Job Discussion Forums

[Marmaduke]

Hi. I'm a newly registered teacher (English & EFL/ ESL specialist) from Australia with a couple of questions regarding the paperwork I should bring into Vietnam. I've tried to find the answers through the last six months of postings, got a little confused, and I'm hoping that someone here can give me some advice.

A little background: I spent time in VN a few years ago. I have family contacts (via marriage) in Thu Duc who'll be able to help me if I need a Vietnamese speaker to sort through the red tape. I'm planning to hit HCM in late Feb/ early Mar, because I like torrential rain and that permanently wet feeling. I'll have several thousand dollars banked, plus emergency money if needed, i.e. I could do the 3 x 3 month visa stay without even needing to work (albeit living the hostel dream). I like the country, the food and the people, and I'm planning to work on my writing and Vietnamese while I'm over there, not get trolleyed at Allez Boo/ Apocalypse Now/ wherever the cool kids hang out every night.

I have almost a year's experience as an ESL support teacher in an Aussie high school, and I love teaching. As a realist, I know that in VN I'll probably be schlepping through a $15/hr dodgy position for a while and I'm okay with that.

This is what I plan to bring:

(1) Transcript and letter of completion from Monash University. The actual postgraduate diploma won't be mailed out until the middle of 2011. I know this will cause me hassles, but unless anyone has a time machine, I'm stuck.
(2) Letter of registration from the Victorian Institute of Teaching.
(3) Australian criminal records check. Note that (2) also states that I've undergone a satisfactory CRC already, but I'm happy to pay $30 now if it will save me headaches later.
(4) My resume (of course).
(5) Passport photos.
(6) Letters of recommendation from a lecturer and the high school I worked at, on an official letterhead.

My Qs:

(1) Has the visa/ WP/ paperwork problem that began around July 2009 died down at all?
(2) Can I bring everything over and get it notarised in VN, or do you think it's wiser to mail it (specifically the CRC) to the VN embassy in Canberra and have it notarised before I leave?
(3) Is there anything else I should bring? I completed a BA in Writing/ Literature prior to the Grad Dip of Education - should I bring that along as well (too much paperwork is never enough)?
(4) Any further advice?

For anyone who replies, thanks for your help.

[JHat]

If you are married to a Vietnamese national, you may be able to apply for a spousal Viet Kieu visa. Depending on the type of Viet Kieu Visa, you can either stay in the country for a 2 or 5 year period (depending on when your passport expires), and only have to re-stamp your passport every 3 months (without the stamping fee). If you'd like to look into it, contact your Vietnamese embassy for the proper paperwork. You'd need your wife's birth certificate or her original Vietnamese passport (if she has one) to prove her citizenship. I think that process takes a few weeks, so the sooner the better.

http://mienthithucvk.mofa.gov.vn/Default.aspx?alias=mienthithucvk.mofa.gov.vn/en (click on the links on the right)

If you're coming to learn Vietnamese, there are intensive language courses at the HCMC Vietnamese National Uni - http://www.vns.edu.vn/vns/

As for the Visa/WP, it all depends on where you get employed. It sounds like you've done your homework in regards to WP paperwork but I'd double-check, just in case.

As for what else to bring:
- Your birth certificate (or at least a copy emailed to you)
- Your drivers license (if you want to drive here legally at some point)
- Any credentials you think are important

[The Mad Hatter]

Ok you must get all that stuff notarized over there.
the letter of completion isnt good enough unless it has a notary stamp on it.
Often the University has a notary in the registrars office.
So two signatures should be on that letter: the authority at the university and the notary. Unless the authority IS the registrar/ notary.
If Australian govt notary will notarize the letter thats good too.
If in australia the govt wont, then have the notary at University stamp actual letter from university authority. and then have the authorities who can vouch for the notary at University ( your provincial notary?) make a separate letter which t hey attach on top of your University letter. Next, you send these letters to the national notary. Then onto the Vietnam embassy in Australia to authorize them. There may be shortcuts in your country, the point is someone at a national level must stamp your letters from the university.
If you haven't had them authorized there by Vietnamese embassy in Australia, its possible it will be rejected by the Vietnamese translator and notary here. ( I had it happen to me, and had to start all over )
Once you get here it is translated and stamped by the notary here, then it is ready to submit to the Labor board here for your Work Permit.
However: you may not need to do these steps if the Austr. embassy in Vietnam will definitely notarize and stamp your letter as authentic. then it can go directly to the Vietnamese translator here. So you have to check this. Ask the Austr. embassy here if they will do that for you.
I suggest that for your diploma you do this: Have the University pre-write a letter for you which says this: Mr Marmaduke attended Monash University from teh years ____ to ____. He successfully completed with a degree in _____ and earned a diploma of BA in ______. The attached is a copy of that diploma. Signed _________ University registrar, or keeper of records (whatever its called there) Have the letter stamped and tell them to staple it to a photo copy of your diploma and stamp their stamp across both the photo copy of diploma and the letter also. have someone go in and get that done for you in your absence. Do you understand? The principal to follow is everything must be accounted for. With an official stamp all attached together. Each letter referring to the one below it vouching in succession

[Marmaduke]

Thanks for your help, guys. I think I've got this sorted. I have to do a quick run to Australia in late May anyway, so I can gather anything I'm missing then.

I'm not married to a Viet national (yet, but they're persistent), a member of my family is. I'm actually thinking of buying a cheap and removable engagement ring to wear while I'm over there, rather than spend half my life on arranged 'dates' organised by the family. Gets uncomfortable, especially the looks the poor girls get from passers-by.