Open a Bank Account in Nha Trang as a Foreigner
A foreigner opens a payment account with a passport and, if residing in Vietnam, an entry visa, a visa-replacing document or proof of visa exemption. A bank must meet you in person when you use a passport. Staying 12 months or longer makes you a resident.
On this page
What does a bank in Nha Trang ask a foreigner? First it decides whether you are a resident or a non-resident. A stay of 12 months or longer is what separates the two.
Người nước ngoài được phép cư trú tại Việt Nam với thời hạn từ 12 tháng trở lên.
A foreigner permitted to reside in Vietnam for 12 months or longer is a resident.
Pháp lệnh Ngoại hối, Điều 4 khoản 2 điểm h
A foreigner in Vietnam to study, receive medical treatment or travel is not a resident, whatever the length of stay. Any entity outside the resident definition is a non-resident. The account record states which one you are.
Which case are you?
| Your situation | What the bank applies |
|---|---|
| Staying 12 months or longer with permission | Resident |
| Studying, getting medical treatment or travelling, any length | Non-resident |
| Anyone outside the resident definition | Non-resident |
Residents who are foreigners and non-residents use the same Vietnamese-dong account rules. The foreign-currency rules differ, as shown below.
What the bank asks for
A foreign individual’s file must contain a passport. A foreigner residing in Vietnam must also have one of the following:
- An entry visa.
- A document with visa-equivalent value.
- Proof of visa exemption.
A temporary residence card is valid in place of a visa. See temporary residence cards in Nha Trang and temporary residence registration. An electronic identity accessed through a level-2 electronic identification account can replace the passport.
The account record for a foreign individual covers these items:
- Full name, date of birth, nationality, occupation and phone number.
- Passport number, its issue date, issuing place and expiry date.
- The entry-visa number or the number of the visa-replacing document, for a foreigner residing in Vietnam, except where visa-exempt under law.
- The address of residence registration abroad and the address registered in Vietnam, for a foreigner residing in Vietnam.
A bank may set additional documents beyond the legal list, but it must notify customers and give specific guidance. A person aged 15 or older who is not restricted in civil-act capacity may open a payment account.
What Vietcombank lists
Vietcombank says its current account is open to Vietnamese citizens and to foreigners who hold a valid visa and documents under Vietnam’s regulations. Its debit-card issuing file lists a passport valid in term. For foreigners the file lists one of these papers showing permission to reside in Vietnam for 12 months or longer:
- A visa.
- A temporary residence certificate or a temporary residence card.
- A permanent residence card.
- A labour contract or an admission decision.
The copy is shown with the original. The file also lists other papers under Vietcombank rules for opening accounts in each period. Ask the branch for the current list.
When your papers expire
The bank must track the validity of your identity papers while the account is in use. It must notify you at least 30 days before an identity paper expires. It must suspend payment transactions and cash withdrawals once the papers have expired. Renew the visa or card first, then update the bank.
BIDV states a card’s validity does not exceed the validity of the holder’s identity papers and, for foreigners, the period of residence in Vietnam.
How to open the account
- Choose a branch from the list in the next section.
- Bring your passport and visa papers from the list above.
- Attend in person. With a passport, the bank must meet you and check your identity papers. It must also match your biometric information with the biometric information shown on those papers.
- Skip online opening if you want a foreign-currency account. Opening by electronic means does not apply to a foreign-currency payment account.
Branch or online?
Plan on the branch. Vietcombank lists its online opening service for residents 18 and above, Vietnamese nationality only. The bank must check that the identity documents are lawful and valid, and match the account holder’s biometric information. BIDV says that when a foreign individual registers at the counter, the transaction-limit package is the one the customer registers for.
If you are not in Vietnam
Where the account holder is a foreign individual not present in Vietnam, the bank may verify customer-identification information through a third party. An amending circular that took effect on 01/12/2025 added this.
Bank branches in Nha Trang
The BIDV Khanh Hoa Branch gave its address as 1292, 2/4 Street, Van Thanh Ward, Nha Trang City, in a notice posted 25/11/2024. The change applies from 28/11/2024. The phone number in that notice is 0258.3823495. Van Thanh Ward is one of the wards merged into the new Nha Trang Ward by the 2025 resolution on Khanh Hoa’s commune-level units.
1292 duong 2/4, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa · Open in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)
Open BIDV Khanh Hoa Branch in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)
Vietcombank announced a change of address for its branches and transaction offices from 01/07/2025. Its address appendix lists these Nha Trang offices, all in Khanh Hoa Province:
| Office | Address in the 01/07/2025 appendix |
|---|---|
| Khanh Hoa branch head office | 17 Quang Trung Street, Nha Trang Ward |
| Nguyen Thien Thuat transaction office | 9 Nguyen Thien Thuat Street, Nha Trang Ward |
| Binh Tan transaction office | 192 Da Tuong apartment block, Nha Trang Ward |
| Phuoc Hai transaction office | Thich Quang Duc Street, Le Hong Phong 1 urban area, Nam Nha Trang Ward |
| Vinh Phuoc transaction office | 626 Street 2/4, Bac Nha Trang Ward |
Confirm the address and opening hours with the branch before you travel.
Using the account
Dong and foreign-currency accounts
A non-resident, and a resident who is a foreigner, may use a Vietnamese-dong account to receive lawful dong income in Vietnam, including salary, bonus, allowance and fees. The same account may be debited to pay or withdraw cash for spending in Vietnam, or to buy foreign currency to transfer abroad.
A resident foreigner may credit a foreign-currency account with salary, bonus or allowance, and may debit it to transfer money abroad. A non-resident may also credit the account with money transferred from abroad, and may debit it to withdraw foreign-currency cash.
Sending money abroad
A foreigner with foreign currency in an account may transfer it abroad. With lawful dong income, the person may buy foreign currency to transfer abroad. All payments and transfers for current transactions between a resident and a non-resident are freely carried out.
The bank examines the papers you present, based on the actual and reasonable need of each transfer. You present the documents the bank requires and answer for their accuracy. You do not have to present proof that you completed tax obligations to the Vietnamese State.
Fees, minimum balance and transfer checks
Fees and balance rules differ by bank, so ask the branch for its current personal-account fee schedule. Vietcombank’s notice shows how one large bank handles it. Its fee policy took effect on 01/01/2022. Vietcombank waives the fee for every transfer, inside or outside its system, on its VCB Digibank app.
Those free transfers need no service package and no minimum balance. It also waived all management and maintenance fees on VCB Digibank. From the same date it stopped new sign-ups to its VCB Eco, VCB Plus, VCB Pro and VCB Advanced account packages. This is one bank’s notice, so fees at other banks are not covered here.
The State Bank of Vietnam also sets how online payments are checked. For online payments in its type C class, the biometric check is matched to the chip of the customer’s citizen identity card, or to the customer’s electronic identification account. Both are Vietnamese identity documents, and the decision does not describe a route for a passport holder.
For lower-risk payments, the decision’s list includes an OTP sent by SMS, voice call or email to the number or address the customer registered beforehand. The OTP goes to the number or address registered beforehand.
ATM and card fees
Only the card-issuing organisation may charge its own cardholder, under a fee schedule it has published. That schedule must be posted publicly and given to the cardholder before use and when it changes. A fee change takes effect at least 07 days after notice. The issuer may not charge any fee outside its published schedule.
Vietcombank’s debit-card fee schedule took effect on 12.05.2025. It charges these fees for a domestic debit card:
| Cash withdrawal | Fee |
|---|---|
| At a Vietcombank ATM | VND 1,000 per transaction |
| At another bank’s ATM | VND 3,000 per transaction |
For an international debit card, a cash withdrawal outside Vietnam costs 3.64% of the amount. BIDV says card usage limits are set in each period by card product and class, and published on its website. Check the schedule of your own bank before you travel, because fees change.
Foreign-currency cash
Individuals holding foreign-currency cash may keep it, carry it, give it, bequeath it, sell it to a licensed credit institution, or transfer or carry it abroad under the decree. A resident individual who receives foreign currency from one-way transfers may keep it, carry it, deposit it in a foreign-currency account or sell it to a licensed credit institution. The same resident may withdraw it in cash for the permitted purposes.
Within the foreign currency it holds, a licensed credit institution must meet the foreign-currency needs of residents and non-residents for current-transaction payments. The opening and use of foreign-currency accounts follow the foreign exchange law and the payment-account circular.
Carrying cash in and out of Vietnam
A person crossing a Vietnamese international border checkpoint by passport must declare cash above these amounts to customs:
| Cash | Declare above |
|---|---|
| Foreign currency | US$5,000 or equivalent |
| Vietnamese dong | VND 15,000,000 |
An individual leaving Vietnam with foreign-currency cash, dong or gold above the State Bank level must declare it to border-gate customs and show papers as the State Bank requires.
Leaving with more than the threshold
Show customs one of two documents:
- A certificate from a licensed credit institution allowing you to carry the cash abroad.
- A written approval from the State Bank of Vietnam.
If the amount is not more than you declared on your most recent entry, show the customs-endorsed entry-exit declaration instead. It is valid only for your next exit, within 12 months of the date written on it.
Depositing cash you brought in
To deposit foreign-currency cash into your own foreign-currency payment account, show the bank the customs-endorsed declaration of the amount brought in. It is valid for this deposit within 60 days of its date. Foreign-currency cash at or below US$5,000 must also be declared if you want to deposit it.
Fines for not declaring
A person entering by passport who fails to declare, or under-declares, cash or gold above the threshold is fined as follows, without criminal prosecution:
| Value of the undeclared item | Fine |
|---|---|
| VND 5,000,000 to under VND 50,000,000 | VND 1,000,000–2,000,000 |
| VND 50,000,000 to under VND 100,000,000 | VND 5,000,000–10,000,000 |
| VND 100,000,000 or more | VND 10,000,000–20,000,000 |
A person leaving by passport who fails to declare, or under-declares, is fined as follows, without criminal prosecution:
| Value of the undeclared item | Fine |
|---|---|
| VND 5,000,000 to under VND 30,000,000 | VND 1,000,000–3,000,000 |
| VND 30,000,000 to under VND 70,000,000 | VND 5,000,000–15,000,000 |
| VND 70,000,000 to under VND 100,000,000 | VND 15,000,000–25,000,000 |
| VND 100,000,000 or more | VND 30,000,000–50,000,000 |
Residents and non-residents may not send foreign exchange in postal items. Arriving by air? See the Cam Ranh Airport arrival guide.
Gold and a checklist before you go
A person entering or leaving Vietnam makes no customs declaration at all if carrying no baggage over the tax-free allowance.
A foreign individual entering or leaving by passport may not carry gold bars or raw gold. Gold jewellery of 300 grams or more in total must be declared to customs.
A credit institution must issue the certificate for carrying cash abroad above the threshold, or reply in writing if it will not, within 3 working days of a valid application.
- Passport, plus a visa, residence card or other residence paper.
- The original and a copy of each paper.
- Proof of how long you may stay, since the 12-month test decides resident status.
- A plan to attend in person for the identity and biometric check.
- A question for the branch about extra papers and current fees.
Photos and clips uploaded to Google Maps (BIDV Khanh Hoa Branch on Google Maps (opens in a new tab)) by @Passion Because of, @Chung Tran.
Step by step
- Check your statusStaying 12 months or longer makes a foreigner a resident.
- Bring your documentsBring your passport and, if you reside in Vietnam, an entry visa, a visa-replacing document or proof of visa exemption.
- Go in personWith a passport, the bank must meet you in person and match your biometric information with the identity papers.
Not confirmed: Fees for foreign-issued cards at Nha Trang ATMs are not confirmed. Ask your card issuer and the ATM's bank. The State Bank biometric rule names Vietnamese ID, so ask the branch how a passport holder passes large app transfers.
Common questions
Do I need a visa to open an account?
A foreigner residing in Vietnam must show an entry visa, a document replacing a visa, or proof of visa exemption alongside the passport. A temporary residence card is valid in place of a visa.
Can I open an account online?
Opening a payment account by electronic means does not apply to a foreign-currency payment account or a joint payment account.
I am not in Vietnam. Can the bank verify me?
Where the account holder is a foreign individual not present in Vietnam, the bank may verify identification information through a third party or by engaging another organisation.
Can I post foreign currency to someone?
Residents and non-residents may not send foreign exchange in postal items.
What is the BIDV Khanh Hoa branch phone number?
The BIDV notice of 25/11/2024 gives 0258.3823495.
Can a foreigner use Vietcombank's online account opening?
Vietcombank lists its online opening service for residents 18 and above of Vietnamese nationality only.
Where is the Vietcombank branch in Nha Trang?
Vietcombank lists its Khanh Hoa branch head office at 17 Quang Trung Street, Nha Trang Ward, Khanh Hoa Province.
What happens when my passport or visa expires?
The bank must suspend payment transactions and cash withdrawals when the customer's identity papers have expired.
Can I send money abroad from my account?
A foreigner with foreign currency in an account may transfer it abroad; with lawful dong income, the person may buy foreign currency to transfer abroad.
How old must I be to open an account?
A person aged 15 or older who is not restricted in civil-act capacity may open a payment account.
Do I declare cash when I leave Vietnam?
A traveller leaving by passport must declare foreign-currency or Vietnamese-dong cash above US$5,000 or VND 15,000,000 to customs.
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General information checked against the sources listed above, not legal advice for your situation. Rules and office practice change; confirm with the immigration office or a licensed adviser before you act. See how guides are checked.
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