Four Days in Diplomatic Limbo

It seems I had a "professor moment" (like a senior moment or a blonde moment, but I was unable to carry out basic tasks in your world because I was distracted thinking about deep truths of the universe) when I was filling out my visa application to Vietnam. (Vietnam is a send-your-passport-to-the-embassy-in-DC visa process.) You see, my travels brought me to Hong Kong on the 15th, Ho Chi Minh City on on the 17th, and Nha Trang on the 21st. I simply must have read the wrong line from my itinerary, and my visa was for 30 days, starting the 21st.

I learned this at the ticket counter as I was checking in for my flight to Vietnam, on the 17th.

The ticket agent was understanding, but said she couldn't let me on the flight. (If Vietnam didn't let me, United would be responsible for my overnight quarantine and flying me back to someplace else; their liable for my presence.) I asked her what could be done, and she picked up the phone for me to talk to the Vietnamese consulate in Hong Kong (I was early, so there was no line). The conversation went something like this (I actually was feeling too stupid to be at all indignant or argumentative here):

Me: "Hi. I think I made a stupid mistake on my visa application, and put down the date for the wrong flight. Could you please let me know how I can amend it?"
...
Consulate official: "Since it was your own mistake, it would be very difficult for me to let you into Vietnam before the 21st, the date on your visa..."
Me: "Yes, I think it must have been my mistake, seeing the date. I don't want to blame anyone else for my mistake, but my scheduled flight is in a few hours, and I'd very much like to get to Hi Chi Minh City. Could you please help me with that?"

And then, somehow, he changed his mind. I think it was important that I just asked nicely for a favor. The United agent faxed my passport to him, he filled out some paperwork, and half an hour later I had a faxed letter that assured United (and me) that Vietnam immigration had been notified of my problem and that I would be allowed to amend my visa upon arrival, for a fee. (There actually is a procedure to get a visa on arrival, but....)

With my letter in hand, I got on the plane and flew to Ho Chi Minh City. On arrival, I went to the foreign visitor passport control line, where they told me to go to the arrival visa window. I went up to the glass window with one guy working, and four other guys in the back not doing much. People were coming up around me throwing their passports and visa applications through the hole in the window (there is no queuing norm in much of Asia). There was a posted amendment price of 10USD. They guy looked at my letter and my visa, and said I was OK; no fee, no editing the visa. I went back to passport control (a different officer), showed my passport and letter again, and was told to go back to the arrival visa window. I explained I'd been there and they said it was OK. The passport control officer rolled her eyes, shrugged, and stamped me through.

I'm thrilled...I made it through this ordeal, and just as my luggage is arriving on the belt. Then it hits me: all I have is a visa for four days hence, and a letter saying I would be allowed to amend it. No amendment.

Well, I avoided run-ins with the authorities for four days, and the hotel desks that needed to collect that information dutifully wrote down my visa expiration date more than 30 days out. But it was conceptually interesting to be an illegal immigrant for a few days.