Most guides about Da Nang tell you where the beaches are. This one covers the boring part: the paperwork, the accounts, and the small decisions that are annoying to undo later.
Week one
Get a local SIM. Buy one at the airport or any Viettel, Vinaphone or Mobifone shop in town. Bring your passport — registration is required. Data is cheap by most standards, and you will need a Vietnamese number for almost everything else on this list: banking, delivery apps, Zalo.
Install Zalo. This is not optional. In Vietnam, Zalo is how people communicate — your landlord, the plumber, the laundry place, the motorbike mechanic. WhatsApp exists among foreigners, but if you only use WhatsApp you will be slower to reach half the people you need.
Sort out residence registration. Foreigners staying in Vietnam must be registered with local authorities at their address, and the accommodation provider is responsible for filing it. Hotels do this automatically. If you rent privately, confirm with your landlord that it has been done, and keep a copy. This matters later for visa extensions and various official errands.
Download the apps you will actually use. Grab for rides and food. Be for a local alternative. ShopeeFood for restaurant delivery. Google Maps works fine here; Apple Maps is patchier for small streets.
Weeks two to four
Open a bank account. Techcombank, VPBank and MB are commonly used by foreigners. You will typically need your passport, your visa, and proof of address — which is another reason to sort out registration first. Requirements vary between banks and change over time, so call ahead rather than queuing twice.
Once you have an account, you get VietQR. Almost every business in Vietnam accepts a QR bank transfer, from restaurants to the woman selling bánh mì on the corner. It is faster than cards and there are no fees on most transfers.
Decide about a scooter. Renting costs far less than buying and includes maintenance. Buying makes sense past six months or so, and you can usually resell for close to what you paid.
Either way: you need a licence that is valid in Vietnam. An international driving permit alone is not automatically sufficient — Vietnam recognises IDPs issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention, and many countries issue under the 1949 Geneva Convention instead. Check which one yours is. Riding without valid documentation means fines, and more importantly it may void your travel insurance if you have an accident.
Wear a proper helmet, not the thin plastic ones sold on the street. Traffic injuries are the most common serious problem foreigners run into here.
Find your places. A coffee shop where you work well. A phở place you like. A laundry within walking distance. A pharmacy. Having these settled makes the city feel like home much faster than sightseeing does.
Month two and three
Understand your visa position properly. Vietnamese visa policy changes, and the rules differ substantially between an e-visa, a tourist visa, and a business visa. Extensions and conversions are possible in some situations and not in others. Talk to a reputable agency in Da Nang rather than relying on a forum post from two years ago — the cost is small compared to the cost of getting it wrong.
Whatever your situation, keep more buffer than you think you need. Leaving the extension to the last week is how people end up on an expensive emergency flight to Bangkok.
Register with your embassy if yours offers it. Free, takes minutes, useful if there is a typhoon or you lose your passport.
Sort out health cover. Da Nang has good private hospitals — Family Hospital and Vinmec are commonly used by foreigners. International insurance is worth having; a serious accident or a medical evacuation is the one expense here that can genuinely hurt.
Learn ten words of Vietnamese. Not for fluency — for goodwill. Xin chào (hello), cảm ơn (thank you), bao nhiêu (how much), không cay (not spicy). The difference in how you are treated is out of proportion to the effort.
Things people get wrong
Signing a twelve-month lease in week one. You do not yet know which neighbourhood suits you, how loud your street gets at night, or whether the afternoon sun makes your room unbearable. Rent monthly first. It costs a little more and saves a lot.
Underestimating the rainy season. October to December brings serious rain, and occasionally flooding. If you arrive in sunny June, the city you signed a lease in is not the city you will be living in come November.
Assuming everything is cheap. Local food, rent and transport are inexpensive. Imported groceries, Western restaurants, alcohol and electronics are not especially cheap, and in some cases cost more than at home.
Only meeting other foreigners. Easy to do in An Thuong, and it means you learn very little about the place you moved to.
A note on rent
Monthly rates are dramatically lower than nightly rates for the same room — often less than half per night. If you are staying beyond thirty days, always ask for the monthly price rather than booking through a nightly platform. The difference over three months can easily cover a flight home.
Ask specifically: how is electricity billed, is there a separate meter, what is included, how much deposit, and when is it returned.
RentalFM operates six buildings across Da Nang and rents mostly to people staying a month or longer. Electricity at the state rate with individual meters, written contracts, our own maintenance team, and support in English, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese.