Traveling back to Vietnam to visit family after 4 years.

[Tighfield 3]

My wife and I are planning to fly back to Vietnam sometime after her oath ceremony on February 8th, 2019. She wants to fly first as I cannot take off as much time as her. Then I will meet her for her last 2 weeks. Our last week, we want to go to Japan and visit her sister as well. We need to get her US passport ASAP and we do not live close with a Passport Agency. So mailing the application, even if expedited, could take up to 2 weeks AND she needs a visa for Vietnam. I've seen 3rd party websites that charge twice as much for passports within a week or so, but I don't trust them. Any advice on how to get her US passport fast? Should we book the flight beforehand and attach an itinerary to show urgency? Or will there be people after the oath ceremony that process it faster?

 

Also too, we are booking multi-city flights for Vietnam and Japan. But we want to fly back together. Has anyone found a simpler way of doing this? Expedia has let me down over the years. Maybe it's all simple and my wife is just making things overly complicated! Haha!

[Jho369 13]

Check your state or near by states for same day passport processing office. Same day visa is always available. I know there is an arrival visa as well, where they have it in the system or something so you don’t have to carry one for last minute flights. In Miami, they have a same day passport office, im not sure about other states, but I hope this helped. 

[cyclone27 710]

She can use her Viet passport for entering Vietnam assuming it’s still valid.

[Jho369 13]

1 minute ago, cyclone27 said:

She can use her Viet passport for entering Vietnam assuming it’s still valid.

I dont think her visa will still be valid after the oath. 

[Jho369 13]

My wife said they can still

use the viet passport as a visa to enter VN...she said her friends renewed the VN passport even after US citizenship so I guess your wife is set for Visa

[USS_Voyager 1,971]

16 hours ago, Tighfield said:

My wife and I are planning to fly back to Vietnam sometime after her oath ceremony on February 8th, 2019. She wants to fly first as I cannot take off as much time as her. Then I will meet her for her last 2 weeks. Our last week, we want to go to Japan and visit her sister as well. We need to get her US passport ASAP and we do not live close with a Passport Agency. So mailing the application, even if expedited, could take up to 2 weeks AND she needs a visa for Vietnam.

No she doesn't need to get a visa for Vietnam. She is still a citizen of Vietnam. The fact that she becomes a US Citizen is immaterial. To the Vietnamese government, she is a Vietnamese citizen and thus, is allowed to enter Vietnam freely as she wishes, provided she has a valid Vietnamese passport. And vice versa to the US Government. When she take the oath to become  a US citizen, the fact that she is still a Vietnamese citizen is immaterial to them. To the US, she is a US citizen. 

 

I have maintained both my Vietnamese and US passports for several years and travel back and forth many times, never any problem. When you get to the Vietnamese border control, you show them Vietnamese passport. When you get to the US border control, you show them US passport. Very simple. 

[Liam2021 548]

Vietnam allow dual citizenship, so use US passport to exit/enter US and use VN passport to enter/exit VN. Even if you request expedite  at Post Office it will took more than 10 days. So the only way you can get US passport in the next day is apply at agency. Try to Google the PP agency near your location, or the neighbor state.

[Jho369 13]

In VN, they stamp the US passport right? That means you show them

both?

[carmel34 3,523]

If you are not close to a fast service US passport agency, you can search online and find a reputable one with good reviews.  I used one a year ago when I was living in a rural location, far from anything, and I used a good fast passport service and sent them everything overnight via FedEx.  I had my passport within 48 hours.  A travel itinerary is needed to get the faster service, I think it has to show a departure within a few weeks.  Their websites will tell you all you need to know.  It costs a little more though, especially with the FedEx out and back, so factor that into your planning.

[USS_Voyager 1,971]

18 hours ago, Jho369 said:

In VN, they stamp the US passport right? That means you show them

both?

No, they only stamp the VN passport. I only show them the VN passport. No one ever asked for anything else. In fact, no one hardly ever even said anything. They just opened the VN passport, stamped it and gave it back to me. I think out of probably the 5-6 times I went back there in the last 2 years, both at Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai, maybe one time a guy ever muttered something to me like "Welcome home" or something like that. 

[Tighfield 3]

I appreciate all the feedback. My wife didn't want to take any chances and decided on getting a visa with her US passport. We went to Detroit to get her passport the same day. People there were very friendly. The snowy weather kind of sucked but we got to visit the GM Center which was pretty cool. Now to get her on that plane so she can see her family. I hope Vietnam Customs doesn't give her any issues. 😟