Development Update April 2010

Phu My Hung is running out of places to build massive new apartment buildings, so the area is extending south wards along Nguyen Huu Tho and west along the section of Nguyen Van Linh that connects up to Quoc Lo 1A. Basically, if you were heading out of D4 over the Kinh Te Bridge, and down past Lotte Mart, you will reach the Nguyen Van Linh intersection where you can turn left into Phu My Hung or go straight on to continue on Nguyen Huu Tho which runs down into Nha Be district. It is here, just on the other side of NVL that major new apartments are being built.

Here, the first two towers of the impressive looking Kenton development stand in front of the completed Hoang Anh Gia Lia 3.





Aforementioned HAGL 3.



On the other side of the street is 'Dragon City'. An interesting complex of - I don't know what - town houses? They are certianly not the usual model for housing in Vietnam! This block of houses and apartments has the river behind it.



More of 'Dragon City' - literally 30 seconds beyond is the marshland of Nha Be.



Heading back over NVL and up into town, this portion of Nguyen Huu Tho is also being heavily developed - what was once a barren wasteland is being transformed into high end residential apartments and houses. It is called Sunrise City, opposite the Lotte Mart department store. Here is the progress of the main tower block.



The above picture shows the BiTexaco Tower in the background, and it is coming to dominate the Saigon skyline from all angles. From Cau Ong Lanh, looking over a section of East-West highway into D1.



From outside Ben Thanh market.



Looking down Dong Khoi from outside the opera house.



Another notable addition to the District 1 skyline, Vincom Center . This is looking down Ly Tu Trong, the museum of Ho Chi Minh City on the right hand side.



It all looks very grand as you come to the entrance, you could be in Singapore or KL. However, I'd really rather the coffee shop and small park was still there.



Talking of the total destruction of the character of this area, an entire city block will be raised between Le Loi, Dong Khoi and Le Thanh Ton, a block which housed the Eden shopping mall, Fahasa Book Store and most famously of all, Givral bakery. Thanh Nien laments the closure and relates the history of one of Saigon's city center favourites here. This block is adjacent to Vincom tower.

Looking down Dong Khoi, what used to be the main Saigon tourist office:



Looking down Le Loi from outside the opera house at the block ready for demolition. Another one bites the dust.

Another piece of the ring road

The elevated roadway that links Nguyen Van Linh to the Phu My Bridge has now been open for a week or so.


It's bumpy, the bike lane is too narrow, there's the dangerous exit point when joining up with the main bridge as you have to cut across the car lanes to join the next motorbike lane...it's Vietnamese. It does however scythe a path straight through the narrow streets of District 7 below and shorten the PMH - D2/Hanoi Highway journey time even more.



This is another piece of the ring road. Quoc Lo 1A - the main highway that comes from My Tho and then north up the eastern side of Saigon and eventually looping around the north of the city to exit in the west and Thu Duc/Bien Hoa used to provide the only navigation of HCMC. Now, turning off the highway 1A you can join Nguyen Van Linh and shoot straight across the south of the city, through Phu My Hung and over the Saigon River to reach almost the same place. Work is ongoing on the D2 side of the bridge to improve the link to Hanoi Highway even more.

East-West highway also due to be completed (tunnel and Thu Thiem section) some time in the near future!

Residency at last...by hook or by crook

Just looking back through my passports I count a total of 8 Vietnam visas, thats one A3 (one year), one C2 (one year) and 6 B3s. The B3 was the old 6 month multiple entry tourist visa, now 3 months valid. Hence my first 5 B3s were 6 months and the last one dated January 2010 was 3 months, expiring April 1st. I gave up on the idea of permanent residency talked about in the previous post I wrote - not really feasible. Rumours abound of a 'family visa' which may exist buried in the law somewhere..you'd think there must be a simple way for someone with family here to reside.

As Kevin just blogged they are continuing to crack down.

Foreigners working in Vietnam for more than three months without a permit will not have their visas or their temporary residence cards extended, according to the draft.

In many cases, they will be deported, the draft said.

Six months after the draft takes effect this July, all foreign workers that have not applied for a work permit will be sent home.

How they are going to enforce this is beyond me. And of course, there are many ways around the problem, being Vietnam and all. 'Knowing someone' helps - although hardly fair on the rest of us, if someone can sort you out through the back door I'd make use of it. Then there's the Visa exemption if you are Vietnamese overseas or married here. Read this, how to get a 5 year Visa exemption - and you don't have to leave country every 90 days either.

The following from TN, without going into too much detail, explains how we have arranged residency cards for myself and Louisa (as my dependent).

Foreigners will not need the permit if they are members of limited firms that have two or more members, owners of one-member limited firms, board members of joint stock firms, promoters of specific services, and lawyers that are allowed by the Ministry of Justice to work in Vietnam.

So finally, after 5.5 years, we have three years of uninterrupted legality in country.