Coming to Vietnam to live

Hi All!
I'm planning to come and live to Vietnam. At the moment I'm not sure if to Hanoi or HCMC or abywhere else!
My job skills are about trading, so I want to find a job in this field or start my own business up!
Can anyone help me or give me some advices about living in Vietnam?
Hope receiving any feedback soon!!!
TKS!!!

If you are not getting any answers it might have something to do with the fact that your question is about as vague as can be"

Quote

Advice about what? Expenses? Where to live? Food? Work?

Try and be a little more specific and you may receive answers.

Hi Hanno
My question are about:
- Expenses: How much does it need for living in Vietnam
- Job market: could a foreigner find a job?
- Visa: i know that at maximum it's possible to obtain a Visa for 6 months. Is it possible to extend this period?
At the moment these are my main questions.
Tks for your help!

I have seen on the visa apply a 1 year visa to Vietnam. where you from then goto the embassy wedsite there and download the visa apply and you may have to call them to find out what a one year visa will cost as well as multa entry visa. Good luck with you vinture

Hi KKB,

Living expenses: still a bit vague as it depends where and how you live. Rents go from USD 5,000.00 for some Expat villas to a couple of hundred Dollars on the local economy. Overall, Vietnam is fairly cheap, but there are also a lot of up-scale restaurants, Gucci shops, and 5-star hotels to leave your money in.

Job market: Sure, foreigners can find jobs, not so sure about your business though. Many jobs are NOT advertised and you will have to do a lot of net-working.

Visa: Depends what an employer can get you. I have a residence card (which doubles as a visa) which is valid for 2 years.

To give you an idea;

I got a rather nice place on District 4 (close enough to the office in District 1) for $1000 - I nearly went to a place half the size in district 7 which seems to be the expat hub. Day to day wise, i've seemed to have settled down on 200,000VND a day - thats travel to work and back (i'll never ride a bike on these roads) a good meal and ample beer supplies. You could skim that a bit by getting your own bike, eating noodles, and not drinking like a fish as i do.

Get a job/contract before you come here - otherwise you could spend a lot of time (and money) networking.

Hi All!!!
Tks for your answer!!!!
I've planned to spent about 700/800 USD per month, during the period I'll search for a job.
I'm trying to find a job by here, but I think it's easier when one is on the place.
Can anyone help me???
TKS
Kyung

Hi All!

I've decided to come to Vietnam in September!!

I need just to settle something and I'll be ready!!!

See you!!

You seem to have a very vague plan. You want to work in "trading"?? Can you speak any Vietnamese??? I"d advise you work more on your business plan. Most asian countries you won't be able to start this kind of business without a native partner in the business.. If Vietnam is anything like China. . then most obvious trade possibilities have already been fully set up and exploited.

Hi!
I don't think my plan is so vague!
I've worked for different wholesalers/retailers here in Italy and I have an idea about the products that could have a market here. These companies don't have any contact with Vietnamese market. They work mainly with chinese one. I think Vietnam would be the new market where to buy from.
I've already contacted different Vietnamese suppliers and also they haven't any contact with Italian companies.
In my opinion, it'll be possible to cooperate with both Italian/Vietnamese companies.
For sure, till I'll leave to Vietnam, I need to to many research!!
Anyway, tks for your advice!

hi,
welcome to vietnam,
i'm a vietnamese . i have just graduated from a university in viet nam. with salary about 300usd/month. i live well. but as a foreigner live in vietnam, the fee is heigher, about 500usd/month. live in vietnam is easy and interesting. so if you go to vietnam, you can contact with me, i can help you find nice apartment and job. and you can help me back by help me practice english. it's fair.
my email contact is {snip}

This post has been edited by Mandrunk: 19 June 2009 - 11:15 AM
Reason for edit:: No email addresses. Use forum messenger to contact

Thanks, jumper, and welcome to OE.

I think it's great when people are willing to help out other people like that - especially in other parts of the world.

jumper, on 18 June 2009 - 10:14 PM, said:

Do you mean that foreigners can earn about USD$500 per month? I don't think that sufficent man... Im also going to find opportunities in Vietnam. I need at least a few grand to survive & remit money home...

hanno, on 15 February 2009 - 07:29 PM, said:

hi hanno!
u seem 2 b quite nowlegable in veitnam expenses, my girl freind and i wanted 2 go and live in thailand 4 a year but there is political unrest there right now so we agreed on vietnam.she is a teacher and is hopin 2 find a job teachin english and im hopin 2 find a job doin whatever comes my way.
so is it hard 2 find work?i hear teachin english is a pretty easy job 2 find, but 4 my self maybe as a labourer or bartending/service industry?
also we r tryin 2 figure out r monthly costs rent bills ect. i c u can get a place from like 200-800usd\month?but we r not sure where 2 live ??i want 2 b close 2 the ocean but we need 2 b somewhere where there is work can u suggest anywhere that is nice and the rent is not super crazy??we like 2 live pretty cheeply so like lots of noodle and such so wonderin if u could give a break down on monthly costs in usd?like would u buy a moped or ride a bicycle??is there surfin there and how much would it b 2 buy a board there??what is the best time of year 2go??we were plannin on oct-nov?what is the cost of electricity,gas,cable/internet per month??we were thinkin about 500 usd each per month?is that reasonable??

jumper, on 18 June 2009 - 08:14 AM, said:

hi
me and and my girlfreind r thinkin of movin there 4 a year, and she is a teacher so we could def do a trade??
we r lookin 2 try and find r monthly expensise 2 live there 4 a year??like how much would u need 4 ur rent,bills(gas,electricity,ect.)in usd 4 each moth,would u buy a moped or ride a bicycle?is there surfin there??how much would it b 2 get a board?is there work there?ill will do whatever comes my way.. i do have some service industry skills like bartending,im currently a electrician here in canada but i dont think ill b able 2 find that kind of work there.my girl is a teacher here so she is quite confident that she could find a job teachin english.we were thinkin about 500$$usd each per month?we have quite a bit of money saved up but we dont want 2 spend it all but it will b nice incase something goes wrong??any information u have would b greatly appreciated!!
thanx

I also have the same question concerning the job market. I am currently considering moving to Hanoi. What concerns me most is the job. I am native Chinese,female 24 years old, currently living in Shanghai. I work for a German company here as a GM assistant. I speak English and Gemman but no Vietnamese. Can people like me easily find a job in Vietnam? How about the pay? I get a 1500USD monthly salary ( after tax) here. Can I get the same pay if I work for a job in Vietnam?

Thank you for your help!

I think it's not too difficult to foreigners who want to find a job in Vietnam. You guys can search your interested vacancy in one of most popular job network here: {Snip}
in the section Expat. Up to the position , your work experience and knowledge, you can earn from 1500USD+/month. Good luck

This post has been edited by Mandrunk: 28 August 2009 - 06:55 PM
Reason for edit:: Welcome to OE. See forum rules.

Whilst certainly an optimist, do keep in mind that hundreds, if not thousands of expats in Vietnam have lost their jobs in Vietnam this year; do not think that businesses in Vietnam are holding their collective breaths for a foreigner to ask for a job. Many projects have been delayed/put on hold/axed.

Again, networking is what it is all about. hanoianmiss, if the site you are referring to is the one I think it is than very few expat jobs are actually posted on it.

Hi There!
welcome to vietnam,
i'm a vietnamese . i have just graduated from a university in viet nam. with salary about 300usd/month. i live well. but as a foreigner live in vietnam, the fee is heigher, about 500usd/month. live in vietnam is easy and interesting. so if you go to vietnam, you can contact with me, i can help you find nice apartment and job. and you can help me back by help me practice english. it's fair.
my email contact is {snip}

jumper, on 18 June 2009 - 11:14 PM, said:

ninah677, on 08 September 2009 - 10:40 AM, said:

Same identical text but 2 different user-ID.

Something strange...

^^It appears to be an error.