Repatriation and Leaving Vietnam

Leaving Vietnam after a year or more isn't just a flight — it's a sequence of closures, sales, and paperwork that compresses into the final 3 months of your stay. Start the list early and most of it is manageable; leave it to the last fortnight and something gets missed.

Confirm specifics with your employer (if any), your Vietnamese tax advisor, and your immigration agent or Provincial Immigration Department before final exit.

Timeline overview

• 3–6 months before departure: Begin pet rabies titer cycle (if relocating pets). Start sale of car / motorbike if owned. Apply for any tax-clearance certificates needed.
• 2–3 months before: Sell larger furniture and household goods. Plan final shipping (sea container needs ~8–10 weeks).
• 1 month before: Resign / terminate employment contract with proper notice. File final PIT.
• 2 weeks before: Close utilities, terminate phone/internet contracts. Hand over rental property.
• Final week: Close Vietnamese bank accounts (or leave open if returning). Visit embassy for any final documents.
• Departure day: Stamped exit at the airport. Done.

Employment and tax

If you're employed in Vietnam:

1. Resignation notice — Vietnamese labour law requires 30 days' notice for indefinite contracts (45 days for indefinite contracts at the executive level). Resign in writing.
2. Final salary settlement — including pro-rata 13th-month, unused leave, severance (if applicable).
3. Social insurance closure — your employer notifies VSS. You can claim a lump-sum withdrawal of your social insurance contributions after 1 year out of Vietnam, paid in USD.
4. PIT tax finalisation — within 45 days of departure if you're tax-resident, you must file an exit declaration to the tax authority. Get a tax-clearance certificate. See Vietnam tax residency.
5. Tax authority sometimes audits high-earning expats on exit — keep your last 3 years of records accessible.

TRC and visa

• Surrender the TRC at the Provincial Immigration Department, or simply let it expire. There's no penalty for letting a TRC lapse.
• No exit visa needed — Vietnam doesn't require one for foreigners departing.
• Re-entry rights: a closed TRC doesn't ban you; you can re-enter on an e-visa or visa-free entry as a normal visitor.

Bank accounts

• Keep an account open if you might return — useful for future income, salary credits, pension deposits.
• Closing: visit branch with passport + TRC, request closure, withdraw or wire remaining balance.
• Wise / international transfers of remaining VND balance — see sending money home.
• Outstanding loans: must be settled before account closure.

Motorbike or car sale

• Find a buyer 1–3 months before departure. Facebook expat groups, Tigit / Style buyback (if applicable), Vietnamese second-hand dealers.
• Original blue book essential — without it, you can't legally sell.
• Notarised sale contract — protects both parties.
• De-register the vehicle officially at provincial traffic police (or pass to buyer with paperwork in your name still, then transfer happens after).

For cars: same logic but the market is less liquid; allow 3+ months.

See buying a motorbike as expat and buying a car as expat for the reverse process.

Property and rental

• Notice period: most Vietnamese rentals require 1 month written notice for break of fixed-term lease (read your contract).
• Deposit return: photograph property on entry and exit; document any wear-and-tear disputes. Vietnamese landlords sometimes withhold deposits — push back with documentation.
• Final utilities reading: settle electricity, water, internet, garbage.
• Owned property: a much longer-lead sale process. Foreigners can own property with a 50-year right; resale to Vietnamese buyers possible but complex. Engage a real-estate lawyer.

Phone, internet, subscriptions

• Mobile contract: settle final bill at carrier shop with passport.
• Home internet (FPT, Viettel, VNPT): visit branch to terminate; return modem.
• Recurring subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify Vietnam, food delivery accounts): cancel or transfer billing country.

Pet repatriation

If you brought your pet to Vietnam, the reverse journey to your home country has its own paperwork window — UK, US, Australia all have specific pre-arrival requirements (some country has updated rules for dogs in particular since 2024).

• Microchip + rabies vaccination + titer test for destinations that require them.
• Veterinary health certificate within destination country's window (often 10 days).
• Government endorsement from Vietnamese Department of Animal Health.
• Airline cargo booking with IATA crate.

Start at least 3 months before flight. See bringing pets to Vietnam for the equivalent inbound process — the reverse is similar in shape.

Shipping household goods home

Reverse of importing personal belongings:

• Get quotes from Vietnamese branches of international movers (AGS, Crown, Allied, Santa Fe) 2 months before.
• Sea freight Vietnam → Europe: 5–6 weeks; air freight: 1 week.
• Customs at destination — your home country may charge duty on items you bought in Vietnam.
• Inventory: itemised list essential for customs.

For shorter-stay departures: sell or donate large items; ship only what justifies the freight cost.

What to sell vs ship home

Sell in Vietnam	Ship home
Furniture, appliances, white goods	Sentimental items, art, photo albums
Most clothing	Custom-tailored Hội An clothing
Kitchenware (locally bought)	Heirloom kitchen gear, knives
Motorbike, car	Books in your home language
Electronics (often easier to re-buy at home)	Vinyl records, musical instruments
Plants	Pet (with its own paperwork)

Active expat-resale channels: Facebook groups ("Saigon Expats Buy Sell Trade"), Carousell Vietnam, Chợ Tốt (local marketplace, Vietnamese).

Final week practical

• Cash out larger VND amounts via Wise or bank wire — VND is not freely convertible abroad.
• Update bank with new address for statements and any remaining notifications.
• Visit embassy for any final attestations or apostilles of Vietnamese documents you need home.
• Print copies of Vietnamese employment contracts, tax-paid certificates, marriage certificates — useful at home.

At the airport

• Cash declaration if carrying over USD 5,000 equivalent.
• TRC — hand to immigration on exit (or keep as souvenir if it's expired).
• Pet documents — present at cargo terminal before flight.

Honest take

The 3–6 month start is the single thing that makes leaving Vietnam smooth. Pets, motorbike sales, and tax clearance are the longest-lead items. Don't book a one-way flight 4 weeks out and assume you'll figure it out — half the things you need to settle take longer than that.

The good news: thousands of expats leave Vietnam every year, the process is well-understood, and the resources exist. Start a checklist, work through it, and the country says goodbye cleanly.