A school-age child can stay in Vietnam through the school year on repeated e-visas, and a residence card only opens up when the family has a legal basis, such as a parent’s work permit or a school-sponsored student visa. The e‑visa costs $25 single-entry or $50 multiple-entry on the official portal. A school year then needs three border trips on 90-day e-visas, or up to seven on 45-day visa-free stays. Russian passport holders get those 45 days visa-free through 14 March 2028.
I run visa trips out of Da Nang and visa runs are what I sell, so I list the downsides of that route too.
Which families can get a TRC for a school-age child?
A child’s residence card follows the parent’s status. When a parent holds a work visa (LD), an investor visa (DT, depending on the investor category) or another working or business category, a child under 18 gets a TT visa valid up to 12 months, followed by a temporary residence card (TRC) with the TT symbol.
A tourist e‑visa or a visa-free entry does not convert into a card on its own. You need a qualifying category and a sponsor in Vietnam. A parent who works remotely for a foreign employer, with no Vietnamese employer, gets no family status, and those families live on e-visas with exit trips. The basis for a card comes from the parent’s status, and enrollment at a school adds nothing to it. I cover the adult routes in my TRC guide.
Can a school sponsor a student visa instead?
Children under 18 accepted by an international school can apply for a DH student visa. The school issues a sponsorship letter, a statement of enrollment and a study plan, and the family files form NA5 with a passport valid for at least six months. The visa runs 3 to 12 months, and the law allows a DH card of up to five years.
I have found no documented case of a K-12 student receiving a card on a DH visa; the only term described for schools is a one-year visa. Sources also disagree on whether a DH visa can be extended. ISHCMC in Ho Chi Minh City says every year is a new application and runs the whole package itself. For Da Nang schools I found no general policy, so ask admissions before you pay a deposit. The immigration department processes a file in up to 5 working days, but August and September are crowded, and visa consultants advise filing 2-3 weeks before arrival.
What do a child’s card and paperwork cost?
Circular 28/2026 sets the fees from 1 April 2026. The government fee for a residence card is $145 for up to two years and $155 for two to five years. The card is issued within 5 working days of a complete file, and the TT symbol is capped at three years.
The file holds the child’s passport, two 3x4 photos, an application with the sponsor’s guarantee, and a birth certificate with a Vietnamese translation. Application forms may have changed on 1 July 2026, so confirm the list before you file. Since 11 September 2026 a foreign birth certificate needs only an apostille, because Vietnam joined the Hague Apostille Convention and the multi-step consular legalization is gone.
Is the 90-day e‑visa cycle workable for a school year?
It works if you accept the interruptions. A school year running from 11 August 2026 to 18 June 2027, the preliminary ISHCMC calendar, fits three exit trips on 90-day e-visas or up to seven on 45-day visa-free stays. One trip from Da Nang takes a day, so the child misses three to seven school days a year.
I count from an 11 August entry, an exit on the last day of validity and re-entry the same day. A visa run needs only a single-entry e‑visa, $25 on evisa.gov.vn, and four e-visas per person cover the school year. Three people pay $300 in government fees, before transport and the neighbouring country’s charges.
No formal cap on consecutive visa runs exists: Law 51/2019 abolished the 30-day gap between visa-free entries from 1 July 2020. An officer still judges each entry on its own and can ask about purpose, return ticket, housing and income. I found no number of runs after which entry is refused, and no confirmed pattern of refusals for Russian passport holders. Keep a lease, proof of school enrollment and a return ticket in one folder. The border-day documents for a child are in my visa run with kids guide.
The other thing that breaks a trip is payment: evisa.gov.vn rejects Russian bank cards and many foreign ones, and without a paid fee the e-visas for three people never arrive and the exit date gets pushed back. You can file the applications and pay with a card the portal accepts yourself. If you would rather not hunt for a working card, a visa run with BestBus Vietnam takes one day: I pay the fee on a card the portal accepts, set the correct entry point, and take your family to the border and back. Message me on WhatsApp and I will check that the fee payment for all three of you goes through before your exit date.
How much does an international school cost?
International schools in Vietnam cost roughly $6 500 to $40 000 a year in 2026/27, and registration, development fees, transport, meals and uniform add 20-30% on top. These figures come from price lists and aggregators, so check them on the school’s own site.
- Ho Chi Minh City: BIS $28 400-$38 300, ISHCMC $26 900-$37 900.
- Hanoi: UNIS $17 460-$39 870.
- Da Nang: St. Nicholas about $6 500-$10 400, APU up to $22 400.
Top schools in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi take applications 12-18 months ahead, while places are easier to get in Da Nang and Hoi An. My Da Nang schools comparison lists fees and entry steps. I found no attendance policy at any school, so ask how many absence days the school allows.
Can a Russian child study at home while living in Vietnam?
Yes. A child living abroad can be enrolled in a Russian school under family education (Article 17 of Federal Law 273-FZ): parents notify the local administration online, and the child sits attestation at the Russian school. Family education and distance learning are different things: with distance learning a school teaches remotely, with family education the parents teach and are legally responsible for the result. It removes the tie to a local school and with it the need for a student visa, and it creates no residence right.
Which route fits which family?
If neither parent has a job or business in Vietnam, run on 90-day e-visas; the table below shows the trip count for each route. If a parent holds a work or investor status, file for the child’s TT visa and card and the trips stop. Take the student visa when the school runs the package itself, after you ask admissions how long it lasts and how it is renewed.
| Route | Legal basis | Length | Government fee | Main downside |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visa-free (Russian passport) | Resolution 44/NQ-CP | 45 days | $0 | Up to seven exit trips a school year |
| E‑visa | Online application | Up to 90 days | $25 or $50 | Three trips and a new application each time |
| Child’s TT card | Parent’s work or investor status | Up to 3 years | $145-$155 | Needs a job or business in Vietnam |
| DH student visa | School enrollment | 3-12 months | No official figure found | Renewal depends on the school |
Exit trips, three applications and an officer’s questions are all doable on your own. If you want one person to plan the whole school year, tell me on WhatsApp whether a parent has a job or business in Vietnam and which school your child attends, and I will work out what is cheaper and calmer for you: visa runs or a TT card.
Frequently asked questions
Does my child need a separate e‑visa?
Yes, whenever the child has their own passport. Russian biometric passports do not list children, and a child can be added only to an old 5-year passport and only until age 14, so most children need their own passport and application. This part can be handed over end to end — what that covers is on our Da Nang visa run page.
Can a child under 14 enter Vietnam with one parent?
The law bars entry for a child under 14 without parents, guardians or authorized persons (Article 21). Travel with one parent is not spelled out in the sources I found, so I advise carrying a notarized consent letter from the other parent.
How far ahead should I apply for the family's e-visas?
Official processing takes 3 working days, and consultants advise budgeting up to 5. I advise filing a week before the exit trip, which leaves room if a child’s photo comes back for correction.
What passport validity does a child need for a TRC?
The passport must be valid for at least 13 months at filing, because the card is issued at least 30 days short of the passport. If the child’s passport expires sooner, renew it first.
