How to apply for a new Vietnam visa before your current one expires and avoid overstay during a border run?

For travel on the 20th, an application can be filed on the 13th, but allow up to 5 working days for processing. The new visa’s start date can be set to the 18th, two days before the actual arrival.

One commenter warns that if you leave the country for a border run, getting a new visa can take anywhere from 5 days to an indefinite period. Also, submitting several visa applications on the same day gives near-zero approval odds — which is why many people use paid visa agencies instead of applying themselves.

New visa applications typically take about 4 working days to process on average.

When submitting several visas in advance (identical except for dates), one of them can be sent back for revision multiple times and ultimately never get approved — so the risk isn't just outright rejection, but the process dragging on until the current visa expires.

You can apply for your next visa without waiting for the first one to be approved. Set the new visa's start date to overlap the current one by a couple of days, in case your border run doesn't go exactly as planned.

This overlapping-dates approach isn't always approved — some applicants got approved, others got rejected, there's no guaranteed outcome.

If you fail to leave the country before your current visa expires (e.g. by the 5th), it counts as an overstay and comes with a fine.