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Vietnam waives visa for 5 Europe countries to boost tourism

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webfact Grand Master Member

webfact

Posted
Posted

Vietnam waives visa for 5 Europe countries to boost tourism

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam will waive the need for tourist visas for five more European countries in a bid to boost its ailing tourism industry.

Under a decision by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung that was posted on the government's website late Wednesday, visitors from the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain will not need a visa to visit Vietnam starting in July if they stay up to 15 days.

The decision was welcome by tour operators. Last year, nearly 8 million foreigners visited Vietnam.

Currently, Vietnam gives reciprocal visa exemptions to nine countries in ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and unilaterally waives visas for visitors from four Nordic countries, Russia, Belarus, Japan and South Korea.

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-- (c) Associated Press 2015-06-19

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Manbing Advanced Member

Manbing

Posted
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Posted

Way ahead of Thailand,

Education, Viet - 12 Thai - 47

Tourism, Visa exemptions = Viet booming/ Thailand not so much given the politics

Industry, Vietnam investment in training population for Smartphone manufacture - flying high, Thailand nothing since HDD - now demand dropping like a lead balloon

Foreign skilled labour force - Encouraged in Vietnam now allowed to buy limited land for housing/In Thailand Condo only

  • Like 5
samtam Platinum Member

samtam

Posted
Posted

Good news. Apart from the previous hassle of going to get one at the embassy, mitigated in theory by visa on arrival (which was pretty chaotic the the I tried in HCMC, despite pre-ordering and paying a premium for that non-existent service), it used up 1 page of my passport.

  • Like 1
Benmart Platinum Member

Benmart

Posted
Posted

Good news. Apart from the previous hassle of going to get one at the embassy, mitigated in theory by visa on arrival (which was pretty chaotic the the I tried in HCMC, despite pre-ordering and paying a premium for that non-existent service), it used up 1 page of my passport.

I had similar experiences on in HCM airport, April 8th of this year when I did the Visa application on-line through the Vietnam Government website. I received the invitation letter via email for $17 USD and when I arrived, it was indeed chaos at the immigration window to get the actual visa, which ran $45 USD.

It seems there were multiple aircraft arriving one-after-the-other and the lack of organization at the visa pickup window was pandemonium, with limited seating and no one in charge outside the service windows. Not too bad for me, but some people could have fared better had they been able to sit..

I love Vietnam and its people. I will be returning, with the visa received at the VN Embassy in Bangkok.

  • Like 1
Kaoboi Bebobp Gold Member

Kaoboi Bebobp

Posted
Posted

I love visiting Vietnam. I would go more often but the tortuous and painful visa process is not worth it anymore, especially when it costs $65 for a couple of nights in Saigon or Vung Tau. Throw in the SGN airport VoA chaos, with waits up to and past two hours, well, forget it. I'm not resentful for not winning the free-visa lottery, just announced. OK, maybe a little bit. Guess us North Americans just don't cut the mustard with the Party bosses.

  • Like 1
Jonmarleesco Gold Member

Jonmarleesco

Posted
Posted

I wish other nearby countries would follow suit. These expensive full-page visas are a PITA even when they are issued on arrival.

Well, FO services don't worry about little things like that. When Thailand used a stamp, it took up half a page. Then some bright spark decided that wasn't large enough. A pity some brighter spark doesn't come up with the idea to have all FOs coordinate their visa stamps; it would certainly save space and, at what was, when I last renewed with a 48-page PP, some B200 per useable page of UK passport ... a fair amount of the cost.

Brer Fox Apprentice Member

Brer Fox

Posted
Posted

The Visa on Arrival at Vietnam airports is a shambles. I arrived in Hanoi at their new airport not long ago and there was no one on duty. They were all asleep somewhere and it took a good 20mins to wake them up. Vietnam has lost a lot of good paying European and Australian tourists. Nowadays it is just a backpackers cheepo holiday destination. They also get package tourists from Thailand and Malaysia but like the Chinese they have long pockets and wont even buy a banana from the locals. Vietnam needs to do more with their visa regulations if they want the good paying tourists to come back.

  • Like 1
wooloomooloo Platinum Member

wooloomooloo

Posted
Posted (edited)

Never been to Vietnam but seriously considering a few days there to test the water under the 15 day visa exempt for British passports.

My Thai wife isn't so keen on Vietnam for reasons only known to herself. She can be persuaded and has British and Thai passports so, I would assume, easier to enter on her British passport and have done with it.

All of an hour's flight from BKK and good to have an additional stress-free option.

Edited by wooloomooloo
Kaoboi Bebobp Gold Member

Kaoboi Bebobp

Posted
Posted

Never been to Vietnam but seriously considering a few days there to test the water under the 15 day visa exempt for British passports.

My Thai wife isn't so keen on Vietnam for reasons only known to herself. She can be persuaded and has British and Thai passports so, I would assume, easier to enter on her British passport and have done with it.

All of an hour's flight from BKK and good to have an additional stress-free option.

Flights to Saigon are cheap (compared to Phnom Penh). Avoiding the Visa on Arrival clusterfxxx is a Good Thing. Believe me. Worst immigration service in SEA and I've entered by air, land and river.

My Thai GF of 2 years won't go to Cambodia or Vietnam. Outright refusal. I think there's some residual dislike of those nations -- open-mindedness being in short supply here. But I'm OK with that, I happily go alone and hang with friends.
Cats4ever Advanced Member

Cats4ever

Posted
Posted

I am in Vietnam for first time in almost 3 years. The visa process is a pain. The big observation in Da Nang & Hue,to date, is the noticeably smaller crowds. Still love the place and the people.

Tomtomtom69 Platinum Member

Tomtomtom69

Posted
Posted

Never been to Vietnam but seriously considering a few days there to test the water under the 15 day visa exempt for British passports.

My Thai wife isn't so keen on Vietnam for reasons only known to herself. She can be persuaded and has British and Thai passports so, I would assume, easier to enter on her British passport and have done with it.

All of an hour's flight from BKK and good to have an additional stress-free option.

Easier to enter on a Thai passport, visa exempt for 30 days. Has been this way for over 10 years now.

  • Like 1
Tomtomtom69 Platinum Member

Tomtomtom69

Posted
Posted

The Visa on Arrival at Vietnam airports is a shambles. I arrived in Hanoi at their new airport not long ago and there was no one on duty. They were all asleep somewhere and it took a good 20mins to wake them up. Vietnam has lost a lot of good paying European and Australian tourists. Nowadays it is just a backpackers cheepo holiday destination. They also get package tourists from Thailand and Malaysia but like the Chinese they have long pockets and wont even buy a banana from the locals. Vietnam needs to do more with their visa regulations if they want the good paying tourists to come back.

I agree that Vietnam needs to overhaul it's visa system but seems to be doing so slowly. The problem is the country is still largely ruled by aging conservatives, who amongst other things also don't like the idea of tourists driving their own vehicles into the country "for their own safety" hence why Thai cars aren't allowed to enter the country.

But I really don't think anyone would choose to avoid going to Vietnam because of having to pay for a visa. It's just a formality and costs a bit of money but let's say you wanted to stay in Vietnam for 3 months with multiple entries, it's very easy to get such a visa whereas for Thailand you only get 2 months that you still have to extend for a month in country. Vietnam will reform (as evidenced by it's visa waiver this year and the planned one for a few more additional countries next year) but I'd say anyone avoiding Vietnam due to having to pay for a visa is actually a cheapo.

While I have seen lots of Malaysian tourists in Ho Chi Minh (they seem to be visible only at the Ben Thanh market, which even has signs that say they accept Ringgit! Only place in the world outside of perhaps southern Thai border areas where I've seen Ringgit being openly accepted outside of Malaysia), one doesn't see Thai package groups as much. Russians, hell yes. Although their numbers are down a bit due to the economic crisis back home but they'll be back in time. Of course they are usually at the beaches and not much in the cities.

TechnoCrasy Rookie Member

TechnoCrasy

Posted
Posted (edited)

Never been to Vietnam but seriously considering a few days there to test the water under the 15 day visa exempt for British passports.

My Thai wife isn't so keen on Vietnam for reasons only known to herself. She can be persuaded and has British and Thai passports so, I would assume, easier to enter on her British passport and have done with it.

All of an hour's flight from BKK and good to have an additional stress-free option.

Easier to enter on a Thai passport, visa exempt for 30 days. Has been this way for over 10 years now.

Although some news sources say the 15 days for the 5 euro countries (Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) is published on a Vietnam govt official website. I haven't been able to find it. Only found this.
THis website and this website (is this a government site?...the website says "It is legitimated and supported by the Vietnamese Immigration Department") still has UK passport holders needing a visa on arrival. Presumably because the new policy is not yet in place, but nothing about the new policy on both those sites. ermm.gif
Some info about disadvantages of visa on arrival here. (that site is not a government website by the way, although they don't seem to try hard to not make it look like one)
Also, this site says: Visa Category D = no more than 15 days validity.
C1 = tourist visa 30 days or more.
Edited by TechnoCrasy
KhunHeineken Platinum Member

KhunHeineken

Posted
Posted

Way ahead of Thailand,

Education, Viet - 12 Thai - 47

Tourism, Visa exemptions = Viet booming/ Thailand not so much given the politics

Industry, Vietnam investment in training population for Smartphone manufacture - flying high, Thailand nothing since HDD - now demand dropping like a lead balloon

Foreign skilled labour force - Encouraged in Vietnam now allowed to buy limited land for housing/In Thailand Condo only

A foreigner will be able to own land there for 50 years with an option for another 50 years and it can be rented, sold or inherited.

http://www.thanhniennews.com/business/vietnam-to-allow-foreigners-to-own-homes-for-100-years-43063.html

Jimbolai Advanced Member

Jimbolai

Posted
Posted

I love visiting Vietnam. I would go more often but the tortuous and painful visa process is not worth it anymore, especially when it costs $65 for a couple of nights in Saigon or Vung Tau. Throw in the SGN airport VoA chaos, with waits up to and past two hours, well, forget it. I'm not resentful for not winning the free-visa lottery, just announced. OK, maybe a little bit. Guess us North Americans just don't cut the mustard with the Party bosses.

I was in Vietnam for 8 years on 6 months visas. it used to be easy. Now it is getting ridiculous so no more VN for me. Just stay in Thailand on a retirement visa. I miss the place VN but who needs to put up with 4 times the price and far less service.

bigyin Advanced Member

bigyin

Posted
Posted

I was at Hanoi Airport to answer your question in May. Going in it was very pleasant. The only queue was at the visa on arrival counter but I would say that I only waited about 20 minutes. Very stress free really. The only important point I would make is that there are no money changing facilities when you leave so do not under any circumstances turn up at the airport with a large wedge of dong. Luckily I paid the hotel in cash but I still had to buy some rubbish. Unlike jimbolai I am no expert on Vietnam. It is a communist country so living there would I think be quite a hassle but I really liked Hanoi. I thought the people were ultra friendly but of course I used to think that about Thailand. You don't really know a country until you live in it but I would go back in a shot. Liked it a lot.

  • 2 weeks later...
Stocky Ruby Member

Stocky

Posted
Posted

Came through HCMC today on a UK passport, all they asked was to see my return ticket confirming I'd be there less than 15 days. No problems with Air Asia check-in in Hat Yai for the Fly-Thru nor at Don Mueang switching through Domestic to International.

nidieunimaitre Gold Member

nidieunimaitre

Posted
Posted

If the EU had cojones, they would tell the Vietnamese (and others) about Schengen.

Treating inhabitants of New York differently from inhabitants of LA would be unacceptable, would it not?

Unfortunately, the only politician with cojones in the EU, Varouflakis, will soon be ex EU.

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