天美麻豆

@Deanoroger64

Hello, you are correct that there is no retirement visa available in Vietnam. I usually come to Vietnam for 5 - 6 months every year and take one trip out to get a new visa. I make a holiday out of it and go to Malaysia or Thailand for ten days or so, but I know there are a lot of people who just do a visa run for a day or two. How often you can do this without being stopped is impossible to say.

Nha Trang is OK as a beach destination, but to be honest I wouldn't want to live there full time, I think it would be rather boring. For retirement near a beach, I would choose Thailand.

G'day all
As the title suggests, I'm looking at the possibility of retirement in Vietnam in 4 years and would appreciate all the advice I can get. I understand there is no retirement visa as such and I don't intend to work. There seems to be mixed messages regarding doing a visa run every 3 months. I was particularly interested in Nha Trang as my final destination.
Cheers Dean - @Deanoroger64

I worked in TP HCM from 2015 - 2017. I came back several times between 2022 and 2025 on tourist visas and moved here in April 2025.

I live in the most expensive city in Vietnam (maybe Hanoi runs a tie or close second?). I'm here because I want to be here. And I want to be here because the communities I want to be a part of are well-represented here.

None of the communities I "hang" with are clustered around a social life the center of which is the pub/bar scene where alcohol consumption is the lubricant for social cohesion and interaction.

What worked for me and continues to work for me is making lists of *what I want* because a list on paper frames the problem(s) and takes it (them) out of the realm of fantasy, wishful thinking, and free-floating bullish*t of which I and my fellow humans are capable.

So, what do you want? I, for one, do not fancy sitting on a beach day after day, week after week, month after month, year upon year. For what?

I live here because I enjoy art, music, theater, libraries, museums, art exhibitions, and conversations about art, culture, politics, societies and how they organize themselves, and how people are raised to understand the world and their place in it. I get that I'm maybe an outlier in these desires, but so what? That's what *I* want.

I also want a committed and intimate relationship with a good, kind, loving, affectionate woman, which I also have. I think that this kind of relationship, while not absolutely necessary to life, is a major contributor to my thriving, not just existing.

So, again, what do you want?

The challenges for expats living anywhere are 1) residency laws and requirements including visas and permits; 2) banking and finance; 3) healthcare (which need for increases with age!); and support for your chosen lifestyle. I have solved these problems to my (current) satisfaction and wouldn't exchange my life here for what I've had in other places I've lived: USA, Puerto Rico, China, India.