Kaoboi Bebobp Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I have seen an on-line agency quoting me $16 for the letter plus $45 for the visa. Are there any other costs(no surprises)? I'm planning on flying from Bangkook to either Hanoi or Saigon on August 1st. No surprise costs. When you apply, you have to give them a destination and date, plus length of stay. I just did it a couple of weeks ago. Costs the same as you state. Tip: print out the visa application and fill it out before you go. Don't forget to print out the approval letter too. Also, try to get an airline seat upfront so you can get out and get to the visa counter quickly. But don't expect fast service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spidermike007 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Vietnam is communist. That means they love difficulty and red tape. Easy is not in their vocabulary. Neither is convenient. If you have a choice between the north or the South, pick the South. People are more pleasant. Not the pissy, unpleasant buttheads found in the north. Spidermike007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakNguyen Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Nationals of these countries listed below may visit Vietnam without visa for a period of time. 1. Citizens of Brunei are exempted to stay in Vietnam within 14 days without visa. 2. Citizens of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos are exempted to stay in Vietnam within 30 days without visa. 3. Citizens of Philippines are exempted to stay in Vietnam within 21 days without visa. 4. Citizens of Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russia and Finland are exempted to stay within 15 days without visa. 5. Citizens of France, Chile holding valid diplomatic or official passports are exempted to stay within 90 days or several visits of 6 months as from the date of arrival. 6. APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) Holders from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies are exempted to stay within 60 days without visa. 7. For those who travel to Phu Quoc Island – Vietnam and stay there within 15 days are exempted without visa. If they want to visit other provinces or stay there more than 15 days, the Immigration Department will be responsible for issuing visas right on the spot. Source: here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSF Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 "7. For those who travel to Phu Quoc Island Vietnam and stay there within 15 days are exempted without visa. If they want to visit other provinces or stay there more than 15 days, the Immigration Department will be responsible for issuing visas right on the spot." Sorry I can't make head nor tail of this. Could some kind soul please explain to me. Does this mean someone can visit Phu Quoc Island for up to 15 days without having to obtain a tourist visa for Vietnam? If so can you reach this island from any port not in Vietnam? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harleyclarkey Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Any views on the agencies t hat issue a letter to get your tourist visa at the airport. They charge about $20 and then $45 as the fee when you arrive to immigration at the airport. Real....or a scam! The Gov site says they are not genuine yet reviews say it works. Also...any update on one month tourist fees in Bangkok embassy...their site is broken! Do they have a one day turn around......some here say yes and others say no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaoboi Bebobp Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Any views on the agencies t hat issue a letter to get your tourist visa at the airport. They charge about $20 and then $45 as the fee when you arrive to immigration at the airport. Real....or a scam! The Gov site says they are not genuine yet reviews say it works. Also...any update on one month tourist fees in Bangkok embassy...their site is broken! Do they have a one day turn around......some here say yes and others say no. I have not read any reports of people with visa letters from the online sites being refused their visa at the VN airports. I've done it myself twice now as have many of my friends. A check of Vietnam embassy sites in several countries over the last year shows many of them incomplete, unfinished or simply broken. Vietnam should be embarrassed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harleyclarkey Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Any views on the agencies t hat issue a letter to get your tourist visa at the airport. They charge about $20 and then $45 as the fee when you arrive to immigration at the airport. Real....or a scam! The Gov site says they are not genuine yet reviews say it works. Also...any update on one month tourist fees in Bangkok embassy...their site is broken! Do they have a one day turn around......some here say yes and others say no. I have not read any reports of people with visa letters from the online sites being refused their visa at the VN airports. I've done it myself twice now as have many of my friends. A check of Vietnam embassy sites in several countries over the last year shows many of them incomplete, unfinished or simply broken. Vietnam should be embarrassed. Thanks KB for reply...I'll run with an agency and get the invite letter. What worried me was that the Vietnamese embassy in BKK clearly warns against this. My guess is that theses site take the visa fee away from the embassy to be paid direct at the airport. The fee for me here in Ireland through the UK embassy is £54 plus all the reg post costs....about £75 in total. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NativeSon360 Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 (edited) The same day processing isn't available for tourist visas - you must wait the minimum of 3 or 4 days to get this - so it summary if you want to make visa runs to live in Vietnam you'll be out of the country for 4 days every month . . . a bit of a pain in the butt! This is not necessarily true. I lived in Vietnam for 18 months without needing to leave. Just before my original one month tourist visa expired I took my passport to a travel agency who obtained on my behalf a 6 month multiple entry visa. Every 6 months I repeated the process. It was not "necessarily" (whatever that means) true for you (count your blessings). The right amount of Dinaro will buy you anything, even in a rigid, stick-up-the-arse, bureaucratic communist country! Vietnam is a beautiful country to visit, especially along the seacoast cities. However, residing there is totally different, and very complicated game to play. No thanks,. I'll stick with Thailand, a place where many Vietnamese people (themselves) are attempting to migrate, by the millions. Go figure Edited December 5, 2014 by NativeSon360 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaitakeaway Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 Latest on tourist visa application at embassy in BKK. Office itself opens around 8 AM but clerks start work at 9 AM. No ticket system. Today's cost was 3000 THB, with pickup tomorrow at 4 PM; though I was 2nd in the queue (irrelevant) there was no chance of getting it this arvo. What a WTVD (Welcome to Vietnam, Dude). Otherwise known as my first taste of corruption? By the way, does anyone know of any good places to hangout visit/travel safely in the country for a fortnight? I'm a 50-something going on 67 year old Aussie, tired of the LOS after 2 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccadang Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 I saw that many people here booked Vietnam visa on arrival through travel agents. Can you suggest me some reliable companies offering reasonable visa service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabhand Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Looks like visiting Vietnam just became a bit easier for five European countries: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/vietnam-to-scrap-visas-for-five-european-countries-in-july The visa-free travel policy will be applicable to German, French, British, Italian, and Spanish visitors. Vietnam currently applies a one-sided free-visa policy to eight countries, including Japan, South Korea, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and Belarus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartender100 Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Booked to go in November to Vietnam, has any UK citizen been recently? is nothing is required except turn up with passport? https://vietnamvisa.govt.vn/united-kingdom-citizens/ Or do you still need a visa but its free? as it would seem on below link http://vietnamembassy.org.uk/index.php?action=p&ct=Notice2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
professor21 Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 with a US passport what's the cheapest visa and transportation to Ho Chi Minh City from Bangkok? I think the embassy in Bangkok is only open 2-4 and maybe in the morning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Too Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 (edited) Booked to go in November to Vietnam, has any UK citizen been recently? is nothing is required except turn up with passport? https://vietnamvisa.govt.vn/united-kingdom-citizens/ Or do you still need a visa but its free? as it would seem on below link http://vietnamembassy.org.uk/index.php?action=p&ct=Notice2 You'll be requested to show the IO an onward ticket if you arrive in VN by air on a visa-exempt stamp, which is for free. Edited September 28, 2015 by Too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Too Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 with a US passport what's the cheapest visa and transportation to Ho Chi Minh City from Bangkok? I think the embassy in Bangkok is only open 2-4 and maybe in the morning It'd be cheapest to get a promo fare for Air Asia or VietJet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post doctor pat Posted October 21, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted October 21, 2015 just sharing my experience in Pakse at the Vietnamese consulate its located in the touristy area where most of the hotels are, no need to get a tuktuk open monday to friday, AM and PM but they have a long lunch break I walked in. no one else there. no queing they asked me where i was from, i said UK he explained about the new visa waiver for 15 days, but i reply that i want to spend longer time in vietnam than that i though i could get a 1 month visa and asked about that and if i could extend it in country. he told me no problem, but i could have either a 1, 2 or 3 month visa, and then said they were all the same price of course i asked for a 3 month. it was $70 to get back in 2 days, or $80 for same day. gave them $80 and walked out with 3 month single entry visa, after 5 minutes wait theres an overnight bus BKK to Pakse, and an overnight bus from Pakse to Danang, so you could get to Pakse in the morning, get visa in afternoon and be on the overnight bus into Vietnam. or pakse has an airport, all in all it was a very easy visa to obtain 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaoboi Bebobp Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 just sharing my experience in Pakse at the Vietnamese consulate its located in the touristy area where most of the hotels are, no need to get a tuktuk open monday to friday, AM and PM but they have a long lunch break I walked in. no one else there. no queing they asked me where i was from, i said UK he explained about the new visa waiver for 15 days, but i reply that i want to spend longer time in vietnam than that i though i could get a 1 month visa and asked about that and if i could extend it in country. he told me no problem, but i could have either a 1, 2 or 3 month visa, and then said they were all the same price of course i asked for a 3 month. it was $70 to get back in 2 days, or $80 for same day. gave them $80 and walked out with 3 month single entry visa, after 5 minutes wait theres an overnight bus BKK to Pakse, and an overnight bus from Pakse to Danang, so you could get to Pakse in the morning, get visa in afternoon and be on the overnight bus into Vietnam. or pakse has an airport, all in all it was a very easy visa to obtain Good report. You didn't happen to ask the cost of a 3-month multi-entry visa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Too Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 just sharing my experience in Pakse at the Vietnamese consulate its located in the touristy area where most of the hotels are, no need to get a tuktuk open monday to friday, AM and PM but they have a long lunch break I walked in. no one else there. no queing they asked me where i was from, i said UK he explained about the new visa waiver for 15 days, but i reply that i want to spend longer time in vietnam than that i though i could get a 1 month visa and asked about that and if i could extend it in country. he told me no problem, but i could have either a 1, 2 or 3 month visa, and then said they were all the same price of course i asked for a 3 month. it was $70 to get back in 2 days, or $80 for same day. gave them $80 and walked out with 3 month single entry visa, after 5 minutes wait theres an overnight bus BKK to Pakse, and an overnight bus from Pakse to Danang, so you could get to Pakse in the morning, get visa in afternoon and be on the overnight bus into Vietnam. or pakse has an airport, all in all it was a very easy visa to obtain WOW, this is good to know. It's such a good deal. Last year I applied for a 3-month single-entry VOA. I first paid US$30 to a travel agency for an approval letter on-line and then US$45 upon arrival at Sai Gon airport plus the air-fare from BKK. I heard that you could extend your 15-day VISA-EXEMPT entry for 15 days at one of travel agencies licensed by the government once you're in VN but must show an onward ticket when applying for one. You could pay more to get away with it, though. You can extend your VISA once you're in the country no problem. I know some Western expats who have entered VN on a 3-month visa and extended it three times to stay in the country for a total of 1 year without even having to leave the country once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor pat Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 I ticked the box for multi entry visa. but the Consulate guy came back and told me i coudn't have a multi entry, only single Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Too Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 I ticked the box for multi entry visa. but the Consulate guy came back and told me i coudn't have a multi entry, only single Maybe you'd try the VN Embassy in Phnom Penh or the Consulate in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. I heard they are among the best to apply for VN visas. I hope they still are after the new immigration rules have been implemented this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Too Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Hello, I heard the news that the VN VOA fees (stamping fees) go down, starting next Monday on 23 Nov.2015. Both a 1-month and a 3-month visas with a single entry go down to US$20 from US$45 in fee accordingly. Hope the news is true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenNguyen Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Vietnam visa stamping fee has massively reduced from 23rd November 2015, for specific price list you guys may check here: https://www.vietnam-evisa.org/visa-fee.html Hot news for those who plan to travel to Vietnam from this year ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaoboi Bebobp Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Vietnam visa stamping fee has massively reduced from 23rd November 2015, for specific price list you guys may check here: https://www.vietnam-evisa.org/visa-fee.html Hot news for those who plan to travel to Vietnam from this year ! I checked a number of online Viet visa companies. Nearly all have updated their fee structures with the new lower stamping fee. I wonder if anyone has gone to the Viet embassy in Bangkok to get a visa since the fee cut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesekraft Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 what is the best way to stay in vietnam for a year and a half without having a business visa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaoboi Bebobp Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 (edited) Vietnam has made it very hard to stay in the country long-term by restricting visas to 3-month single and multi-entry ones. There are backdoors, which is pretty much how VN operates anyway. Nearly all visas are provided by third parties, otherwise known as agents. Providers have been listed on FB expat sites, such as for Ho Chi Minh and Hoi An/Da Nang. Probably others, too. Edited January 19, 2016 by Kaoboi Bebobp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ev1lchris Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 Is the Vietnam Embassy / Consulate in Bangkok easy to get to via MRT or BTS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaoboi Bebobp Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Is the Vietnam Embassy / Consulate in Bangkok easy to get to via MRT or BTS? BTS Chitlom station. Get off on the even-soi side. Walk down Wireless Road. Viet embassy across the street from the massive US embassy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattayaBoy Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 (edited) You dont have to go to Bangkok You fill form http://govietnamvisa.com/step_1 Get invitation letter, show it on airport arrival, and they issue visa on arrival Edited July 26, 2016 by PattayaBoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMA_FARANG Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 For anyone in Bangkok, you can get a 30 day Visa for Vietnam at the Vietnamese consulate here in Bangkok on Wireless Road. Because I am an American it now costs me $25 and takes 2 or 3 days. Two day service is for what they call "express service", "normal service" takes 3 days which actually means you apply in the morning of the 1st day, and can pick up the completed visa on the afternoon of the 3rd day. They give you a receipt for your payment on the day of application and hold your passport, the receipt can be shown to the Thai police as proof the Vietnamese embassy has your passport if you are stopped by the police on a passport check in Bangkok. Vietnam is looking for tourists now, and in my opinion they are friendlier than Thailand towards tourists. Of course, like any country in Southeast Asia there are still some scams but anyone with a little common sense will soon that find Vietnam has fewer scams than Thailand does. Last year it was $45, for Americans, but was dropped back to $25 at the beginning of 2016 For those with U.K. passports, I believe a 30 day tourist visa to Vietnam is now free. the Vietnamese embassy does not yet offer the 3 month visa at least here in Bangkok. but I am told by people in Vietnam you can get a 3 month visa there from an agency in Vietnam, although I have never tried that myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMA_FARANG Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 with a US passport what's the cheapest visa and transportation to Ho Chi Minh City from Bangkok? I think the embassy in Bangkok is only open 2-4 and maybe in the morning --------------------- I can't remember the exact hour it opens but it opens in the morning for visa applications and then in the afternoon until four for pickups of completed visas. And yes, things there are changing fast, but they will not yet issue you a 3 month multi entry visa here in Bangkok, at least at present for Americans. That may be coming soon, since Obama visited Hanoi and had a bowl of Beef Pho soup in a shop there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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