FAQs

1. Which information is required when I apply Vietnam Visa?
Applying visa for Vietnam online just requires your a couples of minutes filling in the Vietnam Visa application form online including the following information:
• Your full name in your passport
• Your date of birth
• Your nationality shown in your passport
• Your passport number
• Your proposed arrival date
• Your purpose of entry and your types of visa (whether to pick up : on arrival or Vietnam Embassy/Consulate)

2. How many kind of Vietnam Visa? Which one I should apply?
Vietnam Visa can be categorized in different ways, depending on such criteria as times of validity, mode to pick up, purpose of entering, etc. Here we would like name the most popular categories:
2.1. Mode to pick up: You can either pick up Vietnam visa upon arrival (visa on arrival) or at Vietnam Embassy/Consulate (visa code) in the country you are living
2.2. Purpose of Entry: Tourist (Visit) Visa, Business Visa, Student Visa

3. How does Vietnam Visa on arrival work? What does it look like?
Vietnam Visa on arrival should be applied for those who enter by air only as this visa is supposed to pick up upon arrival at Vietnam airport. Before picking up your visa, you are required to apply for a Vietnam Visa approval letter by Vietnam Immigration Department through such reliable organization as govietnamvisa.org . A sample of the letter can be found here.
The steps of obtaining Vietnam Visa On arrival are as follows:
– Apply at govietnamvisa.org
– After one or two working days, receive the scanned Vietnam Visa approval letter by Vietnam Immigration Department.
– Use the Visa approval letter to get on board and stamp Vietnam Visa on arrival airport in Vietnam
Notice: Your valid email should be registered as the scanned Vietnam Visa approval letter by Vietnam Immigration Department is supposed to be sent to you through your registered email when you apply.

4. Can I use Vietnam Visa approval letter to enter by land?
No, Vietnam Visa approval letter is used for those who travel by air only (Vietnam landing visa or Vietnam Visa on arrival). In case you enter Vietnam not by air, you should apply for Visa code (pick you your visa at Vietnam Embassy/Consulate before travelling to Vietnam).

5. What is Vietnam Visa approval code?
Those who apply for Vietnam Visa code at govietnamvisa.org will be granted a Vietnam Visa approval code by Vietnam Immigration Department. This code should be print out and brought associated with your original passport to your nearest Vietnam Embassy and get your Vietnam Visa stamp there.

6. Who are exempted Vietnam Visa?
The followings people are exempted for Vietnam Visa in a given period:
6.1. Thailand passport holders (30 days)
6.2. Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, , Cambodia, Lao, Philippines and Brunei passport holders (21 days)
6.3 Korea, Japan, Russian & Scandinavians (Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland passport holders) (15 days)
6.4. French diplomatic or official passport holders (90 days or several visits within 6 months)
6.5. Chile diplomatic or official passport holders (less than 60 days)
6.6. APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) Holders from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies (less than 60 days)

6.7. Vietnam Visa exemption for visiting Phu Quoc Island: applied for foreigners and Vietnamese Nationals who hold foreign passport (15 days)

6.8. Vietnamese oversea holding visa exemption certificate (less than 90 days). Note: in order to get your visa exemption certificate, you should contact your nearest Vietnam Embassy/Consulate to get the letter. In case, you would like to avoid the hassle of getting this certificate, you can use your other passport (foreign passport) to apply for Vietnam Visa Fee at govietnamvisa.org

The other cases are required to apply Visa for Vietnam (either Vietnam Visa on arrival or Visa code) before going to the country.

7. Where can I obtain Vietnam visa?
There are two ways for obtaining Vietnam Visa: on arrival at Vietnam airport or Vietnam Embassy/Consulate before you travel to Vietnam

7.1. Apply Vietnam Visa on arrival:
Before picking up your visa on arrival, you are required to apply for visa approval letter granted by Vietnam Immigration Department at govietnamvisa.org . after receiving the visa approval letter, you should print it out to get on board and stamp Vietnam Visa on checking in Vietnam airport
7.2. Stamp Vietnam Visa at Vietnam Embassy/Consulate
The other way to get Visa for Vietnam is applying for a Vietnam Visa code (visa to pick up at Vietnam Embassy/Consulate before travelling to Vietnam): Before going to Vietnam Embassy to stamp visa, it would be quicker and easier for you to have a Vietnam Visa approval code by Vietnam Immigration Department. This approval code can be sourced through such organization as govietnamvisa.org, it takes only 1 or 2 working day.

8. How much I have to pay for getting Vietnam Visa?
It depends which type of visa you apply for and where you apply. Following is the general Vietnam Visa fee information in different ways of obtaining Vietnam Visa

8.1. Apply Vietnam Visa Fee
This way is more time saving and convenient, secured, and cheaper. In this case, the there are two types of fee:

8.1.1. Service fee (to get your visa approval letter/code) by Vietnam Immigration Department before you get on board. This fees varies from different organization, govietnamvisa.org commit to offer the best service fee and reliable and correct Vietnam Visa advice.

8.1.2. Stamping fee: This is the fixed fee regulated by Vietnam Immigration on arrival at Vietnam airport. For the detailed on arrival Vietnam Visa fee, please have a look at the above fee table.

8.2. Apply Vietnam Visa at Vietnam Embassy /Consulate:
This way is more time-consuming and complicated as before you spend time going to Vietnam Embassy, you need to contact them beforehand to make sure their staff will be available and the working hours there. Besides, apply Vietnam Visa at Vietnam Embassy is likely to be more expensive (70 averagely for one month single visa) compared to get approval by Vietnam Immigration and use it to stamp visa. To save your time and facilitate the procedures of obtaining Vietnam Visa, we recommend visa on arrival for those who enter Vietnam by air. Just spend a couple of minutes filling in the Vietnam Visa application online, and then get the approval by Vietnam Immigration Department 1 or two working days after that. Vietnam Visa on arrival is surely the most simple, time-saving and economical.

9. How long does it take to get a Vietnam Visa?
9.1. In case you apply Vietnam Visa Fee: It takes only 1 or 2 working days to get the approval after your final confirmation and payment and provision of adequate information for processing Vietnam Visa. Once you have got Vietnam Visa on arrival on hand, you are ready to get Vietnam Visa any time on arrival at Vietnam Visa airport (Noi Bai international airport, Tan Son Nhat international airport and Danang International airport).

9.2. In case you apply Vietnam Visa at Vietnam Embassy: It takes averagely 3 to 5 days, sometimes a whole week as they need time to check your information and your passport and your other related information before approval and stamping visa.

10. What are Vietnam customs procedures? How long does it takes?
Normally, there will be an application form for Vietnam entry and exit to fill in (each applicant have one separately). However those who get visa approval letter from govietnamvisa.org will receive this form beforehand for filling before getting on board. Besides, please remember to bring at least 2 photos of passport regulation size, some dollars for stamping fee.
Right after get on the plane, the customs officers waiting there for checking and stamping Vietnam Visa for those who show them the visa approval letter (associated with the original passport). The average time each turn (who already has filled out application for entry and exit Vietnam form) is 5 minutes.

11. It is necessary to provide the exact arrival date when applying Vietnam Visa?
The answer is no, your arrival date should be the earliest estimated arrival date as you can enter and exit Vietnam (either single or multiple times up to your visa type) on any date during the validity period noted in your registered dates in your Vietnam Visa application. For example, you are going to enter Vietnam around the date from 13 to 16 December, them you should note 13 December for your arrival date as you are not allowed to enter Vietnam earlier then your noted arrival date in your visa. Vietnam Immigration Department normally approve entering one earlier but in this case, you also need to ask for your airline’s approval for your getting on board.

12. What should I do to get Vietnam visa in case my passport is going to expire soon?
For those who apply for one month single visa, your passport needs to have validity of one month at least. Other types of visa require your passport to have six month validity at least.
In case you your passport’s validity does not meet the requirement, you should go to the nearest Embassy of your country to arrange a new passport before applying for Vietnam Visa.

13. Do i need to send photos for applying Vietnam Visa? What is its size?
In applying Vietnam Visa Fee, you are not required to send us your photos, just fill all the require d information in the form and waiting for approval. However, your photo will be required after the approval as you need to glue 2 of your passport regulation size photos on the application for entry exit Vietnam (which you receive from us after finishing your Vietnam Visa application online).
Regularly, the sized of the requirements of the photo size are not very strict. It is accepted even in the case your passport size is little bit different provided that your face is straight forward.

Vietnam visa guide

A Vietnamese Entry Visa is required for most foreigners. It allows Vietnam visa holders to enter and exit Vietnam at Hanoi, HCMC and Danang airports or at any of its twelve land borders, three each with Cambodia and China, and six with Laos.

1. For those who are required entry visa to Vietnam, they need to arrange Vietnam visa before their departure by applying for a visa approval letter online to get the visa stamp at Vietnam International Airports (visa on arrival) through such travel agency service as govietnamvisa.org OR applying at local Vietnam Embassies or Consulates to get visa stamped.

2. Tourist visas are valid for a single 30-day stay. The government often talks about issuing visas on arrival to certain favoured nationalities, but as yet this sensible scheme has failed to materialise. Arranging the paperwork for a Vietnamese visa has become fairly straightforward, but it remains expensive and unnecessarily time-consuming.

3. It is possible to arrange a visa on arrival through Vietnamese travel agencies. They will need visa applicants’ passport details in advance and will send a visa approval letter to the visa applicants to confirm the visa to be issued at the Vietnam international airport of arrival. In Asia the best place to pick up a Vietnamese visa is Cambodia, where it cost around USD30 and can be arranged within the applying date. Bangkok is also a popular place as many agencies offer cheap packages with an air ticket and visa thrown in. See visa to Vietnam application for detailed process.

4. If you plan to spend more than a month in Vietnam, or if you plan to exit Vietnam and enter again from Cambodia or Laos, arrange a three-month multiple-entry visa. It costs around USD95 in Cambodia, but is not available from all Vietnamese Embassies. Our clients’ feedbacks indicate that personal appearance partly influences the reception you receive from the Airport Immigration Points. For instance, if you wear shorts or scruffy clothing, look untidy or unshaven, you can be in some problems. Therefore, the Vietnam visa applicants are advised to try the best to look ‘respectable’.

Vietnam Visa exemption

Vietnamese people that hold foreign passports and foreigners who are their husbands, wives and children are exempt from visa requirements to enter Vietnam and are allowed to stay for not more than 90 days. In order to be granted visa exemption certificates at Vietnamese representative offices abroad, overseas Vietnamese need conditions:

+ Foreign-issued permanent residence certificate (PRC) with the validity of at least six months since the date of entrance.
+ Visa exemption paper (VEP) is granted by Vietnamese appropriate authorities.
Those who expect to stay more than 90 days must apply for visa according to current stipulations before their entrance.

Bilateral visa exemption agreement
+ Citizens of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Laos holding valid ordinary passports are exempt from visa requirements and are allowed to stay for not more than 30 days; Philippines is allowed to stay for not more than 21 days.
+ By February 2011, citizens of China, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea, and Rumania holding valid ordinary passports for official mission. Citizens of 60 countries holding valid diplomatic or official passports are exempt from visa requirements including: Argentina, Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Chile, China, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominica, Ecuador, France, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela.

Unilateral visa exemption
+ Visa with 30-day validity is exempted for officials from ASEAN secretariat holding different kinds of passports.
+ Citizens of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Japan, South Korea and Russia holding different kinds of passports are exempt from visa requirements and are allowed to stay for not more than 15 days.

Others who want to enter Vietnam must be provided with a visa.
+ Vietnam Tourist visa is valid in 30 days.
+ Visa is issued at the Vietnamese diplomatic offices or consulates in foreign countries. Visa is possibly issued at the border gates to those who have written invitations by a Vietnamese competent agencies or tourists in the tours organized by Vietnamese international travel companies.
+ Application files for visa: the entrance application (printed form); two 4×6 cm photos; passport and fee for the visa issuance.
+ Vietnam Visa extension: Served by all international travel companies.

Vietnam Tourist Visa on arrival

The most popular type of visa for Vietnam is tourist visa which is normally valid for 15-30 days. Tourist visas can be extended once you are arriving to Vietnam.

In some cases, you can apply for a 1 month visa for tourism purpose; the procedure will be the same with 1 month visa. In other words, Vietnamese tourist visa’s validity can be from 15 days to 1 month.

Procedures:

In order to apply for a tourist visa online and pick up your visa at Vietnam airports, the following information is required:

* Your name on passport: it is your full name appears on your passport, name order is not important, so you can place either surname first or first name first.
* Your date of birth: in Vietnam, the date format will be DD/MM/YYYY
* Your Nationality or passport: the passport you are using to enter Vietnam (UK, US or Australian)
* Your passport number: as shown on your passport and should be valid for 6 months at least from the date of arrival.
* Date of arrival: it is not necessarily exact, you can fill in with proposed date of arrival, however, please be advised that you can just enter Vietnam later not earlier.Photos: photos are required at Vietnam airport only

Tourism & Business purposes:

On the approval letter, 3 month, 6 month visa is listed for business purposes by default, however, as the above statement, there is no difference and you can enter Vietnam for any purposes.

Vietnam Visa on Arrival

Thanks to the open policy to welcome all travelers to Vietnam on business or holidays, getting a Vietnam visa is now simpler and easier than ever before. Besides applying for visa to Vietnam at Vietnam Embassy, international travelers now can enjoy a much more convenient way to get Vietnam visa which is applying for Vietnam visa online.

With this option, applicants will receive “Visa Approval Letter” via email and get Vietnam visa stamped on their passports at any Vietnam airport upon arrival (including Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang International Airport in Da Nang City).

How to apply for Vietnam visa on arrival?

 - Access the Apply Visa Online page of govietnamvisa.org and fill in the online Vietnam visa application form

 - Make payment of service fee.

 - Receive Visa approval letter attached with an Entry and Exit Form (after 2 working days for normal service or 1 working day for urgent service) from our system through email, then print them out

 - Now get on your flight and get Vietnam visa stamped at Vietnam airports upon arrival

How much is a Vietnam Visa on arrival?

There are two types of fees when applying for Vietnam Visa on arrival.

 - The first one is the service fee (fee for processing Vietnam Visa approval letter). This fee is paid directly to the agent for doing all the paperwork for you to submit your visa application to the Vietnam Immigration Department for processing their visa approval letters.

 - The second is stamping fee which you pay directly to Immigration Officers in cash (in USD or VND) (at Immigration Desk/Counter) at your arrival airport in Vietnam to have visa stamped onto your passport. The fee is collected by the Immigration Officers and compulsory for all those who use visa on arrival method. It is: 25 USD for 1 month or 3 month single entry visa, 50 USD for 1 month multiple entry visa and  3 month multiple entry visa

For further details, please refer to our Vietnam visa fees page.

Notices when applying for Vietnam Visa On Arrival?

 - With Vietnam visa on arrival, travelers to Vietnam will get their Vietnam visa stamped at the Vietnam Airport. Thus, it is applicable to air travelers only, not land or sea travelers.

 - No original passport sending is required when applying for Vietnam Visa On arrival, so applicants should make sure that all the information filled in the Vietnam Visa On Arrival application is correct. Once the Visa approval letter is issued, no amendment can be made. And if you wish to make any change, you must apply for a new one./.