Vietnam visa- What to know

According to policy of Vietnam Immigration Department, Vietnam visa is a mandatory requirement for almost all foreigners if they intend to enter Vietnam for any purposes. This section provides foreigners with a general guideline on how to get your Vietnam visa and important notices for the procedure of applying online for visa.

1. Applicable types of Vietnam visa for foreigners

Presently, Vietnam visa is categorized into on the basis different criterions including purpose of entry, validity duration length, and the number of entries.

Regarding purpose to Vietnam, there are 3 basic types: studying visa, business visa and tourist visa.

Vietnam tourist visa normally has validity of 15 days or 30 days only. However foreigners can stay in Vietnam longer than the valid duration of this visa type by extending it when it is about to expired.

Business Vietnam visa is granted for people who enter Vietnam for working or setting up their business. Currently, foreigners can get business visa with validity of 1 or 3 months.

Besides, there are 2 other visa types: Diplomatic and official Vietnam visa which are issued for foreigners who hold diplomatic and service passport. To apply for diplomatic or official Vietnam visa, besides normal requirement (original passport and photos), applicants must prepare official letter from related agencies of government, foreign embassies, and international organization. For these visa types, no service fee is charged.

2. Procedure on how to apply for Vietnam visa

To get Vietnam tourist or Vietnam business visa, foreigners can apply at Vietnam embassy or apply online through an authorized Vietnam visa agent.

Applying at Vietnam embassy is considered as the traditional way to obtain visa to Vietnam. At first step of getting visa this way, you should source embassy of Vietnam located in your resident country. In case there is no Vietnam embassy; you can also find the embassy in the nearest country. Then, you should contact embassy via email or phone in advance to get exact required documents as well as specific fee for visa issuance for your specific case. After that, you should submit your passport and required forms to Vietnam embassy to request a Vietnam visa.

For the second way, applying online, which applicable for all travelers to Vietnam no matter which port they enter Vietnam (land, sea, or airport). Currently, getting visa online can be also considered as the most comfortable way to obtain Vietnam visa as it affords travelers with a long list number of advantages over the traditional way. To apply for Vietnam visa online, foreigners just need to prepare an internet- connected device and then spend a couple minutes completing Vietnam visa application online as guidance of system. Next, you should make payment for visa approval fee. In case you want to check your information again before paying, you can choose “Pay latter” and check out. An invoice with guidance on how to make this fee will be sent to you, and you just need to follow the guidance to transfer your money with your card (credit card or debit card) via PayPal, OnePay, bank transfer or Western Union.

For standard service, after only 2 working days since completing visa requirement and payment, you will receive an issued Vietnam visa approval letter or Vietnam visa approval code by email. Both Vietnam visa approval letter and Vietnam visa approval code are legitimate documents which are granted by Vietnam Immigration Department. These electronic legal documents allow foreigners to get visa. However Vietnam visa approval letter is applicable for getting visa at Vietnam airport only (recommended for people who travelling to Vietnam by plane) and Vietnam visa approval code is applicable for picking up visa at Vietnam embassy (recommended for those who entering Vietnam by bus, train, or any means entering Vietnam via land or sea borders)

3. Notices on Vietnam visa

Besides the above listed common Vietnam visa types, there are other several cases that should be noted down as below:

- Vietnam visa requirement for people is listed in Vietnam visa exemption list

Due to the different diplomatic relation between Vietnam and different countries, Citizens of some countries in ASEANS, SCANADIVIAN, Japan, Russia, and Korea are not required Vietnam visa for a given permitted time.. For further information details on the issue, you can visit Vietnam visa exemption page.

- Vietnam visa requirement for oversea Vietnamese or foreigner married to Vietnamese

Those foreigners who get married to Vietnamese passport holders, or are oversea Vietnamese also can get Vietnam visa exemption up to 5 years by applying for exemption seal at Vietnam Immigration offices or at Embassy of Vietnam. People of these cases getting Vietnam visa exemption before travelling to  Vietnam should prepare your original passport with validity of more than 6 months, your marriage certificate, and your Vietnamese wife/husband’s passport or indentify card and go to Vietnam embassy in the country you are living to request for visa. In another case, you also can apply for tourist or business visa to enter Vietnam at first. When you have been in Vietnam already, you and your Vietnamese wife/husband can go to Vietnam Immigration Department to apply for Vietnam visa exemption. It is noteworthy that when going to the Immigration Department, you should bring along the related documents that are in the identical requirements in obtaining Vietnam visa exemption at Vietnam embassy oversea.  

For Vietnamese residing oversea, procedure and required documents to apply for Vietnam visa exemption for Vietnamese oversea are similar to that of foreigners getting married to Vietnamese passport holders. However, instead of presenting marriage certificate, document proving that you are ethnically Vietnamese is required. In case you do not have the document, you can prepare a guarantee letter issued by the Oversea Vietnamese Association in your residing country or a guarantee letter made by a citizen of Vietnam.

Once you have Vietnam visa exemption stamped onto your passport, you can enter and stay in Vietnam without applying for visa for every entry. However, according to Vietnam immigration policy, you are allowed to stay in Vietnam for 90 days at maximum for each entry. After 90 days, you must depart to another country and then come back Vietnam within exempted duration.  Otherwise, request for visa extension is required.

- Vietnam visa rule for overstaying in Vietnam 

Vietnam immigration policy regulates that overstaying in Vietnam is an illegal action can causes many troubles for foreigners when leaving Vietnam. In fact, foreigners overstaying in Vietnam for less than 4 days can pay fine fee about USD 25/ day at Vietnam airport or Vietnam border and leave the country. However, for those cases of overstaying in Vietnam for a long time, you must apply for a Vietnam exit visa to leave the country. The cost to get Vietnam exit visa in this case is very high as the fine for overstaying is included. Therefore, to avoid wasting money and encountering any trouble, foreigners are highly recommended to take careful notice of your visa’s valid duration and leave Vietnam before your visa expires.

For people need to stay for a long time in Vietnam, you should apply for 3 month Vietnam visa (either single or multiple) to enter the country and then extend your visa in Vietnam before its expiration date to stay longer.

For further information about how to get your Vietnam visa, please contact us via email support@evietnamvisa.com or hotline number (+84 943 25 25 52). We are willing to assist your 24/7.