Vietnam Visa Info

[Chicog]

Just a quick bump:

Can you get Visa-on-arrival with a UK passport?

Any other considerations?

[LongTimeLurker]

On 8/14/2016 at 11:53 AM, Chicog said:

Just a quick bump:

Can you get Visa-on-arrival with a UK passport?

Any other considerations?

 

You don't need a visa with UK passport, you can get 15 days on arrival.

[Banana7]

On 7/26/2016 at 8:26 PM, IMA_FARANG said:

---------------------

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.

Since August 29, 2016, according to an agreement between Vietnam and US governments, visa to Vietnam for US passport holders will be granted and valid for 1 year with multiple entry regardless the length of their stay in Vietnam. The applicable fees will be charged accordingly. Please contact our visa officers if you need further information. 

 

This notice is posted on the Embassy of Vietnam website in Canada.

[MZurf]

On 9/27/2016 at 2:03 PM, LongTimeLurker said:

 

You don't need a visa with UK passport, you can get 15 days on arrival.

Was planning on going there soon. I have looked at some websites but some of them try to look official so do you have a link to "the real deal"?

[LongTimeLurker]

6 minutes ago, MZurf said:

Was planning on going there soon. I have looked at some websites but some of them try to look official so do you have a link to "the real deal"?

 

UK Gov real enough??

 

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/vietnam/entry-requirements

 

 

[MZurf]

4 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

 

UK Gov real enough??

 

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/vietnam/entry-requirements

 

 

It would have been if I was British. I just assumed you had info for other countries as well. Never mind, I seem to be lucky enough to also get 15 days on arrival according to what I have been able to find out.

Edited October 13, 2016 by MZurf

[LongTimeLurker]

34 minutes ago, MZurf said:

It would have been if I was British. I just assumed you had info for other countries as well. Never mind, I seem to be lucky enough to also get 15 days on arrival according to what I have been able to find out.

 

http://www.vietnamembassy.org.uk/

 

French? German? Italian? Spanish?

 

Others? 

 

 

Edited October 13, 2016 by LongTimeLurker

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Was in the Viet embassy in Bangkok today. An American ahead of me was over the moon when he was permitted to order a one-year visa for 7,000 baht.  Said he'd tried and failed three times already for a 1-year, the last time in June.  

 

I, as a Canadian however, could only get a one-month or three-month single entry. The one-month single was 2,200 baht/$US60, well over the online ordering services fees.  I was on a fact-finding mission and won't need one till next February. I will probably buy it there to avoid the horror of the VoA window and the snail-like efficiency of Viet immigration at SGN.

 

Interestingly, it was not what I would call busy at 2 pm here in the high season.

Edited December 21, 2016 by Kaoboi Bebobp

[LongTimeLurker]

From February 2017 you'll be able to apply for an eVisa for Viet Nam through the immigration e-portal.

 

Complete the forms online, pay online an print out your own visa, processing time 3 days.

 

No details of costs as of yet.

[mitebbots]

I have 1 year VN multiple entry in my US passport. 

 

how long can I stay on that? looking at about 1 month. the info on VN immigration site is dated. 

 

will i need anything other than the visa in my US passport? 

 

thanks

[Took]

Hello,

 

Is there anyone that has applied for a 3-month visa at the VN consulate

in Savannakhet or Pakse in Laos recently?

 

How much did the visa cost and how long did it take?

 

Thank you in advance.

 

 

[plachon]

Anybody know if the visa exemption policy for up to 15 days stay for UK and other EU nationals is likely to be extended past 30 June 2018, or is it likely to revert to ordinary tourist visas, irrespective of length of stay once more?

[GeKoSc]

On 20.10.2007 at 8:09 AM, BADBRAD said:

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.

Who is your travel agent in Vietnam? I want to do the same...however have you rented an apartment or house having a 1 -6 months tourist visa?

[plachon]

On 4/29/2018 at 8:37 PM, plachon said:

Anybody know if the visa exemption policy for up to 15 days stay for UK and other EU nationals is likely to be extended past 30 June 2018, or is it likely to revert to ordinary tourist visas, irrespective of length of stay once more?

To answer my own question, it seems that British citizens can still travel to Vietnam for up to 15 days without a visa and get entry up to mid-2021, as noted by this Foreign Travel guidance by UK govt:

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/vietnam/entry-requirements

 

[tutsiwarrior]

I met my son who has a british passport in Hanoi last year and he needed no visa for his less than 15 day visit...his dad on the other hand carries a US passport and went thru the usual rigmarole for a 30 day visa...

 

to take things further, a US passport holder can get a renewable 1 year visa that's not available to a brit...

 

bizarre...but we live in bizarre times...

 

 

[scotinsiam]

Guys - just to let you know Vietnam now do an E visa. I have not used it yet but it is $25 for a month an easy I am told. I do not know if it can be extended in the country yet or not?

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

[tutsiwarrior]

On 2/12/2019 at 6:48 AM, scotinsiam said:

Guys - just to let you know Vietnam now do an E visa. I have not used it yet but it is $25 for a month an easy I am told. I do not know if it can be extended in the country yet or not?

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

be aware that for the e visa there are restrictions on the file size and format of the photos that one is required to upload with their application (<2.0mB and .jpeg, .jpg, .jif no .pdf allowed)...to accommodate the restrictions I uploaded a photo from the laptop camera (most phone cameras are > 2.8mB with better resolution) that was a bit blurry and then was rejected after the 3 day processing time, went to a photography shop to get things right, resubmitted and the processing re started from day one...it was then too late to travel so I got a quick visa on arrival instead, just barely...they must still use windows xp for the processing...

 

so give yerself plenty of time for the e visa application...

 

 

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by tutsiwarrior

[INV]

tutsiwarrior thanks for the info

[huyentrang57]

i'm stay Ho Chi Minh City. I'm free visa. hiehie. Welcome to Viet Nam.

Mỹ Phẩm Cho Mẹ. welcome to my shop in Ho Chi Minh, district 9. So many good food.

[mitebbots]

e-visa has always worked for me. 3 days usually, once it took 7 days, I would advise doing early. 

 

I do not see Dalat airport as an entry point. I wonder if the 1-year multiple entry visa would allow that?

 

I also do not want a bunch of full-page visas, I had to get a new passport after those filled half of mine. 

 

 

[GeKoSc]

6 hours ago, mitebbots said:

e-visa has always worked for me. 3 days usually, once it took 7 days, I would advise doing early. 

 

I do not see Dalat airport as an entry point. I wonder if the 1-year multiple entry visa would allow that?

 

I also do not want a bunch of full-page visas, I had to get a new passport after those filled half of mine. 

 

 

1-year multiple entry visa? You are a US citizen? If not so how to apply for a multiple entry visa?

[mitebbots]

yes, US citizen. I had one a few years ago before they started doing the 30-day eVisas. I got mine on entry at the time. needed US currency. 

[JimmyTheMook]

Bump  - best current way to get a Vietnam visa?

 

Through the Vietnamese embassy in Bangkok?

 

or prepaid visa letter from online service and $25 visa stamp while in airport 
 

 

[Mahseer]

Not eligible for e visa? They are a breeze to secure and good for a month. Print it out and head straight to immigration on arrival. The official link is provided above.

[Leaver]

On 10/2/2019 at 4:37 AM, JimmyTheMook said:

Bump  - best current way to get a Vietnam visa?

 

Through the Vietnamese embassy in Bangkok?

 

or prepaid visa letter from online service and $25 visa stamp while in airport 
 

 

It will always be better to arrive with the visa in your passport, but if waiting around for about 20 to 30 minutes at the visa on arrival window is not a problem for you, or is a lot less hassle than going to the Vietnam Embassy in Bangkok, then arranging visa on arrival is fine.

 

Many of the online agents offer and express service at the airport, for a fee.  If you pay the extra money, you have your visa in just a few minutes. 

[verstrickters]

3 month multiple entry viet visa in phnom penh can do 70usd and a few days. current info

[griffon2011]

There appears to be some new tourist visa rules starting July 1, 2020 that will limit any stay in Vietnam to 30 days no matter the length of your visa. It was first discussed on  a Facebook Vietnam forum.  Not much info out there but if this is the case it will become hard or impossible for anyone to live in the country without a permanent or temporary resident card or valid work visa which can be difficult to obtain. Presently it is possible to "retire" if you were an American with a one year tourist visa providing you made a visa run every 90 days and renewed every year.  Shorter term visas are available for other nationalities.  An expat living in Vietnam provided the link below if anyone can translate it. In addition banking regulations for foreigners went effect on July 1, 2019 restricting the opening of bank accounts and terms of time deposits to the length of your visa. Driving licenses will also be affected.  The government has been paying more attention to the fake "work" visas some visa services were selling with the penalty of deportation, blacklisting and fines.  Sounds familiar! 

 

https://vanbanluat.com/xuat-nhap-canh/luat-51-2019-qh14-quoc-hoi-2bb6d.html#noidung

[scotinsiam]

Just saw this relating to the changes - looks like short term trips under 15 days don't need the 30 day cooling of period between exit and re-entry now after July.

 

https://www.fragomen.com/insights/alerts/amendments-immigration-law-and-labor-code-forthcoming

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

On 12/27/2019 at 10:52 AM, griffon2011 said:

There appears to be some new tourist visa rules starting July 1, 2020 that will limit any stay in Vietnam to 30 days no matter the length of your visa. It was first discussed on  a Facebook Vietnam forum.  Not much info out there but if this is the case it will become hard or impossible for anyone to live in the country without a permanent or temporary resident card or valid work visa which can be difficult to obtain. Presently it is possible to "retire" if you were an American with a one year tourist visa providing you made a visa run every 90 days and renewed every year.  Shorter term visas are available for other nationalities.  An expat living in Vietnam provided the link below if anyone can translate it. In addition banking regulations for foreigners went effect on July 1, 2019 restricting the opening of bank accounts and terms of time deposits to the length of your visa. Driving licenses will also be affected.  The government has been paying more attention to the fake "work" visas some visa services were selling with the penalty of deportation, blacklisting and fines.  Sounds familiar! 

 

https://vanbanluat.com/xuat-nhap-canh/luat-51-2019-qh14-quoc-hoi-2bb6d.html#noidung

 

This would be an extremely radical move and makes no sense considering VN wants to increase tourism as much as possible. Are we talking retro-active cuts to already issued multi-month visa periods? Or are we talking about a complete ban on tourist visas any longer than 30 days? Are you sure about this? It would be nice to get a link to the FB discussion. I checked the Da Nang-Hoi An FB page but saw nothing.

 

I will do some more checking around.

Edited December 29, 2019 by Kaoboi Bebobp
Fix

[griffon2011]

https://www.elithebikeguy.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=123

 

  I don't think too many people are aware of this now and I have been having trouble finding any information. Maybe I can get some clarification from the Vietnam embassy here in BKK.  Perhaps they only want short term tourists and not someone trying to stay permanently on multiple tourist visas. My first hint of a problem was a youtube video I viewed about 9 months ago by a retired German married to a Vietnamese woman for five years. He was saying Vietnam was great to visit but don't try and retire here. He was not specific on the reason for the visa problem.  On my recon in June/July this year I spoke to several people that were angry about the banking changes and the inability to get a driving license. I have a one year multi entry tourist visa and the requirement to leave every 90 days made it of marginal value but if you have to leave every 30 it is virtually worthless.  This was my Plan B in the event I was required to get health insurance from the approved Thai providers. Basically the way I view it is that they want tourists, people with a valid work permits/visas and those that qualify for permanent or temporary visas but not those trying to stay long term on a tourist or fake work visa.  Also some new investment visas are to be implemented soon but with high financial minimums.  I'm on hold at this point in time.