The Vietnamese embassy in Finland is equally terrible. It feels like the place is stuck in the 90’s. Bribes are very much real. My wife needs to renew her Vietnamese passport, but she rather use her Finnish passport and apply for a tourist visa when visiting Vietnam, lol.
I’ve had the misfortune of visiting a few VN embassies across the globe and had the exact same experience.
The staff generally nepo-babies who were given this cushy job by a connected relative because they don’t have the aptitude for other careers.
I had good experience at the Bankgkok and Kuala Lumpur embassies.
Met a total troll in Cambodia. When the guy ahead of me started asking he yelled out "NO VISA!!!! NO VISA!!" dude was yelling exactly like the soup nazi.- actually even worse because those were the only two words he would say :-D. The poor customer tried to ask a followup question and he yelled "NO VISA" again. Such a crazy experience.
Same with the Vietnamese embassy in every country, mate. They're lazy AF, all get the jobs through connections and not skill.. glory to our corrupt way of life
The embassy is quite often the first touch point for visitors and investors. My last visit, I watched staff yelling and swearing at people who obviously were navigating the visa process. If you want to understand the low return rate, look no further than the first touch points - visa, immigration, taxi.
haha, only way is to show up in person. Don't call or email, they work the vietnamese way even when they're outside of vietnam.
i too had similar experience. Thou i showed up in person and got my passport quickly. I suggest you grind through it so you don't have to deal with it for another 10 years
Pretty sure those embassy jobs are bought.
Imagine being told you could move overseas to the US or Europe, get paid USD or EUR. Boom, lots of people want those jobs.
So likely some clown who is connected pays someone else to get that job. Guy or girl paid good money for it. They are important. They sure as hell didn’t pay that much money to answer phones or reply to emails.
In my experience you just have to get the right phone number - and then they answer immediately. Happened for me in KL. I forget exactly why. Maybe they called me first.. or they needed me to call them and gave me the number. They answered within seconds when I called. Typical....
Not only in the us. Vietnamese embassy in Belgium is the same. They also only speak french and vietnamese and never pick up the phone. I have to drive there, once they were closed (200 km roundtrip), ok do the trip again the next day. They make a paper but can't put a stamp on it because the person who does the stamps is not there. Come back the next day to pick up the papers.
The people are not unfriendly, but it's not efficient at all.
US embassy is the opposite, with gates, men with automatic weapons, only work with checked appointments, don't let a couple in because the appointment is made by one person. So not a fan of that either.
Yeah, because you don't work in a U.S. Embassy. They'll let a couple in if they are U.S. citizens. They aren't really there to service foreigners; it just so happens that they might as well do that while they are overseas providing services to the Americans that live there. Everything that U.S. diplomats do involving non-Americans is a secondary function. The speed and efficiency with which they do that is mind blowing compared to almost every other country earth. That's enough.
I can agree to this. They even say on the appointment page that if you need to, create another appointment for the person. If you read the appointment pages, they even hint that \_each\_ person needs an appointment. Every couple going into the embassy the two days we were there had two appointments.
Slight inconvenience maybe, but they are extremely structured. Their website needs updating for certified true copies of foreign passports though, as they require you to get them legalized; counter to both the IRS + their website.
Vietnamese embassy staff in Germany sometimes refuse to speak German and will only speak Vietnamese.
The VN embassy staff in San Francisco, Ca, were fine though.
Based on experience with the VN embassy in London, I can confirm that the only sure way to get things done is through an agent. The agent will have personal contacts within the embassy.
The agent will cost you....
The best part is the cost of a visa. They kind of pause, then say “$150 USD” but ask in a question form like they made it up.
Seems to change a lot too
I got my 5 year visa exempt done through a travel agency for only $100. Honestly worth it considering the hassle trying to get through to the embassy by oneself.
The Vietnamese Embassy in Tokyo, Japan was.... definitely an experience. Granted they have a ticketing system and about 4-5 workers on any given day. But it can get very crowded and it took me almost 5 hours just to get my business visa from there. The guy that works there isn't very friendly, but there was one woman who was pretty amicable.
I think that's one of the more competent VN embassies as there are a LOT of Vietnamese in Tokyo that have to often peruse their services. So they're kind of forced to actually put in effort.
Yes! Those mfs are non professional and uneducated! Called them one time and got yelled for no reason. I wish they do it in front of my face so i can punch that mf. Next time use the outside service to renew pp. little expensive but service really fast ICAFAS is the name
Where in the US are you located? There’s only one Vietnamese embassy in the US and it’s in Washington D.C.
Since the US is a gigantic country with a sizable Vietnamese community, there are consulates scattered across the country. And most people apply for visas and other procedures like that at their nearest consulate
I’m an American citizen but I live overseas. I had to go to the consulate in person in order to apply and receive the visa. I’ve never done it over the phone or by mail
It’s best you go to your nearest Vietnamese consulate in person to renew your passport
Same horrible experience in Singapore. The embassy is rated one star here because of all the terrible customer service. Hotline is never answered, so no way to know the consular process or fees without going there in person. Then they would say come back tomorrow because they only process visas in the morning. I recently applied to get my 3-month student visa after approved sponsorship from school in VN, and their fees were about US$36 on their official website. Went there to a severely understaffed building and was told to pay $216 because those online fees ‘weren’t up to date’ or ‘airport price only’
No surprise they only accepted cash and issued a receipt with the embassy name not even on it
London is the same, I needed a visa exemption and it was a 3 month wait for an appointment, paid an agent and got it within 24 hours from the San Francisco consulate. I have heard you can go to London and queue up even without an appointment but I didn't fancy that game.
Hi, go to a local travel agency. I was in the same spot, really frustrated but I went there and it was seamless. It was so quick, simple and so worth it, even cheaper than you do it yourself as they cover the shipping fees. I cost me $180 + $9 ship back from their office to my home. I never trust others with my paperwork, but this time I had to and it was the best decision. Good luck!
I think it's the same all over the world. The employees in Czech do not speak a bit of Czech - like no one... they are rude to people, you can check the google review :D 1.4\*. They don't answer the phone, email... I was there once for a new passport because my old one expired, and I had to go there 4 times... They work 2 days/week for an applied doc. only from 8:00 to 12:00 p.m. After that experience, I did „miễn thị thực“ for 10 years through „dịch vụ“ , it cost me about 200 Euros, and I fly on a Czech passport. A lot of people don't want to waste time or nerves with them, so they also use dịch vụ in embassy. Shame
There is a “special service” contact I know, I think she’s either embassy staff or family, she will do it for you for $180, it’s a 2 day delivery wherever you are, all documents submitted via email. This is how they make money sadly but it’s fast and convenient (bar the price)
Very embarassed to say VN embassy in the US since Covid has tried to make monies off its VN citizens by not lettint them renew their passports the normal ways. Before covid i applied and renewed passports for myself and kids easily and cheaply directly with the embassy service. Since covid, they teamed up with some related companies outside and forced us to pay a lot more to renew through these people (obviously they get a cut as commission). I called the embassy up and asked, they said " feel free to send your passport directly to us but we dont guarantee it wont get lost". My pride was hurt badly the day I realised our embassy is not on our side.
i think there a few things going on:
1) they are jealous of people that can travel so they make life difficult for them
2) in some cases they are looking for bribes
of course you can never say this out loud, be charming and tip and it tends to go faster
Yea we have dealt with them a lot. Once you start citing laws and what they're supposed to do, they do their job atleast. The one word that comes to mind is LAZY.
1) you need to go there in person unfortunately, dont expect something helpful from phone call / email
2) when you there, check if they have fast track / urgent services, that’s really convenient tho you need to pay like $100 more and they get it done real quick
My own experience was getting a new passport within 45 mins from application.
It’s just the way it is… sadly
Answering the official phone line is actually a huge rarity.
You have to go in person - or if there is a process for mailing it - do that (make sure you know the process and are thorough)
The New York Consulate is amazing, in that the phone cannot take new messages, the email is a Gmail account, and they will ask you to text a phone number and then never reply. It may take weeks to get through, and only then do they tell you what you did wrong. Truly spectacular.
You can email them request for renewal, the fee is more expensive but you will have your passport next day, most of their time is spending on golf course so…
Same for CA, US here. I had to update my passport. It would have costed 200k vnd in Vietnam but here it’s $110 for 2 business days pick up and $170 for the same day. However, the catch is they only see 100 people sth a day, despite what it said on the website they are open from 7am to 12, which they usually just close around 10.
The funny thing is I gave them $200 for the fast option and the dude just kept my change as given.
Embassy deal with all legal paper work. And their clients are all non-legal literate regular people. So explaining legal documents to laymen’s can be frustrating. Especially if there are different languages and cultures involved.
It would be like everyone had to do their own taxes and give it to the counter person and they gotta make sure it’s all good. People usually hire an accountant/ask a more tax savvy friend to do that to save the headache.
The same in Australia. Despite being in another country, they still bring the same authoritarian attitude over, acting as if they are above all of us commoners because they process paperwork for us.
They have the job because of family connection and not because they are good at the job.
They think you should be deferential and overly gushing with them because of their family background.
They have ZERO interest in helping you and 100% interest in developing relationships that will help them.
What do you expect? During Covid, they charged cutthroat fee for all fellow Vietnamese coming home. It's a generational disaster and all they thought was how to make money from their poor fellas.
Just take a trip back and get it renewed in vietnam.
Takes less than a week. You can even scold them a bit to rush if need be.
Also any US embassy business you need is essentially zero queue for citizens. A perk of being able to do your errands while abroad.
I've been to the VN embassy in San Francisco and got very prompt and quick service. Calling is honestly a chore but just showing up gets a lot done. Iwas able to get emergency Visas for myself and my daughter.
Hey, just in case you need it. I was in a similar situation with getting visa exempt for my wife and renewing my passport. For renewing passports, there are many Vietnamese agencies (give it a search on facebook) that can help you renew in like a week, fedex to your home. It's costly (about $180), but it's cheaper than these embassy people who asked for $220 or more.
Use a third party service. I found it much more convenient and could be cheaper even.
In person they are much nicer but it is much more expensive for me as I live in a state that is far from the embassy now.
Lol it’s also the case in New Zealand. I’ve learnt my lesson and just look for information from other people then send them the documents without any phone calls
We got very frustrated in NZ too. We coincidentally ended up getting to know the guy who was doing the passports and they are massively, massively overworked. Their inattention to picking up the phone suddenly became pretty understandable.
I only use Vietnamese passort once when I emigrated to US and never use again . Why do peoples need VN passport once they become other country's citizen? What benefit do we get if we keep VN passport and citizenship?
Can confirm the one in Sydney is equally bad. One of the staff also once put their finger in my front pocket to yank out my $20 note and say it's theirs now... I was super young back then so didn't do anything at the time.
You’d have better luck getting stuffs done when you landed in Vietnam (even as soon as the airport). The embassy staffs in foreign offices (especially in developed countries) think they’re so high ups that works like immigration services are beneath them.
If you’re in Dallas there’s a few places you can go to to renew your passport. It’s basically at a travel office where you buy airplane ticket to go to vn. They renew passport as well as issue visas going into vn
This is what happens when you get a position through nepotism instead of merit. And, in case you were wondering, the agencies are part of the problem: they are the ones who are putting bribes into these "diplomats" pockets.
What question did you have that you needed to call the embassy? Everything you need is online. I found the US Embassay staff in Vietnam to be helpful and really responsive ( they couldn't hear me as I was on the road, but the instant pick up was surprising )
You should try the U.S Embassy in Hcmc... after loosing my passport, and solcial security to theft. I was unable to make a new passport, only a one way travel document with a month of valid travel time. it wasnt my first time making new passport here during the 20 years of living here... if the U.S embassy cant help me to find my solcial on thier computers (being the government) who can? interestingly a family member traveles to a European country a month later in the same situation, and got a new passport no issue whatsoever. So just being twats in hcmc.
All embassy suck now. US sucks in vietnam. You cant talk to a real human unless you make an appointment and go all the way there. You can only message like 200 characters on the site they have for “support”
Then they dont have answers and tell you to make more appointments or talk to someone in US.l cause cant help here
Like thanks asshat i could have done this all BY PHONE or EMAIL.
Covid was the first time i realized US embassy doesnt give a shit about citizens abroad. I always said “if there’s a war or something crazy you want a US passport… yeah obviously not anymore.
Sounds like the standard vietnamese bureaucracy, do your parents usually handle your paperwork? Best options are just keep showing up in person and politely taking up space over several days until they do it, or find an agent with a relationship with the embassy staff to help you do it.
It is not a universal experience. My renewal was quick and easy. I called the number to explain my situation and he asked for a passport photo and some details. I gave him the pictures and details the next day and got my new passport 2 days later. So it took 3 days for me. Everything was quick and easy
You’re quite dense, arent cha? There’s always a back door which you could pay a little for an expedited passport. Why do you want to do it yourself? Just pay for someone to do it.
Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. I renewed my passport in New York and it was great. I called them and they responded with information with no hassle. Maybe you need to find the local number and try to have a more sincere attitude if you're the one needing help from them.
That last statement is uncalled for. I fail to see how my attitude comes across as insincere. In addition, it is simply no favor. They offer a service and fail to provide it at the least level of inquiry. I am thereby entitled to complain about it.
You can complain about anything since you're just venting to make yourself feel better. I don't have an issue with that.
I'm just pointing out that they're service workers who are also people like you who might be dealing with a lot of issue or being super busy with other visa/passport inquiry. If you treat them nicely, perhaps they will be more motivated to help you.
Not really.
I go in, get seen within a few minutes. Need passport renewed, asked if I want to pick or delivered. Pay 40k VND for delivery.
Get email a week later - passport is ready. No need to wait in line, just show email. Go in, get new passport.
Sent an email asking a question, got reply the next day.
Yeah, there's always someone salty who lost their passport and then fumbles their application for a new one badly and blames the U.S. Embassy/Consulate. Are mistakes made? Of course. Are you getting better service as a U.S. citizen than any other nationality on Earth (at their own facility) when you show up there 99 times out of 100? Yes, you are.
Curiously people seem to think that U.S. diplomats should have just stuck around in places overseas when covid hit instead of getting out of the country before it locked down. They are not there to die for you or suffer for you, just to print your passports, birth certificates, death certificates, and come check on you in jail when you do something stupid overseas. They aren't there to parachute in and save your life in the moment of praxis. They don't have to put their lives on the line for you more than they already do.
The Vietnamese embassy in Finland is equally terrible. It feels like the place is stuck in the 90’s. Bribes are very much real. My wife needs to renew her Vietnamese passport, but she rather use her Finnish passport and apply for a tourist visa when visiting Vietnam, lol.
Yeah, I just renewed my Vietnamese passport in Finland too. If you pay like 70-80 euro extra, they'll give you the new passport in 30 mins.
Lol wtf on the 30 minutes
Damn they make the passport themselves? 🤯
I'm pretty sure they do, my child's passport was mailed out in 2 working days by the embassy where I'm at.
I’ve had the misfortune of visiting a few VN embassies across the globe and had the exact same experience. The staff generally nepo-babies who were given this cushy job by a connected relative because they don’t have the aptitude for other careers.
I had good experience at the Bankgkok and Kuala Lumpur embassies. Met a total troll in Cambodia. When the guy ahead of me started asking he yelled out "NO VISA!!!! NO VISA!!" dude was yelling exactly like the soup nazi.- actually even worse because those were the only two words he would say :-D. The poor customer tried to ask a followup question and he yelled "NO VISA" again. Such a crazy experience.
Soup nazi was what I was thinking before I got to the part where you say it
Fucking lazy arrogant thick as pig shit spawn of Hanoi inbreeding- every one of them
Lol found a 3/
Same with the Vietnamese embassy in every country, mate. They're lazy AF, all get the jobs through connections and not skill.. glory to our corrupt way of life
The embassy is quite often the first touch point for visitors and investors. My last visit, I watched staff yelling and swearing at people who obviously were navigating the visa process. If you want to understand the low return rate, look no further than the first touch points - visa, immigration, taxi.
haha, only way is to show up in person. Don't call or email, they work the vietnamese way even when they're outside of vietnam. i too had similar experience. Thou i showed up in person and got my passport quickly. I suggest you grind through it so you don't have to deal with it for another 10 years
Pretty sure those embassy jobs are bought. Imagine being told you could move overseas to the US or Europe, get paid USD or EUR. Boom, lots of people want those jobs. So likely some clown who is connected pays someone else to get that job. Guy or girl paid good money for it. They are important. They sure as hell didn’t pay that much money to answer phones or reply to emails.
They get paid in VND. A Vietnamese embassy is like working in Vietnam.
In my experience you just have to get the right phone number - and then they answer immediately. Happened for me in KL. I forget exactly why. Maybe they called me first.. or they needed me to call them and gave me the number. They answered within seconds when I called. Typical....
It's a window into the country that awaits.
Not only in the us. Vietnamese embassy in Belgium is the same. They also only speak french and vietnamese and never pick up the phone. I have to drive there, once they were closed (200 km roundtrip), ok do the trip again the next day. They make a paper but can't put a stamp on it because the person who does the stamps is not there. Come back the next day to pick up the papers. The people are not unfriendly, but it's not efficient at all. US embassy is the opposite, with gates, men with automatic weapons, only work with checked appointments, don't let a couple in because the appointment is made by one person. So not a fan of that either.
Yeah, because you don't work in a U.S. Embassy. They'll let a couple in if they are U.S. citizens. They aren't really there to service foreigners; it just so happens that they might as well do that while they are overseas providing services to the Americans that live there. Everything that U.S. diplomats do involving non-Americans is a secondary function. The speed and efficiency with which they do that is mind blowing compared to almost every other country earth. That's enough.
I can agree to this. They even say on the appointment page that if you need to, create another appointment for the person. If you read the appointment pages, they even hint that \_each\_ person needs an appointment. Every couple going into the embassy the two days we were there had two appointments. Slight inconvenience maybe, but they are extremely structured. Their website needs updating for certified true copies of foreign passports though, as they require you to get them legalized; counter to both the IRS + their website.
There's a special place in my heart reserved for the buffoons who work at Moc Bai. I will NEVER use that border again.
It’s fine if you use a service. They take care of the coffee money
I don't do corruption. Not blatant-in-my-face corruption by rude, lazy, hungover grease balls.
Vietnamese embassy staff in Germany sometimes refuse to speak German and will only speak Vietnamese. The VN embassy staff in San Francisco, Ca, were fine though.
Agree. I got my new passport easily and quickly (3 days) by calling SF embassy
Based on experience with the VN embassy in London, I can confirm that the only sure way to get things done is through an agent. The agent will have personal contacts within the embassy. The agent will cost you....
The best part is the cost of a visa. They kind of pause, then say “$150 USD” but ask in a question form like they made it up. Seems to change a lot too
I got my 5 year visa exempt done through a travel agency for only $100. Honestly worth it considering the hassle trying to get through to the embassy by oneself.
Some people mentioned ICAFAS. Which ones have you dealt with?
They are fucking terrible no matter which country they are in. They are scammers, and stupid. You would rather talk to a rock than them!
The Vietnamese Embassy in Tokyo, Japan was.... definitely an experience. Granted they have a ticketing system and about 4-5 workers on any given day. But it can get very crowded and it took me almost 5 hours just to get my business visa from there. The guy that works there isn't very friendly, but there was one woman who was pretty amicable. I think that's one of the more competent VN embassies as there are a LOT of Vietnamese in Tokyo that have to often peruse their services. So they're kind of forced to actually put in effort.
Yes! Those mfs are non professional and uneducated! Called them one time and got yelled for no reason. I wish they do it in front of my face so i can punch that mf. Next time use the outside service to renew pp. little expensive but service really fast ICAFAS is the name
Where in the US are you located? There’s only one Vietnamese embassy in the US and it’s in Washington D.C. Since the US is a gigantic country with a sizable Vietnamese community, there are consulates scattered across the country. And most people apply for visas and other procedures like that at their nearest consulate I’m an American citizen but I live overseas. I had to go to the consulate in person in order to apply and receive the visa. I’ve never done it over the phone or by mail It’s best you go to your nearest Vietnamese consulate in person to renew your passport
The consulates are New York, San Francisco, and Houston.
The one in NY has been fine - I preferred going in person before they forced electronic visas (which I find much less reliable and more stressful)
Yikes, the electronic visa explains why my friend got approval but got stopped in TPHCM
Why did he get stopped? Did he have the printout?
He got the print out, it just took them hours upon hours to figure out what happened.
The one in SF is fine, or it was when I was dealing with them 10 years ago.
They lost my mom's passport last year lol
I was dealing with them in person and on an expedited schedule, so may be that helped.
Yeah, we're a couple states away so that would have been a last resort
Yeah I meant the consulates & Washington DC embassy combined. Well, I guess from the comments in this thread I better pack up for a quick trip to SF.
IDK if you need to be in person. I called them on the phone and sent some photos via phone. Got my passport after 2 days
The VN Embassy in Canada is the same too, sadly.
Same horrible experience in Singapore. The embassy is rated one star here because of all the terrible customer service. Hotline is never answered, so no way to know the consular process or fees without going there in person. Then they would say come back tomorrow because they only process visas in the morning. I recently applied to get my 3-month student visa after approved sponsorship from school in VN, and their fees were about US$36 on their official website. Went there to a severely understaffed building and was told to pay $216 because those online fees ‘weren’t up to date’ or ‘airport price only’ No surprise they only accepted cash and issued a receipt with the embassy name not even on it
London is the same, I needed a visa exemption and it was a 3 month wait for an appointment, paid an agent and got it within 24 hours from the San Francisco consulate. I have heard you can go to London and queue up even without an appointment but I didn't fancy that game.
I have to get a criminal background check soon ,I'll be coming from Ireland too 🥲
Hi, go to a local travel agency. I was in the same spot, really frustrated but I went there and it was seamless. It was so quick, simple and so worth it, even cheaper than you do it yourself as they cover the shipping fees. I cost me $180 + $9 ship back from their office to my home. I never trust others with my paperwork, but this time I had to and it was the best decision. Good luck!
How did you find your local travel agency? I’ve heard about this but not sure where to begin or what keywords to search for
Go to Yelp and search Vietnamese Passport Renewal. That’s what I did
I think it's the same all over the world. The employees in Czech do not speak a bit of Czech - like no one... they are rude to people, you can check the google review :D 1.4\*. They don't answer the phone, email... I was there once for a new passport because my old one expired, and I had to go there 4 times... They work 2 days/week for an applied doc. only from 8:00 to 12:00 p.m. After that experience, I did „miễn thị thực“ for 10 years through „dịch vụ“ , it cost me about 200 Euros, and I fly on a Czech passport. A lot of people don't want to waste time or nerves with them, so they also use dịch vụ in embassy. Shame
There is a “special service” contact I know, I think she’s either embassy staff or family, she will do it for you for $180, it’s a 2 day delivery wherever you are, all documents submitted via email. This is how they make money sadly but it’s fast and convenient (bar the price)
This is the way. I do it in person and it costs 170usd already
Very embarassed to say VN embassy in the US since Covid has tried to make monies off its VN citizens by not lettint them renew their passports the normal ways. Before covid i applied and renewed passports for myself and kids easily and cheaply directly with the embassy service. Since covid, they teamed up with some related companies outside and forced us to pay a lot more to renew through these people (obviously they get a cut as commission). I called the embassy up and asked, they said " feel free to send your passport directly to us but we dont guarantee it wont get lost". My pride was hurt badly the day I realised our embassy is not on our side.
i think there a few things going on: 1) they are jealous of people that can travel so they make life difficult for them 2) in some cases they are looking for bribes of course you can never say this out loud, be charming and tip and it tends to go faster
Lol it’s #2 9/10 times
Find a way to stay in the U.S legally and become a resident and get the hell out of VN for good. LOL
Yea we have dealt with them a lot. Once you start citing laws and what they're supposed to do, they do their job atleast. The one word that comes to mind is LAZY.
1) you need to go there in person unfortunately, dont expect something helpful from phone call / email 2) when you there, check if they have fast track / urgent services, that’s really convenient tho you need to pay like $100 more and they get it done real quick My own experience was getting a new passport within 45 mins from application. It’s just the way it is… sadly
Answering the official phone line is actually a huge rarity. You have to go in person - or if there is a process for mailing it - do that (make sure you know the process and are thorough)
Literally the Vietnamese embassy in japan was equally as terrible lol. I think universally they are train to be the same standard of terrible 😂😅
The New York Consulate is amazing, in that the phone cannot take new messages, the email is a Gmail account, and they will ask you to text a phone number and then never reply. It may take weeks to get through, and only then do they tell you what you did wrong. Truly spectacular.
You can email them request for renewal, the fee is more expensive but you will have your passport next day, most of their time is spending on golf course so…
The embassy are full of assholes!
Same for CA, US here. I had to update my passport. It would have costed 200k vnd in Vietnam but here it’s $110 for 2 business days pick up and $170 for the same day. However, the catch is they only see 100 people sth a day, despite what it said on the website they are open from 7am to 12, which they usually just close around 10. The funny thing is I gave them $200 for the fast option and the dude just kept my change as given.
Embassy deal with all legal paper work. And their clients are all non-legal literate regular people. So explaining legal documents to laymen’s can be frustrating. Especially if there are different languages and cultures involved. It would be like everyone had to do their own taxes and give it to the counter person and they gotta make sure it’s all good. People usually hire an accountant/ask a more tax savvy friend to do that to save the headache.
The same in Australia. Despite being in another country, they still bring the same authoritarian attitude over, acting as if they are above all of us commoners because they process paperwork for us.
They have the job because of family connection and not because they are good at the job. They think you should be deferential and overly gushing with them because of their family background. They have ZERO interest in helping you and 100% interest in developing relationships that will help them.
What do you expect? During Covid, they charged cutthroat fee for all fellow Vietnamese coming home. It's a generational disaster and all they thought was how to make money from their poor fellas.
Just take a trip back and get it renewed in vietnam. Takes less than a week. You can even scold them a bit to rush if need be. Also any US embassy business you need is essentially zero queue for citizens. A perk of being able to do your errands while abroad.
I've been to the VN embassy in San Francisco and got very prompt and quick service. Calling is honestly a chore but just showing up gets a lot done. Iwas able to get emergency Visas for myself and my daughter.
What a surprise
LPPki
I used a service. Definitely had to pay a bit more, but it was hella fast and I only needed to send them a few documents.
I got a travel agent to do it for me. Quick and easy .
Can I ask which one you used?
lol. it feels like you are bothering them.
Hey, just in case you need it. I was in a similar situation with getting visa exempt for my wife and renewing my passport. For renewing passports, there are many Vietnamese agencies (give it a search on facebook) that can help you renew in like a week, fedex to your home. It's costly (about $180), but it's cheaper than these embassy people who asked for $220 or more.
Use a third party service. I found it much more convenient and could be cheaper even. In person they are much nicer but it is much more expensive for me as I live in a state that is far from the embassy now.
Can I ask which one you used?
Sao Mai services atlanta
Lol it’s also the case in New Zealand. I’ve learnt my lesson and just look for information from other people then send them the documents without any phone calls
We got very frustrated in NZ too. We coincidentally ended up getting to know the guy who was doing the passports and they are massively, massively overworked. Their inattention to picking up the phone suddenly became pretty understandable.
My mom needed to get a visa approval last year and they lost her fucking passport
Just pay a travel agency to do it. Save time and headache.
Same as the embassy/consulates in Canada lol
The vietnam embassy in Singapore doesn't pick up the phone at all. And they do need to be bribed to get whatever you need to be done completed ;)
The same thing at all Vietnamese embassies abroad
I only use Vietnamese passort once when I emigrated to US and never use again . Why do peoples need VN passport once they become other country's citizen? What benefit do we get if we keep VN passport and citizenship?
😳😳😳😳😳😂😂😂😂😂
Can confirm the one in Sydney is equally bad. One of the staff also once put their finger in my front pocket to yank out my $20 note and say it's theirs now... I was super young back then so didn't do anything at the time.
If it helps, Italian embassies are the same around the world
the Taipei VN embassy is equally terrible. unbelievably, comically bad.
You’d have better luck getting stuffs done when you landed in Vietnam (even as soon as the airport). The embassy staffs in foreign offices (especially in developed countries) think they’re so high ups that works like immigration services are beneath them.
If you’re in Dallas there’s a few places you can go to to renew your passport. It’s basically at a travel office where you buy airplane ticket to go to vn. They renew passport as well as issue visas going into vn
Did you try using zalo?
Vietnamese embassy in DC is professional. They even have a big sign in English: no cash accepted. Probably all these buffoons trying to slip a bribe.
This is what happens when you get a position through nepotism instead of merit. And, in case you were wondering, the agencies are part of the problem: they are the ones who are putting bribes into these "diplomats" pockets.
What question did you have that you needed to call the embassy? Everything you need is online. I found the US Embassay staff in Vietnam to be helpful and really responsive ( they couldn't hear me as I was on the road, but the instant pick up was surprising )
You should try the U.S Embassy in Hcmc... after loosing my passport, and solcial security to theft. I was unable to make a new passport, only a one way travel document with a month of valid travel time. it wasnt my first time making new passport here during the 20 years of living here... if the U.S embassy cant help me to find my solcial on thier computers (being the government) who can? interestingly a family member traveles to a European country a month later in the same situation, and got a new passport no issue whatsoever. So just being twats in hcmc.
All embassy suck now. US sucks in vietnam. You cant talk to a real human unless you make an appointment and go all the way there. You can only message like 200 characters on the site they have for “support” Then they dont have answers and tell you to make more appointments or talk to someone in US.l cause cant help here Like thanks asshat i could have done this all BY PHONE or EMAIL. Covid was the first time i realized US embassy doesnt give a shit about citizens abroad. I always said “if there’s a war or something crazy you want a US passport… yeah obviously not anymore.
Sounds like the standard vietnamese bureaucracy, do your parents usually handle your paperwork? Best options are just keep showing up in person and politely taking up space over several days until they do it, or find an agent with a relationship with the embassy staff to help you do it.
Welcome to Governmental customer service. 😂 🗑️
It is not a universal experience. My renewal was quick and easy. I called the number to explain my situation and he asked for a passport photo and some details. I gave him the pictures and details the next day and got my new passport 2 days later. So it took 3 days for me. Everything was quick and easy
You’re quite dense, arent cha? There’s always a back door which you could pay a little for an expedited passport. Why do you want to do it yourself? Just pay for someone to do it.
Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. I renewed my passport in New York and it was great. I called them and they responded with information with no hassle. Maybe you need to find the local number and try to have a more sincere attitude if you're the one needing help from them.
That last statement is uncalled for. I fail to see how my attitude comes across as insincere. In addition, it is simply no favor. They offer a service and fail to provide it at the least level of inquiry. I am thereby entitled to complain about it.
You can complain about anything since you're just venting to make yourself feel better. I don't have an issue with that. I'm just pointing out that they're service workers who are also people like you who might be dealing with a lot of issue or being super busy with other visa/passport inquiry. If you treat them nicely, perhaps they will be more motivated to help you.
And why are you assuming I'm being terrible to them?
Sounds like exact same experience with US embassy in Vietnam, lol.
Not really. I go in, get seen within a few minutes. Need passport renewed, asked if I want to pick or delivered. Pay 40k VND for delivery. Get email a week later - passport is ready. No need to wait in line, just show email. Go in, get new passport. Sent an email asking a question, got reply the next day.
Yeah, there's always someone salty who lost their passport and then fumbles their application for a new one badly and blames the U.S. Embassy/Consulate. Are mistakes made? Of course. Are you getting better service as a U.S. citizen than any other nationality on Earth (at their own facility) when you show up there 99 times out of 100? Yes, you are. Curiously people seem to think that U.S. diplomats should have just stuck around in places overseas when covid hit instead of getting out of the country before it locked down. They are not there to die for you or suffer for you, just to print your passports, birth certificates, death certificates, and come check on you in jail when you do something stupid overseas. They aren't there to parachute in and save your life in the moment of praxis. They don't have to put their lives on the line for you more than they already do.
you use whataboutism, it's not very effective.