Registering your stay in Da Lat: the landlord’s job, your problem
Every foreigner who spends a night in Vietnam must be declared to the police — and the declaration is filed not by you but by whoever owns the roof over your head. Hotels do it automatically. With a rented flat it is a conversation you have to start yourself, because without that record you cannot extend a visa, and the landlord can be fined up to 20 million dong.
New rules since 24 July 2026 Ministry of Public Security circular 87/2026/TT-BCA of 9 June 2026 requires the stay to be declared as soon as the guest checks in. Electronic filing is accepted around the clock, seven days a week; the paper form NA17 must reach the commune police within 12 hours, or 24 in remote areas.
Who files, and what
The filing is done by the place of stay — the owner, their legal representative or someone they authorise. The guest files nothing, but the form cannot be filled in without their passport.
Name, sex, date of birth, nationality.
Passport number.
The date your permitted stay runs to, and how long you plan to stay.
The fines land on the host Under decree 282/2025/ND-CP, in force since 15 December 2025: 3–5 million dong for one to three undeclared foreigners (the same for an account opened on false details), 10–15 million for four to eight, and 15–20 million for nine or more. The old decree 144/2021 had a single 3–5 million band for everything.
What this means for the tenant
Ask on the day you move in whether the registration is filed, and ask to see the confirmation. It is not nitpicking: the fine is theirs, the failed visa extension is yours.
If you move out or change flats, the registration is filed again at the new address.
A landlord who rents long-term and “would rather not bother with the paperwork” is a reason to keep looking: you will pay for it with your own permitted stay.
Hotels and homestays register you at the desk — no need to ask.
Filing rules come from Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security circular 87/2026/TT-BCA of 9 June 2026, in force since 24 July 2026. The fines come from government decree 282/2025/ND-CP of 30 October 2025, in force since 15 December 2025, replacing 144/2021/ND-CP. Checked on 8 August 2026.
Options and prices
Police registration (tam tru) must
Ward police · lamdong.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn
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Every foreigner's address must be declared within 12 hours of arrival. It is your landlord's or hotel's legal duty, not yours — but it is your problem if they skip it.
Worth knowing. On your first day in a new rental, ask your landlord for proof they filed it and photograph it. Undeclared residence causes problems later at extension or residence-card stage.
Careful. Since 15 Dec 2025 the fines on the accommodation provider run from 3M to 25M₫. Since May 2026 filing goes through a unified national platform. District-level police no longer exist — go to ward police.
Immigration office of Lam Dong province heads-up
19 Tran Phu, central Da Lat
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This is where a foreigner in Da Lat goes for anything involving their stay: extending a visa, applying for a temporary residence card, dealing with a lost passport or a registration problem. Applications are handed in and documents collected at the province's one-stop administrative centre at 19 Tran Phu, in the middle of town — you do not need to go anywhere else for ordinary matters.
Worth knowing. Bring the passport, a copy of it, the entry stamp or visa, and proof that your address was registered by the landlord. Vietnamese officials work with paper: print everything in advance rather than showing it on a screen. Come in the morning — the office breaks for lunch and the afternoon queue is longer.
Careful. Two addresses circulate online and both send you to the wrong place. The immigration department itself moved on 20 March 2026 to 210 Quoc lo 20 in Duc Trong, thirty kilometres south on the airport road — that is where documents are processed, not where you hand them in. And many sites still publish the old address at 15 Tran Hung Dao, which has not been in use for a long time. For ordinary matters go to 19 Tran Phu.
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