How to test a move to Vietnam before you make it

The best way to test a move to Vietnam is to live here for a few months before you decide. If you cannot, come for two to four weeks with people to meet and clear questions to answer, and pick the timing with care.

This post is one section of The OV Guide to Moving to Vietnam, the members' guide built from OV sessions, the OV Summit and the OV Podcast. It draws on Overseas Vietnamese, or Viet Kieu, who made the move, and on guests who have watched many others try.

Know what you are testing

Before you book a flight, write down why you want to move. Curiosity can start the process, but a test trip only helps if you know what it should answer.

At OV Summit 2026, An Vo of JANUS Executive Search described a candidate in Australia who turned down an offer about 40% above his pay. Once he counted the hours and the lifestyle, it did not match what he valued. Money alone does not make the move work.

Minh Le, founder of VNG, decided as an intern at a securities firm in Melbourne. He looked around the morning meeting at tired, middle-aged brokers and saw his own future:

“I can see the vision of my future. That would be me in 20 years”

Your reason will be different. Write it down anyway, because it tells you what to look for while you are here.

A holiday is not a test

A short trip shows you the city at its best: friends free for dinner, no lease, no commute, no paperwork. Living here means a normal week with all of those.

One OV speaker who moved to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) from Germany found that one or two weeks was not enough to decide:

“What made it for me very easy is just being here for 3 months.”

Once your mind has adjusted, he says, the decision comes naturally. If you can work remotely for a season, or take a sabbatical, this is the strongest test there is.

If you only have a few weeks

If a few months is not possible, plan at least two to four weeks in Ho Chi Minh City, with a list of people you want to meet and why. Pick the timing with care:

• December to February is a good time. It is the dry season, and many Việt Kiều are home for the holidays.
• March is when companies hire with new headcount.
• Avoid the summer, and expect the weeks around Tết to be slow.

Visit like you are entering a market

Michelle Doan planned her move from Canada for about a year. She timed one visit around the OV Summit to meet many people in a few days. One of those warm contacts later referred her to her role at Google, where she now works on YouTube Shopping.

Her advice: visit like someone entering a market, with people to meet and ideas to test, not only for food and family.

She also found that the way you reach people matters. Cold LinkedIn messages worked for her in North America but got few replies in Vietnam. Replies rose sharply when she had shared context with the person, and senior people wanted to meet in person. That makes a test trip the right time for those meetings. We wrote more about her approach in how to find a job in Vietnam from abroad.

Questions to answer before you fly home

A good test trip ends with answers, not only impressions. Use the time to check:

• How you will earn: a job here, remote work for a company abroad, or your own business.
• Which papers you will need: a visa, a work permit and a residence card, or a path through Vietnamese citizenship.
• Where you would live and what a month costs there. Look at rentals in the areas you would choose, not at hotel prices.
• Whether it works for your household. Your partner and your children decide whether you stay as much as the job does.
• Who you could call. Count the people you met who would help or advise you next month.

If you cannot answer one of these yet, that is the focus of your next visit.

Still unsure? Come back more often

The honeymoon phase after a move often ends after about two months. A good first trip proves less than it feels like, so one visit is seldom enough.

If you are still unsure, Minh Le's advice is to come back more often, make friends and try things out:

“Answer that question by taking action. However small.”

Each visit should leave you with fewer open questions and more people you know by name.