Vietnam Visa Waiver proposed

[KittenKong]

Pay visas for tourists have always seemed totally counter-productive to me and have put me off going to many countries over the years. Especially places like India where not only is the visa expensive but it is also tedious to obtain.

The system of giving almost everyone a few weeks on arrival for free (as practised in Thailand and elsewhere in the region) makes much more sense and must surely increase tourist numbers.

[bushwacker]

Well I for one would visit the country often if not for the visa requirement. Maybe several times a year for tourist reasons, but not when it takes a page in the passport and the other crap like a letter. Just not interested in jumping thru silly hoops.

If you want some of my retirement money then you have to be user friendly ... at least a little bit.

[Jimlove]

And the Swiss ?

VOA is required at a cost (45 USD?, photo required)

Laos lets me in on visa excempt free of cost.

A country that wants to attract tourism has to open up.

Just today I saw a report in an Aussie media stating like "Vietnam is the new Thailand",

No its not (yet).

I certainly hope not - Vietnam should keep their beaches as clean as they are now and prices for food, drinks, hotel, transport etc. in generel are way lower than Thailand

[bigyin]

Nope - went to Viet Nam twice last year. Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Both were simply places where it's "give me money, GIVE ME MONEY,... " (More so than in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos!) As a farang, I was only seen as an ATM machine and I was entirely unsuccessful at having an exchange other than a "commercial transaction." I left Hanoi thinking I have no desire to return to Viet Nam.

Go to the southern parts...you will change your mind... Away from tourist hangouts

Was in Hanoi about 1 month ago and my experience was totally different. The people were in general very friendly and I would love to go back. I even had a small refund from my Vietnam based tour company over a small matter which I brought to their attention. Given a western visitor's income level in relation to their's we will always be viewed as ATM's to a certain extent. But Hanoi for me was certainly a more pleasant city in many respects to Bangkok although I like Bangkok as well.

[Luxurytravelvietnam]

Proposed and since jan.2015 they change everything every single days. nobody knows whats going on in the Vietnamese immigration department.

[ableguy]

An arbitrary small list. Not for me.

Vietnam currently offers visa-free travel to seven countries; Japan, South Korea, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and Russia. Also under ASEANs open doors policy citizens of Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines all enjoy visa-free stay.

So this makes more sense, but still excluding some of Europes wealthiest countries makes no sense to me.

And the U.S.A.

[fosseway]

And the Swiss ?

VOA is required at a cost (45 USD?, photo required)

Laos lets me in on visa excempt free of cost.

A country that wants to attract tourism has to open up.

Just today I saw a report in an Aussie media stating like "Vietnam is the new Thailand",

No its not (yet).

I'm lucky enough to possess both Swiss and Aussie citizenship. If I'm flying in to Vietnam, I can use my Aussie passport while my Swiss passport can be used to avail myself of the free entry into Laos, something I've taken advantage of perhaps 20 times using my Swiss passport due to the visa waiver, which began in 2011 I believe.

Vietnam will open up more and more, but it has a lot of communist officials who still think the old way on a number of issues, thus hindering progress. For example, the Vietnamese who drive on the right (unlike Thailand) believe that RHD vehicles (from countries such as Thailand and Malaysia) are dangerous and refuse to allow them to use their highways even for a short tourism or business trip. So Thais can't drive to Vietnam in their own cars. On the other hand, Thailand has no problem with LHD vehicles and allows them in, in order to facilitate tourism.

And yes, Vietnam is in some ways like the new Thailand or at least has the potential to become the new Thailand. Having said that, I'm not sure if that's a good thing though. Thailand has it's faults and Vietnam should develop it's own version of tourism. The country does however have nearly everything that Thailand has: beaches, mountains, jungles, eco-tourism and agro-tourism, bustling cities, night markets, floating markets (in the Mekong delta vs. the Khlongs of Thailand), colorful hill tribe minorities etc.

Infrastructure, though still poor is rapidly improving with the recent opening of new expressways (though relatively short) near Ho Chi Minh City and between Hanoi and the Chinese border town of Lao Cai. A planned high speed rail link is also about to come to fruition, while I'd much rather trust the current Vietnamese rail system (though slow) to the unreliable Thai one, which derails every other week.

[fosseway]

If you have 2 passports showing different nationality, would it not be difficult using one for entry and the other one for exit, interested to know how this works.

[Asiantravel]

If you have 2 passports showing different nationality, would it not be difficult using one for entry and the other one for exit, interested to know how this works.

I have British and Australian passports. You cannot use one passport to enter and a different one to exit. But when you arrive in the next country by air you can then present a different passport.

[phuketandsee]

If you have 2 passports showing different nationality, would it not be difficult using one for entry and the other one for exit, interested to know how this works.

You certainly can't do this in Vietnam since they place the exit stamp next to the entry stamp.

[phuketandsee]

Anyone know how many 15 day entries you can have in one year?

[fosseway]

If you have 2 passports showing different nationality, would it not be difficult using one for entry and the other one for exit, interested to know how this works.

I have British and Australian passports. You cannot use one passport to enter and a different one to exit. But when you arrive in the next country by air you can then present a different passport.

Thanks for that Asiantravel. I also have two passports, Australian and British. Seems that this could be an advantage in the case of the Vietnam Visa for example so as to avail yourself of the Visa Waiver. So, if you used your UK passport to exit Thailand, as presumably this would contain your entry stamp, and maybe a Thai visa, and re-entry permit, you would then want to use it to re enter Thailand, but it would not show an entry or exit stamp to any other county, so if an eagle eyed Thai immigration officer spotted this, would he not ask the question, where have you been ?

[phuketandsee]

If you have 2 passports showing different nationality, would it not be difficult using one for entry and the other one for exit, interested to know how this works.

I have British and Australian passports. You cannot use one passport to enter and a different one to exit. But when you arrive in the next country by air you can then present a different passport.

Thanks for that Asiantravel. I also have two passports, Australian and British. Seems that this could be an advantage in the case of the Vietnam Visa for example so as to avail yourself of the Visa Waiver. So, if you used your UK passport to exit Thailand, as presumably this would contain your entry stamp, and maybe a Thai visa, and re-entry permit, you would then want to use it to re enter Thailand, but it would not show an entry or exit stamp to any other county, so if an eagle eyed Thai immigration officer spotted this, would he not ask the question, where have you been ?

Highly unlikely. But even if he did just say you'd been to the UK where they don't stamp UK passports.

[Asiantravel]

If you have 2 passports showing different nationality, would it not be difficult using one for entry and the other one for exit, interested to know how this works.

I have British and Australian passports. You cannot use one passport to enter and a different one to exit. But when you arrive in the next country by air you can then present a different passport.

Thanks for that Asiantravel. I also have two passports, Australian and British. Seems that this could be an advantage in the case of the Vietnam Visa for example so as to avail yourself of the Visa Waiver. So, if you used your UK passport to exit Thailand, as presumably this would contain your entry stamp, and maybe a Thai visa, and re-entry permit, you would then want to use it to re enter Thailand, but it would not show an entry or exit stamp to any other county, so if an eagle eyed Thai immigration officer spotted this, would he not ask the question, where have you been ?

It's never happened to me and I've always assumed it is because at the airport they simply don't have the time to be that eagle eyed or to be able to determine whether or not you have just come from a country that doesn't issue any stamps.( e.g North Korea )

Edited June 22, 2015 by Asiantravel

[siam2007]

I'm going in July. I haven't got my visa yet. Can anybody confirm the start date of 1st July '15 for UK nationals, or do us Limeys start with next year and the Colonials?

Here you go:

[Tomtomtom69]

An arbitrary small list. Not for me.

Vietnam currently offers visa-free travel to seven countries; Japan, South Korea, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and Russia. Also under ASEAN’s open doors policy citizens of Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines all enjoy visa-free stay.

So this makes more sense, but still excluding some of Europes wealthiest countries makes no sense to me.

It depends on those nations visa requirements for Vietnamese, many visa exemptions are based on both countries allowing visa free travel.

No it doesn't. Only the ASEAN agreement is reciprocal for both Vietnamese and the other ASEAN citizens.

For South Korea, Japan and the European countries which receive a 15-day visa waiver for entry into Vietnam, they do NOT allow Vietnamese the same privileges and for good reason. If any of these countries allowed Vietnamese visa free entry there would be thousands of visa overstayers in just a short period.

Vietnam needs foreign tourists far more than these countries need Vietnamese tourists. And there is little risk of foreigners from most developed countries overstaying in Vietnam - it's simply not a great place to live; wages are low and opportunities for foreigners to find work are scarce. Hence reciprocity would make little sense.

[Tomtomtom69]

If you have 2 passports showing different nationality, would it not be difficult using one for entry and the other one for exit, interested to know how this works.

I have British and Australian passports. You cannot use one passport to enter and a different one to exit. But when you arrive in the next country by air you can then present a different passport.

Thanks for that Asiantravel. I also have two passports, Australian and British. Seems that this could be an advantage in the case of the Vietnam Visa for example so as to avail yourself of the Visa Waiver. So, if you used your UK passport to exit Thailand, as presumably this would contain your entry stamp, and maybe a Thai visa, and re-entry permit, you would then want to use it to re enter Thailand, but it would not show an entry or exit stamp to any other county, so if an eagle eyed Thai immigration officer spotted this, would he not ask the question, where have you been ?

It's never happened to me and I've always assumed it is because at the airport they simply don't have the time to be that eagle eyed or to be able to determine whether or not you have just come from a country that doesn't issue any stamps.( e.g North Korea )

When you arrive by air, where you have just came from and whether that country even stamps your passport (or what the stamp looks like) is of no interest to Thai immigration. It could also be that you arrived in Thailand from London by way of Timbuktu, Madagascar, Ethiopia and then Australia, so how would they even know what they're looking for? Besides, some immigration stamps are not even printed in English. Thai officials sometimes have trouble finding their own stamps in a passport with lots of entries/exits, so I don't think you can expect them to look for stamps from foreign countries.

Only if you arrive by land, do they look for the exit stamp from the neighboring country you just arrived from (either Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia or Malaysia).

[Tomtomtom69]

Pay visas for tourists have always seemed totally counter-productive to me and have put me off going to many countries over the years. Especially places like India where not only is the visa expensive but it is also tedious to obtain.

The system of giving almost everyone a few weeks on arrival for free (as practised in Thailand and elsewhere in the region) makes much more sense and must surely increase tourist numbers.

Visas on arrival for India are now available to most nationalities.

[NanLaew]

Point of note: make sure you have a copy of your outward/return flight confirmation. They request to see this before stamping you in for your 15 free days. Either a printout, code on your smartphone or even showing the booking email will do... I just hope your laptop boots as fast as mine did!

[Tomtomtom69]

Point of note: make sure you have a copy of your outward/return flight confirmation. They request to see this before stamping you in for your 15 free days. Either a printout, code on your smartphone or even showing the booking email will do... I just hope your laptop boots as fast as mine did!

Yes...I have noticed the same over the years when arriving in Vietnam by air. All foreigners who are entitled to a 15 day visa free stay are asked for proof of outbound travel by Vietnam immigration! This surprised me, as Vietnam immigration seems much more lax and chaotic than even Thai immigration.

If you are visa exempt and arriving overland by bus, car, walking or cycling, there is no requirement for an onward ticket and you won't be asked. It's only if arriving by air.

Travellers arriving without a visa but who have a pre-approved visa letter to pick up their visa on arrival at the airport, will not be asked for an outbound ticket either, hence I have never been. Only visa-exempt travellers are asked.

However, interestingly, ASEAN citizens arriving on 30 day visa exemptions may not necessarily be asked for proof of outbound travel when arriving by air. Go figure!

[NanLaew]

Point of note: make sure you have a copy of your outward/return flight confirmation. They request to see this before stamping you in for your 15 free days. Either a printout, code on your smartphone or even showing the booking email will do... I just hope your laptop boots as fast as mine did!

Yes...I have noticed the same over the years when arriving in Vietnam by air. All foreigners who are entitled to a 15 day visa free stay are asked for proof of outbound travel by Vietnam immigration! This surprised me, as Vietnam immigration seems much more lax and chaotic than even Thai immigration.

If you are visa exempt and arriving overland by bus, car, walking or cycling, there is no requirement for an onward ticket and you won't be asked. It's only if arriving by air.

Travellers arriving without a visa but who have a pre-approved visa letter to pick up their visa on arrival at the airport, will not be asked for an outbound ticket either, hence I have never been. Only visa-exempt travellers are asked.

However, interestingly, ASEAN citizens arriving on 30 day visa exemptions may not necessarily be asked for proof of outbound travel when arriving by air. Go figure!

Lax and chaotic is about right. I have an Indonesian consultant who always had a hard time at the visa-on-arrival desk at SGN as they would berate him for wasting money on a visa being ASEAN and all. The fact that he needs a DN visa for temporary work in Vietnam isn't required as far as they are concerned. However, Vung Tau Port Immigration won't let you offshore without one, regardless of domicile.