something far worse.
❌ "I'll wait until I have the money." → EVERY DAY OF WAITING IS A MORE EXPENSIVE DAY. The fine jumps in tiers. Go sooner, stay in a lower band.
❌ "I have a good reason, so I'll be excused." → REASONS CAN BE CONSIDERED — BUT THEY MUST BE DOCUMENTED. "I was ill" isn't enough. A hospital discharge record is.
Sources
- Law 47/2014/QH13 (amended 2019, 2023) — Article 27: a foreigner whose permitted stay has expired is NOT ELIGIBLE TO EXIT · Article 30: forced exit and accompanying measures
- Decree 282/2025/NĐ-CP (in force 15 Dec 2025) — Article 21: administrative penalties for foreigners overstaying their permitted residence; deportation is an ADDITIONAL penalty
- Vietnam Immigration Department — Ministry of Public Security
- Immigration Division, Provincial/Municipal Police where you reside
- 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. Every overstay is assessed on its specific facts: number of days, reason, history, supporting documents. Outcomes cannot be predicted, and nobody can promise you one.
The only body with authority over your case is the Immigration authority. Go there — don't rely on this article, and don't rely on what a service company tells you.
ViEntry is a technology platform connecting you with independent operators. ViEntry is NOT an immigration authority, NOT a law firm, does NOT pay fines on your behalf, and does NOT represent you before the State. We wrote this because every week someone messages us wanting to buy a Visa Run while overstayed — and we have to turn them away. Better you learn it from an article than at the exit counter.
Overstayed and don't know where to start? Message us — even knowing we have nothing to sell you. We'll still answer. Telegram @vientry_support · WhatsApp +84 963 091 001 · Hotline 0963 091 001
