Guide on getting Vietnam visa for South African to teach English in Vietnam

For many youth from South Africa, they choose to work abroad and teaching English seems to be the most attractive position for them.

What visa type should I initially apply for teaching English in Vietnam ?

In all around of Vietnam, there is a high demand for foreign English teachers and South African are warmly welcomed. Many people would ask me what visa type they should apply in order to teach English in Vietnam. I would suggest that they should come with 3 month single/multiple business visa, within 3 month, they have more than enough time to adapt to the new environment, to get English teaching certificates: TELF, TESOL..Etc and to find employers. They can work as part time English teacher on tourist visa for a short time.

The next step is to ask Vietnamese employer/company to arrange a Vietnam Work Permit for them in order to get allowance to work legally for long time in Vietnam. After Vietnam Work Permit is issued, they should apply for Vietnam Resident Card which may last up to 3 years. With a Vietnam Work Permit and a Vietnam Resident Card, one foreigner should be worried free from Vietnam visa issue. In case, the company is not able to support you with legal documents to apply for Work Permit/ Resident Card, you should go with 6 months or 1 year multiple entry visas.

Many others choose to leave Vietnam every 3 month in order to renew their visa. It is not necessary to come back to your homeland but just need to take a short trip to nearby country like Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore and fly back to Vietnam with a new Vietnam visa approval then stamp the visa once you arrive in Vietnam airport.

How is the life of South African expat in Vietnam?

Luckily for me, I have got chances to chit chat with many South African clients who later become my good friends. They all tell me that they love to live and to work in Vietnam as English teacher. Even, they want to spend the rest of their life in Vietnam for many reasons: Vietnam is so peaceful; there is a variety of food to choose from local dishes to international meals, teaching jobs are available with attractive salary, living expense like foods, renting accommodation is much lower in comparison to South Africa and most important, Vietnamese are so friendly by nature, very helpful to foreigners. Vietnamese students are so adorable that foreign teachers love to spend time with them.

Are there anythings that South African does not like in Vietnam?

Oh yes, not only South African, foreigners when they first come to Vietnam, they are so scared by the insane traffic. The streets are always busy with million motors and cars. Passing the road would be a crazy experience at first and my advice is just to observe the street, raise your hand up while crossing and other vehicles will pave the way for you. Do not wait till the road is empty!

Can you guess the number of motorbike used in Vietnam?

The figure comes more than 45 million! Amazing, isn’t? Almost each person owns a motorbike, and it turns into a common practice for expats to ride motorbike in Vietnam as locals do. I should say that you should be very careful to ride a bike in streets.

Just learn slowly and you will be familiar with it, if you do not dare to ride in Vietnam, still there are many other good options like taking public bus, booking Grab or catch taxis for moving around.

Hope that you get updated and useful information about Vietnam visa requirements as well as way to get Vietnam visa simply for South African. Also, if you are planning to teach English in Vietnam, you will find this post helpful for you. Do share with your friends if you find that it helps them also.

For any other concerns or inquiries, feel free to let us know at:

Website: Vietnamvisavoa.com
Hotline: +84969255515
Email: Support@vietnamvisavoa.com