SETV

[RyanWalker]

Good day guys

 

I need to go for a SETV end of the month. I was thinking of Hanoi. Now 2 questions I have. How strict are they over there? If I have my flight tickets etc

and everything they usually need, will I get the visa the next day like in Vientiane or are there some things I need to know about? 

Thanks for the help, out of experience I know there is always something over here, so better to make sure.

 

Thanks

[scorecard]

Do you need and have a Visa to enter Vietnam?

[ubonjoe]

If you have everything required they will issue the visa without any problems. Several reports state they are friendly.

[ubonjoe]

14 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Do you need and have a Visa to enter Vietnam?

That depends upon your nationality. Some get a visa exempt entry, others can apply for a visa online and others a visa on arrival.

See this Wiki page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Vietnam

[scorecard]

Thank you Joe. My question could have been more clear, I'm wondering whether the poster has given any thought to the broad subject of entering Vietnam and need / no need for a Visa (depending on his passport).

 

- Early last year I got an e.visa to enter VN in advance (Australian passport), I arrived in Hanoi and joined the passport line and another Australian (in the normal passport line for foreigners, with his Thai wife) asked me whether I had been to VN before, and he started to show me colour photocopies of his OZ passport. He mentioned that his Thai wife had checked and was told that she could enter without visa (ASEAN member countries) and therefore her foreign husband also did NOT need a visa in advance.

 

The Thai wife spoke good English and commented that the photocopy of her husband'' passport was very clear and perfectly placed on the A4 page and she insisted this was important.

 

Before I had a chance to say anything another Australian in the line showed his e.visa in advance certificate (same as what I was showing them) and said 'you need this certificate and also mentioned being married to an ASEAN passport holder does not have any effect on visa needs of the husband'. 

 

A few seconds later the Thai lady took her turn and was stamped in. Then her Australian husband rejected instantly and another officer called to take the husband to the 'Visa on Arrival' counter. His wife now disappeared to the luggage carousel.

 

My point, has the poster thought at all about the subject of visa to enter VN or is he just assuming that he can 'walk in' because it's a visa run?

 

If he's from a country which is on the VN list of countries not needing a visa in advance then of course there is no problem.

 

 

[RyanWalker]

Ok thanks guys, so I will have to check for the Vietnamese visa. If the visa on arrival is available then that will be great

[geisha]

The online visa approval letter is easy to do. 

[scorecard]

43 minutes ago, geisha said:

The online visa approval letter is easy to do. 

 Yes you can use one of the Vietnamese on-line travel agents* to get you an approval letter (at a fee), but it's just that, it's an approval letter and on arrival in Vn you need to initially go to the 'VISA ON ARRIVAL' counter where they will convert your 'approval' letter into an actual visa sticker in your passport (further fees), then you proceed to the actual passport lines to get stamped in. 

 

Waiting time at the 'VISA ON ARRIVAL' counter can be 10 - 15 minutes if no other people waiting.

 

But if you arrive just after several other flight have just landed then there can be hundreds of folks in the line ahead of you, in this scenario you might wait 2 hours or more to get your passport back with the visa sticker. 

 

* The web address of these agents looks like they are actual government offices - they are not. 

 

However there's now an even easier on-line method direct to the VN Immigration authority and it's cheaper:

 

https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/trang-chu-ttdt

 

Open the above official site, click on 'Visa for foreigners' then insert a photo of your passport opening page and a head and shoulders photo (have to be the acceptable formats but that easy to organize). Then enter, now you'll get a screen to pay on line (one payment only, cheaper than the 'approval letter' double fee process above), then about 48 hrs later you'll get an e-mail with an 'e-visa certificate' attached.

 

Print this certificate; use it at check-in in Thailand and again when you arrive in VN, go direct to the passport queues / passport kiosks and give the VN Imm officer your passport and your e-visa certificate and get stamped in. Waiting time is how long the actual passport lines are.

 

If there are lots of flights arriving there are generally more imm. officers spreading folks across the many actual passport kiosk lines and many kiosks open, I've never waited more than 10 minutes, most times 5 minutes or less.  (If you do have the e-visa certificate already then DON"T go to the VISA ON ARRIVAL counter!)

 

Keep a copy of your e-visa certificate handy, sometimes they ask to see it again at the passport desks when you depart.

Edited June 2, 2019 by scorecard

[nivram4491]

Does this mean you get away with a small stamp in your passport instead of a full page visa and stamp in your passport? Big advantage in my opinion.

[HampiK]

On 6/4/2019 at 9:45 AM, nivram4491 said:

Does this mean you get away with a small stamp in your passport instead of a full page visa and stamp in your passport? Big advantage in my opinion.

Yes. After the Journey, you throw away the visa paper as you don't need it anymore.. and your passport still has more space for other stamps! 
2 Advantages. No Visa sticker in your passport and even cheaper than the Invitation letter. As you have to pay for invitation letter and the visa.

 

I think many do this, because when they want do the visa, they actually only do an invitation letter as the site looks like it's a visa when you not read everything clear. And as always most people never reading everything on a page.