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As Covid has been here for more than 12 months, all VEC holders have been through at least one in-country extension. 

The first in-country extension is easy.  You fill out the top half of NA5, have your relative/sponsor fill out the bottom half of the form and sign next to your signature (sponsor's information was something VEC holders didn't need before Covid), have the local UBND (the ward police) where you live and register fill out the other side and sign next to your relative/sponsor's signature.  You then take the NA5 and your passport to Immigration, pay 230k, return in a few days to pick up the passport with the new 6-month stamp.

After 6 months, Covid is still here and you need another extension.  However, Immigration says no, you cannot have a 2nd in-country extension.  Don't be despair, don't run to an agent and fork out more money than necessary.  It's a simple misunderstanding between you and Immigration.  They didn't say you cannot have an extension, they only said you cannot have another in-country extension, correct? 

In spite of what some visa agents and visa service websites tell you, VEC is NOT a 5-year visa.  In fact, it's NOT a visa at all.  It's a Visa Exemption Certificate that comes with a mandatory requirement: you're allowed to stay in the country for 5 years but you cannot have 2 consecutive in-country extensions.  Only one per 12 months.  So, what do you need to do?

You fill out the same NA5 with all the signatures, but when you submit it to Immigration, they'll tell you that from this point on until Covid is over, you MUST have a visa.  See that?  You've been living here without a visa, now, join the crowd and have one.

Instead of 230k, bring 805k or the equivalence of $35 and a document showing how you're related to the sponsor.  For many foreigners, it's your Vietnamese spouse, so bring your marriage certificate.  For foreigners of Vietnamese heritage, no worries about the document if you have a Vietnamese last name. 

You don't need to translate the document because the most important signature on the NA5 is from UBND so your relationship and your stay are already verified.  Immigration should only make a copy of the document and return the original (or the certified copy) to you.  Make sure to ask for it.

Immigration will issue you a TT visa which you can pick up in less than a week (ours took 2 working days -- for some reason, Ba Ria Immigration is incredibly fast; our previous VEC extension took 4 days including a Saturday). 

The regular TT (TT: thăm thân or visiting relatives) is a one-year multiple entry visa, but yours is not a regular TT.  It's a stop-gap solution to legitimise your stay, and it's issued to you in the spirit of your VEC, so it's a 6-month visa with a single entry.  No worries, you'll receive an unlimited number of in-country extensions as long as Covid is still a part of life. 

The TT visa is affixed to your passport so when you're able to travel again, you can continue to use VEC without the need for a document transfer or an explanation to the Immigration desk at the airport.

See how easy, simple, and inexpensive it is?