Pookynubbers

Yoshi212

Here is the official info from the embassy Visa | Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the United States

But it seems you'll need to use a service or the expedited service offered by the embassy to get this done before you leave.The service may be faster as they streamline the service and answer to you while the embassy doesn't.

Upside is you can go to HKG without any issues and if need be make it to Bali without Vietnam if you cannot complete the visa process in time. This may require a ticket change if you are ticketed as one ticket so that your return isn't canceled.

Pookynubbers

drminn

You can get a visa on arrival after filling out an online form ahead of time. See instructions here:

https://vietnamvisa.govt.vn/vietnam-...sa-on-arrival/

radonc1

While it is true that you can apply for your visa on arrival, plan to spend many hours doing it. In Hanoi, the lines were long and the officials processing the forms few.

I would highly recommend that you get your visa prior to entry. I did not have difficulty doing so. It does require your leaving the passport at the embassy but it was less than 2 weeks for me from application to receipt by mail of the passport. You should use expedited service since your trip is less than a week away.

pontevecchio

It would seem that you do not need to send them the passport for an E VISA. The URL referenced in post # 3 is quite helpful.

asdfghjk

If you live near a VN consulate in the US, they can do it for you there in 30 minutes.

beckoa

Please follow the redirect as we move your query to the appropriate Destination forum.

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk

wxman22

It's best to get your VISA from the consulate. Then, your arrival at SGN (I don't know Hanoi) will be fast and easy.
If that's not possible, you only choice is the VIsa on Arrival (VOA).
The line, wait to pick up your VOA at SGN varies, but seems to be in the 30 to 60 minute time frame. If you do this, it matters more than ever how quick you are to get to the immigration hall. Don't dally.

I've found SGN a real pleasure to arrive.

If you are Sky Priority, make sure to keep your boarding pass handy, they will have shorter line for passport control.

889

He's leaving in a week, so he should have time to get an e-visa. No need to wait in that extra line with an e-visa, just line up at the regular immigration counter since you already have your visa.

(It;s easy to confuse the old but still availabe visa-on-arrival with the new e-visa, but the procedures are different.)

Daawgon

The VOA visa route is just too easy and cheap, I've done it this way for 10 years. Visa4vietnam is the vendor I've been using, and all of their Approval Letters are private letters. Max 48 hours turnaround (1 month, 3 month as well as 1 year visas with the VOA system).

Air carriers will not board passengers without documentation for Vietnam. Vietnam's most efficient airport is HAN - SGN is extremely crowded!

889

But e-visa is cheaper, you don't deal with a third-party travel agent, and you don't have to wait and line up for the visa itself to be processed on arrival. Only advantage I can see, at least for single entry, is that you may get online approval for your visa-on-arrival a bit quicker, depending. But with a week till arrival, that shouldn't be a concern for the OP here.

When they started e-visa, there may have been some valid concerns whether it would work smoothly, but I don't recall any complaints here in the past few months.

(We should point out to the OP -- who apparently asked this question elsewhere -- that there's a long thread here on Vietnamese visas.)

Diplomatico

This method is pretty much obsolete now that you can obtain an e-visa directly from the Vietnamese government online in approx 48 hours turnaround time. Link is in the wiki in the VISA/VOA Info for Vietnam thread. (LInked by craz below.)

craz

Ive done VOA 3 times and the longest I ever spent waiting to get my PP back was 20 mins @ SGN thats said it does depend the time of year one is going, what time they will arrive and from where they are coming Next time I will do E-Visa but with time being short Id do VOA unless theres a very tight connecting time frame

OP hers a link with a Wiki that will supply you all the info you need: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asia...o-vietnam.html

Pookynubbers

Hello -

I'm seeking some advice about my upcoming trip. I was dumb and didn't apply for a Vietnam e-Visa until 12/20 (CST) which gives them 2 working days (no work on Christmas I suppose?) but my flight departs on 12/27 at 5:50am - but I can't depart without it.

I don't need to go to Vietnam - I had planned to spend 7 days there and then head to Bali. Here are my options as I see them

A) Change my award booking now ORD->HKG->??? (somewhere warm) $125 change fee - I'd also be eating my non-refundable $310 flight from SGN->DPS - so $425 mistake.

B) Give them until Tuesday....and hope I can find another award flight for somewhere in SE Asia that is warm....

C) Apply for the Visa upon arrival. Some sites say they can do 2-4 hour turnaround. I'm not sure if that's true - and I've been reading about non-legitimate sites (including the list of non-legit sites from the Vietnam govt.)

Any thoughts or advice from the collective brilliance of the community here?