Vietnam visa on arrival.....scam?

[mr.buffalo]

I am going to Vietnam next week so will need a visa. Been looking into the" visa on arrival" and there are numerous web sites advertising their services for a fee for supplying a letter pertaining to the visa. Is this a scam? Surely it isn't necessary to have a letter, not sure what it will say as it will be in Vietnamese anyway, saying you want a visa on arrival when you land? It just brings to mind the scam web sites in the UK that guarantee to get you a E1-11 card for £10 but if you go to ukdirgov.org they issue it for free.

Any views, experience?

Have a good day.

[Reincarnation9]

I got one from such a website. Followed the instructions; printed the letter; presented it to the customs folks at the airport in Saigon, got my 30 day Visa (for $20).

[Satcommlee]

Its not a scam, but do a little due dilligence on the actual website you use...

[dean008]

its not a scam and by spending 5 mins on line you could find it out for yourself

[smokie36]

No scam....and if you go this route make sure you print off both letters before you go to the airport as you won't get on the plane without them!

[Lissos]

The more confirmations, the merrier, so I'm just adding that I used this approach some years ago too.

Infact, the availability of it (and the magic of 24 hr internet cafes in KL) saved me.

I had booked a flight to Ho Chi Minh city on a whim one night while in KL, the flight leaving in the evening of the next day. I went to bed relaxd and woke up very suddenly in the early hours for no apparent reason until this loud and clear thought - "VISA" rang in my head. I hadn't even considered it, getting too complacent after all the Thai and Malaysian visa wavers. Got up immediately (something like 3am in the morning) and headed out into the streets of KL to try and find an open internet cafe (the kind where you walk in and locals are actually 'asleep' at terminals) to check the required visa situation. Learned of this visa application online, and cutting the story short I contacted one of those agencies online (it was 2008, so I forget who now) and those fellas pulled out all the stops after I provided required info. Got the print outs, got the flight, arrived, got it sorted on arrival.

[Rsquared]

Agree with previous posters. I went there 2 years ago and same thing.....printed out letter and had to have "exactly" $25 in US currency.

Just follow instructions on website.

[Diplomatico]

Agree with previous posters. I went there 2 years ago and same thing.....printed out letter and had to have "exactly" $25 in US currency.

Just follow instructions on website.

It's $45 U.S. these days or you can get 1 million VND before you go and pay with VND.

[nisakiman]

I got a letter for the Vietnam visa a couple of weeks ago. Someone in a previous thread on the subject recommended not picking a company from the first Google Search page that came up, but to check out the places on pages 2 and 3. He was right. On page one, the companies advertising charge $15 - 20 for a letter. I found one on page two which offered the same service for $8. No problem with them. They were very quick, and a couple of days after I'd paid, they sent me a PDF file with the required document, plus the form you have to fill in on arrival to save time at the visa desk. Very efficient. If you want to PM me, I can give you their website URL.