Job Discussion Forums

[lost_gypsy]

This may need to be moved to an appropriate thread...

I have a friend there in Saigon who had three years teaching experience in mainland China. He is now in Vietnam, in Saigon, where, as I recall, has been there in Saigon for about two years.

Anyway, I just received an Email from his best friend in Hong Kong who said that our mutual friend in Saigon got booted from his apartment. When I asked why, here was his reply:

" 'Bob' (name change to protect the innocent!) had a run in with the authorities. It seems his landlord didn't bribe the police, so Bob, not having a residence permit for where he was living, got thrown out of his apartment. But he says he's OK. Apparently he's living in a hotel again. Only USD 75 a month. Still, as we all know, it's not fun to lose your home."

While living in China, I never once did my residency permit with the police, and I can't see that Vietnam would be any less/more strict on it than mainland China. But doing the residency in the mainland was pretty simple--you just go to the local police station of your neighborhood, give them a copy of your passport and perhaps a few passport photos for their file on you, that's it. They just want an official paper stating where you live/work/etc. But I believe most of my friends simply said they were not working, but living la vita loca and living on money from home, etc. so as not to pinpoint an employeer.

Any input on this recent fiasco on my friend's part?

[larryB]

Sounds like a made up excuse in place of some other reason. So-called 'license to rent to foreigners' was dropped around 10 years ago. Maybe more. Tenants are still required to register in their accomodation, and whilst some police stations want money for this, most in my experience do not. In over ten years here, I have never paid to register in a rented place. Until now, where I've been for 18 months that is. THe landlady paid it and wanted me to refund her, but I refused and told her that I would not start paying now, and she accepted that, based on it being about $20 for 6 months.

[sigmoid]

Yeah, my experience with hotels and apartments in HCMC was quite similar. Landlord took my passport upon moving in and returned it the next day. No extra money changed hands. They may have paid some fee out of the rent money/deposit, I don't know, although my deposit of $200 was paid in full upon leaving.