There's a sequence that makes this easier, and it's mostly about not getting the order backwards.
1. Work out your visa path first
Before you commit to anything else, know how you're actually going to stay beyond a short visit. A tourist e-visa is fine for a scouting trip, but it isn't a relocation strategy. If a job is sponsoring you, your work permit and labour visa process usually needs to start before you land. If you're going the investor or family-sponsored route, that timeline looks different again. See Visa & Immigration for the real options — get this moving early, because it's usually the slowest step.
2. Plan a scouting trip if you haven't been
If you haven't spent real time in the city you're considering, do that before signing a year-long lease sight unseen. A couple of weeks in a short-term serviced apartment gives you a feel for neighbourhoods, commute times, and whether the city actually suits you — cheaper than discovering a mismatch after you've committed.
3. Sort health insurance before you need it
Get international health insurance in place before you move, not after something happens. It's one of those things that's easy to deprioritize until it isn't.
4. Decide what to do with your belongings
For most people with a normal amount of furniture, buying new or secondhand locally works out cheaper than shipping. If you have specific items worth shipping — not easily replaceable, genuinely valuable, sentimental — look into household movers rather than general parcel couriers, which aren't set up for this kind of move.
5. Find temporary accommodation, then look for a real lease in person
Book a few weeks somewhere short-term when you land. Use that window to actually view places rather than signing a lease remotely. Bring your passport and visa/work permit documents — you'll need them for the lease, and the landlord is required to register your residence with local police shortly after signing.
6. Open a bank account and get a local SIM
Both are usually straightforward once your visa or Temporary Residence Card is sorted — this tends to be one of the easier parts of the move, not the hard part.
7. Register your address and handle ongoing visa admin
Depending on your visa type, there may be ongoing registration or renewal steps. Keep track of expiry dates — Vietnam's immigration rules get updated fairly often, so don't assume whatever you read (including this checklist) stays accurate indefinitely without checking current official sources.
8. If you're moving with children, start the school search early
International school places, especially at the more established schools, can fill up — start this well before you land, not after.
What can wait
Learning Vietnamese, joining expat community groups, finding your favorite coffee shop — all genuinely useful, none of it urgent. Get the visa, housing and insurance sorted first; the rest settles in naturally once you're actually here.