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Vietnam Visa on Arrival

Simply speaking, visa-on-arrival (VoA) is a process of getting letter of approval through a travel agency in Vietnam to pick up the at Vietnam airport upon arrival.

Is the Vietnam visa on arrival legitimate?

Yes, it is! The visa approval letter is issued by the Immigration Office, so it a legitimate document. "Visa on arrival" is also stated in the Immigration Laws of Vietnam Article 24, 1999, clause #6, Chapter II.

Other governments also recognize visa on arrival as a legitimate travel document, such as the U.S. Department of State & the British Embassy in Hanoi:

"In order to enter Vietnam, you will need a valid passport with at least six months validity remaining and a Vietnamese visa, a visa exemption document, or a written approval letter for a visa upon arrival. To obtain a written approval letter to enter, you must contact a travel agency prior to departure." 

The Immigration issues a letter of approval for whom wish to visit Vietnam. As the whole application process can be completed online, this saves a trip to the Vietnam embassy and the sending in of your passport to the embassy is not required.

Once approved, applicants will receive their approval letter by email, which is recognized by all airlines traveling inbound to Vietnam. Print it out, fill out the "Entry and Exit Form", prepare passport, 2 passport-sized photos. Show them and pay Stamping Fee to the Immigration officer when you arrive at the Vietnam airports to get your visa stamped.

How to apply for Vietnam visa on arrival?

- Access the Apply Online page of VietnamVisaOnline.net and fill in the online Vietnam visa Application form
- Make payment of service fee. For details about the fee: see below
- Receive Visa approval letter attached with an Entry and Exit Form (after 2 working days for normal service or 1 working day for urgent service) from our system through email, then print them out.
- Now get on your flight and get Vietnam visa stamped at Vietnam airports upon arrival.

The Vietnam visa only valid for entry by air. However, you are free to exit at any port. The following table shows you where you can use the visa:

Noi Bai International Airport (HAN)
Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN)
Da Nang International Airport (DAD)

 

How much is a Vietnam Visa on arrival?

There are two types of fees when applying for Vietnam Visa on arrival.
- The first one is the service fee (fee for processing Vietnam Visa approval letter). This fee is paid directly to the agent for doing all the paperwork for you to submit your visa application to the Vietnam Immigration Department for processing their visa approval letters.
- The second is stamping fee which you pay directly to Immigration Officers in cash (in USD or VND) (at Immigration Desk/Counter) at your arrival airport in Vietnam to have visa stamped onto your passport. The fee is collected by the Immigration Officers and compulsory for all those who use visa on arrival method. It is: 45 USD for 1 month or 3 month single entry visa, 65 USD for 1 month multiple entry visa and 95 USD for 3 month multiple entry visa
For further details, please refer to our Vietnam Visa Fees page.

 

Notices when applying for Vietnam Visa On Arrival?

With Vietnam visa on arrival, travelers to Vietnam will get their Vietnam visa stamped at the Vietnam Airport. Thus, it is applicable to air travelers only, not land or sea travelers.
No original passport sending is required when applying for Vietnam Visa On arrival, so applicants should make sure that all the information filled in the Vietnam Visa On Arrival application is correct. Once the Visa approval letter is issued, no amendment can be made. And if you wish to make any change, you must apply for a new one./.

 

 

This video below is tutorial to show you how to apply for a visa-on-arrival to Vietnam.

 

Top 5 most common mistakes when apply for a visa to Vietnam on arrival

#1 - No visa on arrival without applying online: many people think that they can get a visa directly at Vietnam international airport without applying online. That is NOT true, you may end up with delaying/cancelling your flights or waiting at the airport until the visa is approved. So, you will need to apply online for an approval letter in order to pick up your visa at Vietnam airport.

#2 - Visa extension: many people think that it is easy to extend a visa once they are in Vietnam, however, in fact, it is not that easy, and extending a visa may be a costly and time consuming process. So, if possible, just apply for a 3 month visa in advance instead of a 1 month one to save money on visa extension.

#3 - Spelling / Typo mistakes: Many applicants fill in the Application form with WRONG details: full name on passport, passport number or date of birth. Normally, that may not be a big problem, however, in some cases; they will be refused by the airline at the departure airport since the information on the letter of approval does not match those in the passport. So, make sure you enter everything correctly and carefully.

#4 - Visa on arrival at the border: Visa on arrival works for air travel only, it means there is NO on arrival visa for overland/border crossing or sea/water entry. So, in case you DO NOT enter Vietnam by air, just make sure you have the visa in advance.

#5 - Arrival date: many people think that the visa validity will start from the date they enter Vietnam, not from the date they provide, however, it is NOT. The visa validity will commence from the date you provide in advance, not from the date you will enter the country. So, just make sure that you make a clear plan of when to enter before ordering a visa to Vietnam.



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