Melia Hanoi
44B Ly Thuong Kiet Street
Hanoi - Vietnam
Tel +844 3934 3343
Mobile +84 9 1237 5806
Fax +844 3934 3344
Website: www.meliahanoi.com.vn

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According to the latest Open Doors report, in academic year 2008/09, 12,823 students from Vietnam were studying in the United States (up 46.2% from the previous year). Vietnam has become the ninth-leading place of origin for students coming to the United States, moving up from thirteenth place in 2007/08. The majority of Vietnamese students interested in studying abroad are seeking an undergraduate education, or graduate study in the fields of business and information technology. They are mostly self-sponsored, but seeking financial aid. The fall fairs in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are among the largest fairs of their kind in Vietnam.

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The Official Courier for IIE Higher Education Fairs in Asia

OCS will be working with IIE again in 2010 as the official shipper of exhibitor materials to the IIE fair series. As the IIE fair official shipper, OCS will keep track of and store exhibitors’ materials in OCS overseas stations, and deliver them to the fair venue one day prior to the event day.

IIE strongly recommends using OCS as your courier to ensure customs clearance and safe arrival directly to the IIE fair venue. Using OCS’s courier service allows OCS, IIE and you to track your materials and ensure safe delivery directly to the venue. Participating institutions shipping with OCS will not need to make any international shipments. Instead, you can forward all your boxes to the OCS trade fair hub in Boston.

From its Boston trade fair hub, OCS will take care of the rest, including address labeling and export documentation. OCS will pay all duties and taxes on your behalf overseas and will oversee customs clearance for you in the receiving country. Complete shipping instructions will be emailed to all registered participants who has chosen to use OCS.

According to the long experience of IIE/Hong Kong, OCS performs all of these services seamlessly and automatically for all exhibitors who choose to ship with OCS. You can always contact OCS at fairs@shipOCS.com or call toll-free in the U.S. 1-877-2222-OCS, or from outside the U.S. - 1-781-933-1130.

Note: for participants NOT using OCS:
Please do NOT ship any materials to IIE or to fair organizers’ offices. Neither IIE nor fair organizers, will be able to assist you to track your shipment before the fair, or to help on the day of the fair.

If you decide to use another courier service to ship directly overseas, note that neither OCS nor IIE will be able to assist exhibitors to track or to locate or to assist delivery of shipping materials. If you have chosen not to use OCS, it is the responsibility of your carrier to deliver your materials “door-to-door” overseas to the fair venue on, or prior to the fair day. Please make sure your carrier is able to clear customs in the countries you ship to, and make sure they can take care of duty and taxes for you. Please do NOT ship your materials as “cargo” or “door-to-airport”, because these services generally do NOT include customs clearance.

If you ship your fair materials to the hotel in which you would stay. Please note that you are responsible for contacting your hotel to arrange and confirm shipment. Neither IIE offices nor fair organizers, will be able to assist you to track or locate delivery of your shipment, or, to assist if your packages are delayed in customs or undeliverable due to improper labeling or other error.

Again, IIE strongly recommends shipping through OCS to ensure receiving your shipment to the IIE fair venues on time.

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A tourist visa is required. Please contact the Vietnam Embassy in Washington, DC (202-861-0737) or the Vietnamese consulate in San Francisco, and allow at least 05 days for processing. You may also download the information that you will need for your visa from the Embassy webpage at www.vietnamembassy-usa.org. Generally, you will need to provide the Embassy/Consulate with a completed application form, two passport photos, a check for the visa fee, your passport, and a return express mail envelope. Visas are normally good for 30 days from the date you specify that you will enter the country. You must also decide your port of entry because this will be written on your visa and cannot be changed later. If you indicate that you will be traveling for tourist purposes and arriving by air, your visa will usually permit you to enter and exit by both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Please also take account of the Vietnamese observed holidays in planning for your visa application and travel.

Because you will be in Vietnam for a short visit, even if you extend for a few days to visit local institutions, please apply for a tourist visa. List the hotel where you will be staying as your contact. It is not appropriate to list IIE because as a foreign organization, we have no authority over you and are unable to sponsor visas. If you list the Ministry of Education and Training or a university, you will be required to have them sponsor your visa, delaying your application.

When you arrive in Vietnam, you will first go through immigration where your passport and entry-exit card are carefully checked. Next you will pick up your luggage and clear it through customs. Do not bring videos, or lots of bulk materials for fair distribution as this may cause delays. If something is held at customs for review, ask for a receipt and pick up the materials later (most often it is more trouble for the customs officer to issue the receipt than it is to clear the materials). Also, make sure to keep your entry-exit card and customs form together with your passport as they will be checked when you leave Vietnam.

After clearing customs, follow the flow of passengers out of the airport. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have done a good job of clearing the immediate area outside the airport of independent taxi drivers and hotel agents so you can get into the city hassle-free. In Hanoi: If you do not have a hotel car waiting for you, cross to the taxi area directly across from the exit and take either an Airport Taxi or Noi Bai Taxi. The standard fare into the city is around $15 and is posted at the taxi stand. They will assign a car and driver to you. In Ho Chi Minh City, if you have not already made other arrangements, there will be metered taxis lined up outside the airport, reliable companies are: Vinasun, SaigonTourist, Mai Linh Taxi. You need only tell the driver where you want to go. Please make sure that they turn on the meter and do not accept "quoted" prices.

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Melia Hanoi
44B Ly Thuong Kiet Street
Hanoi - Vietnam
Tel +844 3934 3343
Mobile +84 9 1237 5806
Fax +844 3934 3344
Website: www.meliahanoi.com.vn
Email: gse@meliahanoi.com.vn
Contact person: Nguyen Manh Cuong - Senior Sales Manager

Guestrooms at a special rate have been pre-blocked for IIE fair participants. Please complete and return this reservation form by Email or Fax before September 12, 2010 to:-

Melia Hanoi Reservation
Tel: 84-4-39343 343 ext 7303
Fax: 84-4-39348 688
Email:rsvn@meliahanoi.com.vn cc: (gse@meliahanoi.com.vn)

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• US Embassy in Hanoi
  
• US Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City
  
• Vietnam National Administration of Tourism
  
• Lonely Planet World Guide, Destination Vietnam
  
• GuideVietnam
  

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Ms. Helen S. Huntley, Country Director
Institute of International Education - Vietnam
C9 Giang Vo, Ba Dinh District
Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: (84-4) 3726-2524
Fax: (84-4) 3726-2523
Email: hhuntley@iievn.org