Relocating to Vietnam: The Long-Stay Guide

This page is for one specific reader: someone who has decided they are staying in Vietnam for months or years, not weeks. If you are planning a trip, our visa services cover the e-visa and visa runs you need to get in and out. Everything below is for after that — the questions that only come up once you are actually living here.

We pulled together the articles we have already written on each topic below, grouped in the order they tend to come up in real life: first your legal status, then money, then the boring logistics of a place to live and a way to get medical care if something goes wrong.

I. Visa status and long-term residence

Most long-stayers keep renewing the 90-day e-visa (from $55 standard processing, $100–120 for the expedited tiers) rather than chase a Temporary Residence Card, because the TRC route only opens up once you have a specific legal basis — a work permit, an investment, or marriage to a Vietnamese citizen.

• Vietnam Long-Term Stay 2026: Visas, Work Permits and Monthly Costs — the full map of legal options for staying past 90 days, and what each one actually costs per month.
• Vietnam Temporary Residence Card (TRC) 2026: Step-by-Step Guide — the four eligibility routes into a TRC, the documents, and the government fees.

II. Taxes

• Vietnam 183-Day Tax Rule: Resident or Not? — the two residency tests that decide whether Vietnam taxes your worldwide income or just what you earn locally.
• Vietnam Freelancer Taxes: What Digital Nomads Owe in 2026 — 2026 PIT rates for residents versus non-residents, and how the visa-run pattern affects the 183-day count.

III. Banks and moving money

• Bank Account in Vietnam for Foreigners: Full Guide — which banks actually open an account for someone on a 90-day e-visa, and what documents they ask for.
• Best Ways to Send Money To and From Vietnam in 2026 — Wise and Remitly against a bank wire, fees compared.

IV. Budget and cost of living

• Moving to Vietnam Long-Term: Visa, Budget and First Steps — real numbers for a first-year budget, starting around $900 a month.
• Cost of Living in Da Nang 2026: Real Monthly Budget by Lifestyle Tier — the same city broken into a frugal, mid-range and family budget.

V. Housing

• Renting Long-Term in Vietnam 2026: Prices and Contracts — what $300–850 a month actually gets you, deposit rules, and what to check before signing.
• Best Places to Live Long-Term in Vietnam 2026 — an honest comparison of Da Nang, Hoi An, Dalat and Sapa on rent, climate and visa logistics.

VI. Medical care and insurance

• Vietnam Expat Health Insurance 2026: What Gets Paid — local, regional and global insurance tiers compared, and what each one actually denies.

VII. Work and getting online

• Jobs in Vietnam for Foreigners 2026: Real Pay — real salary ranges for teaching, IT and remote work, plus Work Permit costs.
• Home Internet in Vietnam for Foreigners 2026 — how to get a home connection on a passport and visa copy alone, no TRC required.

When the guide isn’t enough

Reading through all of this gets you the map. It doesn’t fill out your own paperwork, deal with a landlord in Vietnamese, or tell you which of the options above is actually the right one for your specific passport and dates — that part is a conversation, not an article.

We run the border ourselves and have lived here for four years, so if you’d rather skip the research and just tell us where you are and what you need, message us on Telegram and we’ll tell you honestly what needs a professional and what you can just do yourself.