cheers- thanks guys

But I'm still a little confused about the "someone has to go landside to check you in" part. Does this mean that you have to give your visa vietnam to some person and they will go to check-in counter and get you a boarding pass? I Agree with you.

Visa is required if you pass through immigration (i.e. to go to Hotel overnight). There was lots of talk when I was there last Dec about VOA but I don't think they have yet implemented this.

Any Comments?

So this trip I decided to get 1 month multi and went via the SF consulate and visa service company. Not the cheapest option. I know.

So looking at my previous visa on arrival and this consulate visa, my former version has a dollar amount stamped on the visa "sticker" and it has the machine readable passport info in the white stripe. The one I received today has neither of these things.

Do I need to go to that VOA window and pay more $USD to "validate" my visa? I've already paid a $100 consular fee. Or as I assume, can proceed directly to the immigration line.

Thanks.

Scho

Straight to Immigration for you.

Haven't had to do this but my understanding is that this is exactly what happens.

I have quite a bit of experience with the VOA visa process in VN, I've been there several times. To put it simply, if your international ticket from the States shows a destination in Vietnam, then you will definitely need a proper visa or VOA letter (those persons transiting VN with a ticket showing a destination outside of VN, and do not want to leave the transit area do not need any documentation). No airline will allow you to board without proper documentation when the ticket shows a destination in VN.

How is this so different from any other country where visas are required?

The VOA Approval Letter that anyone can purchase online is still looked on with skepticism by many airline agents, however, that process does work and I would not do it any other way. I have never been denied boarding with my VOA letters.

I get the impression that some of you don't understand how VOA works in Vietnam - it is a little different. The Vietnam VOA must be prearranged by going online to any hotel or travel agent in VN and requesting this service. The process can be completed in a matter of hours, but 2 days is standard turnaround. The VOA Approval Letter is then emailed back to the traveler, and can then be printed out for travel. Once arrived at any VN international airport, the traveler goes to the Visa desk and the hard copy visa is inserted in the passport (they are then free to line up at the Immigration counters). Delays have occurred in SGN at the visa desk during peak periods, but none at other airports of entry.

Agreed but the OP is talking about transit, i.e. never leave the airport, never go through customes and hence never really arrive in Vietnam. VOA or Visa is required to get throughimmigartion but transit you don't need to.
I emailed the Vietnamese consulate about this last year and while I didn't end up needing to they confirmed you don't need VOA or Visa if you are in transit.

In SGN now and my wife used one of the VoA services for us for the first time. Been here countless times before when we lived in Singapore, so here is my feedback on the VoA approach.

It kinda sux. If you can't or don't want to part with your passport to send it off to the consulate, then ok, I can see why you'd do this. But otherwise, what a poor way to get into the country. There were at least 25 others on our flight using this method and since you have to queue once for a form and then wait for processing and then requeue, it was at least 35 minutes delay. I would expect better on the ground service for what we paid. I will never again use this service for a routine trip. Heck, we were flying in SIN-SGN and given the shortness of that flight, this added nearly30% onto our total trip time and made us late for dinner...

Can a VOA (visa on arrival) be used for a land crossing or is it only good when entering by air?

My experience with TDS (Travel Document Service) and the visa they attained at the SF consulate on my behalf was excellent. I was checking into my hotel less than an hour after I de-planed.

I dropped off my passport and they called me when my visa was ready. Yes there is a price to pay for convenience. it was worth it to me.

-Scho

If you google visa on arrival and vietnam, you'll find a site that has a list of stations where voa is accepted. I don't remember off hand whether any are land crossings or not.

My question has been answered. Sequence of events:

1. Sent in information for visa on arrival
2. Travel agency asks what else they can provide
3. I ask about air from a non Vietnamese city to a Vietnamese one
4. Agency responds with airfare but suggests bus
5. I ask if VOA can be used for bus entry
6. Response: no, only for air

Which leaves me wondering why they suggested the bus.

I use TDS (Travel Document Systems) for all my VN Visas. The SF office is very good and has called me on several occassions to confirm which type of Visa I needed. ^

Awesome! Nice meeting you last week. Cheers!