Authorities of two Vietnamese provinces have fined and expelled five Chinese nationals for illegally entering Vietnam and one South Korean man for overstaying his visa to act as a tour guide.

>> Chinese man deported for stealing on flight Police in the northern province of Quang Ninh on Tuesday issued decisions to fine five Chinese citizens VND20 million (US$940) in total for illegally entering Vietnam from China by crossing the border without carrying out immigration procedures.

On Monday evening, a immigration management team under the provincial police department inspected the Minh Thanh Hotel in Quang Ninh’s Ha Long City and caught Yang Kun, 41, Zhu Yan Rong, 51, Kuang Yong, 50, Wang Guo Zhi, 52, and Yang Jing Feng, 49, staying there without passports or equivalent papers.   The Chinese nationals told the inspectors that they came from Guiyang City, the capital of Guizhou Province in southwest China. They also confessed that they had entered Lao Cai City by crossing the Nam Thi River in a ferry boat at 8:00 am the same day. The foreigners then hired a 7-seat car driven by Pham Ngoc Tien, a 50-year-old local man, to travel to Quang Ninh to take a tour of Ha Long Bay, they told police.  Quang Ninh police also fined Tien VND7.5 million ($352) for transporting people who illegally immigrated to Vietnam. The police also demanded that the five Chinese nationals leave Vietnam on Wednesday.

Illegal overstay Also yesterday, Quang Ninh police, in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Security’s Immigration Department, issued a decision to fine Yu Seong Il, 51, of South Korean nationality, VND30 million ($1,410) for illegal residence. On February 5, local immigration officers inspected the Perter Hotel in Dong Hung Thang urban area in Ha Long City and found Yu staying without a passport.

Yu Seong Il, a 51-year-old South Korean man, who overstayed his visa in Vietnam to work as a tour guide for over 4 years. Photo: Tuoi Tre

After being escorted to the local police office, Yu confessed to inspectors that he had used his passport to enter Vietnam many times as a tour guide for groups of South Koreans who took Vietnam tours.           In his latest entry into Vietnam, Yu obtained a visa with an expiry date of October 14, 2010, but after the date, he overstayed his visa to work as an illicit tour guide for years until his illegal act was discovered last Thursday.   Relevant Vietnamese agencies coordinated with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Hanoi to force the South Korean man to leave Vietnam on February 6 and put him on the list of persons who are banned from entering the Southeast Asian country from that date until 2018.

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