Living in Vietnam
Rent, health cover and ways to get residency for a foreign retiree in Vietnam, checked 2026-09-26.
Rent for a one-bedroom flat
| City | Centre | Outside centre |
|---|
| Ho Chi Minh City | ₫15,220,770 | ₫7,852,924 |
| Hanoi | ₫10,514,521 | ₫7,335,714 |
| Da Nang | ₫13,635,450 | ₫8,848,988 |
Serviced apartments in District 1 and Tay Ho, popular with foreigners, rent above the city average.
Healthcare
Foreigners without a Vietnamese job use private international clinics and insurance.
- Basic expat insurance: $150–$200 a month
Residency routes
- No retirement visa (Non-citizens): Vietnam has no visa for living off savings. Many long-stayers chain 90-day multiple-entry e-visas (about US$25).
- Investor visa (DT) and residence card (Anyone investing in a Vietnamese company): From VND 3 billion (about US$120,000) for a residence card of up to five years; smaller companies get one-year cards.
Tax on a portfolio
- Residents (183+ days a year) are taxed on worldwide income.
- Selling securities is taxed at 0.1% of the sale price, whatever the gain. How this is applied to shares held abroad is not settled in practice.
- Foreign employees pay social and health insurance but not unemployment insurance.
When can you retire? · Where to retire