Couple of comments.

Got the VOA with a mistake in the passport number which I caught and got fixed. Better check this.

Took 45 minutes when I got to the airport (Hanoi) after standing in the wrong line for 30 minutes. Everyone seems to stand in the wrong line, but they won't tell you to you get to the window. (Go to the visa application window not the VOA window).

Half the people with VOA didn't have dollars or photos. The officer solves the problem by taking photos with his iPhone and running a cash exchange business out of his wallet.

You also have to fill out a visa application at the airport, but they didn't bother to take mine or to take my photos.

There are two guys actually working and ten guys sitting around.

Got some really stern looks and questions at actual immigration. "Are you sure you just flew in from BKK." "Show me your boarding pass!" Maybe he thought I was sneaking in on my private jet.

All kind of humorous in retrospect, but a bit of a pain after a long flight.

Entered SGN yesterday. 45mins. 30mins is more typical. Tips:

1) Fill in the form before you arrive. I use these people http://hotels-in-vietnam.com/hotels/...tnam_visa.html and they always email you back the form as a PDF with the approval letter. Or you can download it from your embassy website.

2) Make sure you have enough USD (they will give change).

3) Just one form and one photo is enough. Glue/staple the photo to the form before you leave.

4) When you arrive, just hand it right in. The people milling around have already done this.

Expect to wait 30mins. Yep, they are slow, inefficient and certainly don't see any reason to hurry. At the same time, they are not officious and most problems can be fixed. No photo/no USD etc/slight mismatch on the visa letter. It might cost, but you won't be ripped off.

Beats me how despite the instructions being clear, simple, and reasonable, people still turn up without the right stuff.

Arrived at SGN yesterday, was 2nd person off of my flight to get to the window and 3rd overall person and in total only took me about 20 minutes or so. Soon after I handed in my letter, completed form, photo and passport the rest of the passengers arrived so it would have taken them over a half an hour easy. Most people did not have forms filled in, did not have photos did not have pens with them. One girl that did VOA taught she was getting ripped off because she already paid the $20 online and had no idea about the $25 stamping fee at the airport.

I guess all things considered it could have been a lot worse. Folks at SGN seemed to be working as fast as the could to process people.

My SIL and her husband just took a Princess cruise SIN-PEK with port of call in Vietnam.

The cruise line took care of everything by simply charged their Visa fee of $31 total for 2 persons. They did not need to lift a finger. It was all done onboard the cruise behind the scene. They did not need the Vietnamese Visa to board the ship but they did need the Chinese Visa before hand.

Hey that's a good tip, thanks Happy. I will peruse the Princess site and see if they have any itins we like.

I had never considered Princess before because I'm afraid to tell my mates I went on such a girlie-sounding trip. ;)

I found a good fare to Ho Chi Min city for memorial day wekend. Its just a quick MR, i'd be staying for 30ish hours.

Is there a risk of the Visa getting denied for such a short stay? In Bali doing VOA they had no problem with my short stay but it was in transit and not my destination.

No risk. They don't know your flights when you apply. You do write down your intended length of stay, but they don't care.

As long as you don't try and pass a counterfeit banknote you'll be fine.
If its worth a few extra bucks for peace of mind use TDS. Also saves time on arrival.

Agree it might save time on the ground in SGN. But not sure what you meant by "peace of mind"?

Asking this question on behalf of a colleague...
He will be travelling to Vietnam next week and has already obtained a VOA letter from his travel agency. His arrival and departure dates are now pushed back by couple days later than the original dates. His stay will remain within the current limitation of his VOA application (i.e single entry, less than 90 days). Will the departure/arrival dates shift invalidate the VOA letter?
I guess he can also ask his travel agency but thought that I can do him a favor by asking the opinions of this forum.
Thanks,

Just saying that if there is concern about the VOA system or that the OP would be denied a VOA, he could have one in his passport beyond arrival. I would do this via TDS. I certainly was less confident in the VOA system my first trip back in Oct than I was for me second trip in Dec. I was booking my air/hotel planning for multiple entry. Once I got my "sticker" I could stop wondering if I was going to need to change anything.

-Scho

OK got it. I can see some might worry about being denied boarding if the airline doesn't understand the VOA system and wants to see the sticker. But as far as SGN is concerned, they could deny you anyway (even with a sticker) if they had sufficient reason. But in practice they never do for "normal" travellers. VOA is just as safe as the sticker IMHO, just the milling about issue can be annoying.

He should immediately contact the travel agency about the change of dates--particularly the new arrival date. Let them inform your colleague if they want to replace the existing with a new VOA letter, or if the current one is OK since he's arriving AFTER the original stated date (if I read your post correctly).

It won't be a problem. When I apply for the letter I rarely know the exact date of arrival so I state the earliest date I am likely to arrive and generally arrive a few days later. It has never been a problem.

Indeed the last letter made this clear: "is permitted to enter and exit Vietnam one time from X to Y", X being the original date. The Vietnamese said the same.

My colleague is indeed arriving 2 days later than the original date he had when the VOA letter was applied for. Thank you all very much for your replies.