Problem number one is to get the Immigration Department to accept the application. Small problems are detected and the applicant sent off to gather more documents. This can be repeated several times. Problem number two is to get the application processed within the time span. This is a story that is repeated time and time again.
Landlords renting property to foreigners are a favorite target of local police.
Threats of not being responsible for the security of the house or even of declaring the house unfit for foreigners are common. Traffic police stop people on the streets for minor, or even nonexistent, traffic violations and extort money on the threat of a court visit on a trumped-up charge. The extra fee, if paid to the right person, will ensure that shipments pass through without being opened. A Vietnamese shipper said a consignment being sent abroad from Hanoi, via Haiphong port 105km east of the capital, required no fewer than seven separate payoffs. Foreign investors, too, know the problems.