HOW TO OBTAIN A VISA TO VIETNAM

Vietnam Visa Exemption list:

If you are listed below, that is awesome. Just check your passport expired date to make sure its validity 6 months until the date you leaving from Vietnam.

Vietnam Visa is exempted for the UK, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland passport holders within 15 days as from the date of arrival.
Vietnam Visa is exempted for Brunei passport holders within 14 days as from the date of arrival.
Vietnam Visa is exempted for Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos passport holders within 30 days as from the date of arrival.
Vietnam Visa is exempted for Philippines passport holders within 21 days as from the date of arrival.
Vietnam Visa is exempted for Japan, South Korea passport holders within 15 days as from the date of arrival.
Vietnam Visa is exempted for France, Chile citizens holding valid diplomatic or official passports within 90 days or several visits up to 6 months as from the date of arrival.
Vietnam Visa is exempted for APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) Holders from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies within 60 days as from the date of arrival.
Vietnam Visa is exempted for those who travel to Phu Quoc Island - Vietnam: Foreigners and Vietnamese nationals bearing foreign passports who enter Vietnam through an international border gate and then travel to Phu Quoc Island and stay in Phu Quoc less than 15 days. Passports must be valid for at least 45 days. After arriving in Phu Quoc Island, if visitors want to travel to other localities or stay in the island for more than 15 days, the immigration department will be responsible for issuing visas right on the spot.

Obtaining VISA to Vietnam for others

Others then above, most countries, such as Australia, US, New Zealand, and Canada etc, require a VISA to Vietnam. All other nationalities should check with the Vietnamese embassy or consulate in their country of residence. A visa must be obtained before departing your country of residence (unless you have gone through the official channels to obtain a visa on arrival service). It can be arranged up to 6 months before your scheduled arrival date into Vietnam.

All Vietnam visas are SINGLE ENTRY unless you have specifically requested MULTIPLE ENTRY and this is stamped into your passport. Please ensure you have a multiple-entry VISA if you are entering Vietnam twice. The status of a tourist visa cannot be changed from SINGLE ENTRY to MULTIPLE ENTRY once you have arrived in Vietnam.

The most popular and inexpensive way to get Vietnam visa is Visa upon Arrival. Following steps will guide you to obtain it

a) Get the Visa Approval Letter:

We, Vacation Indochina Travel are pleased to provide the following information for us to apply for your visa via email or fax.

Full name on passport
Passport number
Date of birth
Nationality
Date of arrival
Date of issue
Date of expire
Please make sure that your passport is still valid for 6 months

b) How long does it take and how much?

It often takes 2 - 3 days (Normal process) or 1 day (Urgent process) to get the “Visa Approval Letter” which we will send you via mail. What you need is to print it out and take it along to get the stamp at airports/borders.
Letter of Approval fee alone will be 20$ per person per time for single entry and cost 30$ for multiple entries.
The processing fee is non-refundable if the passport holder is disapproved by the authority. The reason of their disapproval will not provide.

Do you know? - Vietnam authority are preparing to launch an eVisa portal for foreign tourist traveling to Vietnam. The pilot phase is about to start in Febuary, 2017.

c) VISA Stamp fee - updated in March 2020

Upon arrival, you will need to fill in a certain form with your personal information, get the stamp and visa will be done. For this process, you will need to prepare 02 passport photos (4*6), the printed Letter of Approval and changes for Stamp fee.

The fee has promulgated recently in the Circular No. 157/2015/TT-BTC by Vietnam’s the Ministry of Finance which stipulates collection, management and use of fees for issuing passports, visas and papers on entry, exit, transit and resident in Vietnam.

According to the Circular issued in 2015, the visa stamping fees for foreigners and Vietnamese residing overseas have had a sharp drop of 40% since late 2015. The rate for single entry visa decreased from 45 USD to 25 USD. To multiple-entry visas for periods of three months or less, the fee has been 50 USD, falling by 45 USD. However, longer term visas upward 3 months to 5 years have unchanged fees from $95 to $155. See new Visa stamping fees below:

Single entry visa US$25/pax (the previous fee was $45)
Multiple entry visa for 3 months or less US$50/pax (the previous fee was $95)
Upward 3 months to 6 months @ US$95/pax
Upward 6 months to 1 year @ US$135/pax
Upward 1 year to 2 years @ US$145/pax
Upward 2 years to 5 years @ US$155/pax

These fees valid November 23rd, 2015 until further notice.
Noted: the US citizen need to pay 100usd per person for the 1 year multiple entries visa (only one visa type).
Tourists traveling in Vietnam then entering Laos or Cambodia, then coming back Vietnam within 30 days, the fee is 5 USD instead of 45 USD before.

Fees for arrival and exit are collected in VND. Fees stated in USD may be collected in USD or in VND at the average inter-bank foreign exchange rate announced by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time the fee is collected.

(Source: www.mofa.gov.vn – website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Disclaimer: The Visa information and exemption are often updated, obtaining valid Visa prior departure is travelers' responsibility. Please kindly check with your most convenient Embassy/Consulate or Contact Us to be clear.