By Lee Jon-young

Travelers who lose or have their passports stolen while traveling in Vietnam can now get an "extension of temporary residence for departure" (exit visa) at the Da Nang Immigration Office without having to travel to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City.

According to the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) on Sept. 20, the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam (which oversees immigration offices in all regions of Vietnam) sent a letter to the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Da Nang on August 11, officially informing that "From August 15, exit visas can be issued at the Da Nang Immigration Office."

Previously, in Vietnam, foreigners who lost or damaged their passports had to obtain an exit visa at an immigration office of the Ministry of Public Security to leave the country.

The Da Nang immigration office is not authorized to issue exit visas, so if you had a passport problem in Da Nang, you had to travel to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City.

The KNPA recognized this inconvenience through the local police attaché, and when KNPA Commissioner Yoon Hee-geun visited Vietnam in June and met with the Vietnamese officials, including Minister of Public Security Lum, he requested swift action to authorize the Da Nang Immigration Office to issue exit visas.

On August 15, two months later, the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam took steps to allow the Danang Immigration Office to issue exit visas.

The Korean community in Da Nang welcomed the move, saying, "It's great that the issue of exit visas, which was the most important controversy in Da Nang, has been resolved." "I'm happy that Da Nang is getting better one by one," according to an official of the KNPA.

"Due to the large number of Korean nationals staying in Vietnam and the large number of tourists, various incidents and accidents frequently occur," said an official from the KNPA. "We have been making great efforts to build a cooperative relationship with the Ministry of Public Security in Vietnam so that when our nationals encounter difficulties in Vietnam, they can be resolved quickly, and we are very pleased that these efforts can directly benefit our nationals."

We look forward to building on our strong relationship and working with the Ministry of Public Security to address expatriate concerns, apprehend fugitives, and solve transnational crimes."