FlyerTalk Forums - Prior to 2022: Visa / VOA Info for Vietnam

FlyerTalk Forums (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/index.php)

- Asia (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asia-460/)

- - Prior to 2022: Visa / VOA Info for Vietnam (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asia/804256-prior-2022-visa-voa-info-vietnam.html)

When you buy a ticket to Vietnam without a connection on that ticket you are subject to Vietnamese Immigration law, and if you are not exempt (based on nationality) you need some form of Vietnamese documentation (e-visa, VOA Letter or visa in passport from the embassy). Your boarding carrier will demand to see the paperwork and without it you will be denied boarding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daawgon (Post 31633377)

Just to clarify. Proof of onward connection does not need to be on the same ticket. It was a little unclear in the post above.

1) AFAIK the access to train street is not verboten, they just (want to) clear the street of the cafés, etc

(3) You can leave by any of the valid e-Visa entry/exit ports. In fact, according to many recent posts on tripadvisor forums, you can enter at any port too, despite having one mentioned on the e-Visa.

I've just applied for my first one, and despite the website saying something to the effect of "You need to check the status as we don't email when we've processed your application" they did precisely that. Three days after applying, I got an email telling me it's done and to download/print my visa. Good service, even if I am missing out on the free 15-day visa by just a day.

wow, so many info here, tq btw

I'm travelling to Vietnam from UK via Thailand and then onwards to HK and the US. As a UK passport holder I am exempt from visa for a stay under 15 days (I'm only staying one day on the way out). The question I have is, my return is about a week after departure from Vietnam, and there rule which says I can't re-enter Vietnam under the exemption if I have been away for less than 30 days. But TIMATIC below says if I went to a third country rather than the contry of departure I should be fine. Or am I misunderstanding?

Quote:

Viet Nam (VN)

Passport required.
- With a visa, passports and other documents accepted for
entry must be valid for a minimum of 30 days beyond the
expiry date of the visa.
- Without a visa, British passports with nationality British
Citizen must be valid for a minimum of 6 months from the
arrival date.
- Without a visa, British passports with nationality of
British National (Overseas) , British Overseas Citizen ,
British Overseas Territories Citizen , British Subject
and British Protected Person must be valid for a minimum
of 30 days beyond the period of intended stay.
- Without a visa, British emergency and temporary passports
must be valid for a minimum of 30 days beyond the period of
intended stay.
Passport Exemptions:
- Passengers with a British emergency or temporary passport.

Visa required, except for Passengers with a British passport
with nationality British Citizen for a maximum stay of 15
days. (SEE NOTE 77569)
NOTE 77569: Passengers entering Viet Nam without a visa
must have a gap of at least 30 days from their last
departure date from Viet Nam. This does not apply if the
passenger entered Viet Nam with a visa for their last visit
or if the passenger returns to Viet Nam after having
visited a third-country (which is not the country of
initial departure). They can obtain a visa on arrival.
Visa required, except for Passengers with a British emergency
or temporary passport for a maximum stay of 15 days. (SEE NOTE
77569)
NOTE 77569: Passengers entering Viet Nam without a visa
must have a gap of at least 30 days from their last
departure date from Viet Nam. This does not apply if the
passenger entered Viet Nam with a visa for their last visit
or if the passenger returns to Viet Nam after having
visited a third-country (which is not the country of
initial departure). They can obtain a visa on arrival.
Visa required, except for Passengers with a British passport
arriving at Phu Quoc (PQC) for a maximum stay of 30 days.
Visa required, except for Passengers with a British passport
arriving at Hanoi (HAN) or Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) with a
connecting flight to Phu Quoc (PQC) on the same calendar day.
A maximum stay of 30 days will be granted for Phu Quoc (PQC).
Visa required, except for Passengers with a British emergency
and temporary passport arriving at Phu Quoc (PQC) for a
maximum stay of 30 days
Visa required, except for Passengers with a British emergency
or temporary passport arriving at Hanoi (HAN) or Ho Chi Minh
City (SGN) with a connecting flight to Phu Quoc (PQC) on the
same calendar day. A maximum stay of 30 days will be granted
for Phu Quoc (PQC).
Visa required, except for Passengers with a Certificate of
Visa Exemption issued by Viet Nam for a maximum stay of 90
days.
- OR
Visa Issuance:
- E-visas can be obtained before departure at

https://evisa.immigration.gov.vn/
. Passengers must have a
printed e-visa confirmation.
Visa required, except for Passengers with a printed
confirmation letter that a visa has been approved before
departure and issued in Hanoi (HAN) by the Vietnamese
Immigration (Ministry of Public Security) or the Consular
Department (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) can obtain a visa on
arrival at Hanoi (HAN), Ho Chi Minh City (SGN), Da Nang (DAD)
or Nha Trang (CXR).
Minors:
- Minors who are younger than 7 years do not need a photo in
the passport of parents or accompanying persons.
- Minors arriving in or departing from Viet Nam who are
younger than 14 years must hold proof of being met by parent
or guardian at the airport of arrival.
- Minors are visa exempt if mentioned in the passport of the
parents or accompanying persons.
Additional Information:
- Extension of stay possible for an additional 90 days, for
holders of a Certificate of Visa Exemption .
Warning:
- The information on the e-visa or on the visa on arrival
letter must match the details of the passport used for
travel.
- Visa exempt visitors not holding return/onward tickets could
be refused entry.

Just a data point...

I saw some comments regarding a long TAT for visa approval when using the Viet Nam gov't website. This week, I submitted my request on Monday and got an approval on Wednesday AM. Easy peasy...

Question about mistake on a Vietnam e-visa application

My wife and I applied for e-visas a few days ago. She received her approved visa pretty quickly. I received a notice, correctly pointing out that I'd filled in my name on the form incorrectly (leaving out my middle name) and instructing me to amend my application, which I did. When I check my status, I see that the status now reads:

Full name: XXXXX XXX XXXXX (My middle name is now correctly included.)

Registration code: EXXXXX...

Passport number: XXXXXXX

Application status: Amended application

Denied Reason: fullname incorrect (as in icao line)

Click here Edit to edit

When I click edit just to check how the application now looks, I see that the name is now correct, including my middle name. Am I correct in assuming that the application is now being processed and that (unless I messed up some other part of the application) I should expect approval soon?

(We're due to depart for Vietnam this Thursday night, which is why I'm double-checking here to make sure I don't need to submit a new application. For what it's worth, we're U.S. citizens and are actually just passing through Hanoi in transit, connecting on a separate ticket to Laos about six hours after arriving in Hanoi.)

Thanks for any advice.

I guess you wanted to get out from the airport, that's why you decided to get visa?

As a failover/backup - get VoA letter for like $7 - if you won't get actual visa, you will still have option to get visa after arrival.

Quote:

Originally Posted by invisible (Post 31792195)

Yes just get the voa letter and it's easy to get one on arrival. I even forgot my photo and no problems. They pulled out a small camera and took one. Wish all immigration was that easy.

Thanks for the useful replies, folks. I'll certainly get a visa-on-arrival letter, just in case.

As for why we even need visas:

1. If it's a nice day and we have the energy (since we'll be arriving from the USA via Hong Kong), we'll head into town for lunch.

2. We've booked the airport capsule hotel for the time between flights, in case we just want to sleep. I understand that it's landside.

3. I was under the impression, in any event, that we might need visas anyway, since we're on separate tickets for two international flights (from Hong Kong on Cathay and to Vientiane on Laos). Is that correct information?

Thanks again.

I used the Hotels-in-Vietnam folks again for our VoA letter in November, probably the 10th or so year of using them. This time we were coming in from Siem Reap and had our forms all ready to go and dropped everything and sat down for at most 5-7 minutes before getting called up to the cashier. We opted for the 3 month multi entry variant because we are heading back for Christmas. The VoA area in SGN is somewhat improved, nowhere near the chaos of the old small area. Not sure when they fixed that up... Also, I investigated and found that you can do the 1 year multiple entry visa via the VoA process for $100 (added to the wiki).

I didnt realize though that we could have routed differently and not needed a visa at all as we are mainly going to Phu Quoc. That is a real surprise that we missed this, there is no visa needed for PQC, even if connecting in SGN. We have the Cathay Pacific New Years Eve 2018 fare and so are flying all the way back into SGN and overighting at the airport before heading to PQC in the morning, but I have now learned there is a Vietjet flight from HKG straight into PQC everyday. And we are exiting on PG to Bangkok, so realistically could have done this without a visa. I add this to the top of the wiki.

Lastly, I found the looseleaf process to be crazy expensive, and I am usually game for spending a few bucks to save myself from a line. For my whole family it added something like 2x the cost.

2022 onward: Visa/VOA info for Vietnam

Back in SGN again this month and all I can say is wow, glad we got the multiple entry visa last month. There were only 5 people in line at each of 4 immigration counters when we got off the front of our CX flight at 6:30pm and almost nobody waiting for VoA. But within minutes a flood of other wide bodies emptied into the terminal and they opened almost every desk and had lines to the back of the arrivals area! We got through in 5 minutes w our visas in our passports, it would have been an hour if we needed to wait for VoA first.