How to get a Vietnam Tourist Visa – Vietnam e-Visa & Visa On Arrival for Land Border Crossing

Planning a visit to Vietnam? Read our guide to obtaining a tourist visa for Vietnam, which includes the e-Visa or the embassy visa. Not to mention, THERE IS an option to get visa on arrival via land border crossing!

The process to get a tourist visa to visit Vietnam can be quite perplexing. Here is a guide to help you navigate through the various Vietnam tourist visa application process. Let’s start with the four different ways you can obtain a Vietnam visa:

1. Apply at the Vietnam Embassy within your home country
2. Apply at a Vietnam Embassy in a foreign country (this is pertaining to travelers who will be in a neighbouring country such as Cambodia, Laos, or China before entering Vietnam)
3. Apply online to get an e-Visa
4. Apply for Vietnam Visa On Arrival at international airports and Mộc Bài land border (you must apply for a visa approval letter online in advance)

🚀 Vietnam Embassy Visa

The Vietnam embassy is not linked to the e-Visa department. The embassy visa process is taken care by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Vietnam e-Visa process is handled by the Ministry of Public Security. It is also worthwhile to note that the embassy visa tends to be more expensive than the e-Visa or the Visa On Arrival. Sticker costs? Maybe!

The documents required for the embassy visa include passport with at least 6 months validity, 1 passport sized photo, completed application form, and visa approval letter which is required in some cases.

When within your own country, you can either mail the documents (if that’s a possibility) or personally submit them at the embassy.

There is an option to get an express visa when applying via the embassy and the price varies depending on the country you are applying from and the nationality you hold.  The table below shows the visa fees charged by the Vietnam embassy in Cambodia as of 2019.

Note: For certain passports holders, such as Indian nationals, the morning express visa costs USD 50 and the afternoon express visa costs USD 70.

🚀 Vietnam e-Visa (Single entry only)

The e-Visa requirements are as follows: Passport data page (uploaded as a .jpg image) with at least 6 months validity, 1 passport size photo (4cm×6cm, white background, without glasses, uploaded as a .jpg image), USD 25 paid using a debit or credit card. Vietnam e-Visa is valid for 30 days on a single entry basis.

This is the official link for the e-Visa application. Please be aware that there are many misleading links on the internet for the e-Visa application, however they are not the legitimate one as per the official Vietnam Immigration Department website. Notice how the official link above has a domain of .gov.vn.

Check the list of 80 countries that are eligible for the Vietnam e-Visa as mentioned on the official Vietnam e-Visa page. It is also important to check out the the List of Ports that allow foreigners to enter and exit Vietnam using the e-Visa.

Pro Tip: Remember to keep the Vietnam e-Visa copy printed and handy to show during border crossing and the immigration at any international airport as they tend to ask for it even when exiting the country. Showing it on your mobile phone will not be permitted.

When applying for the Vietnam e-Visa, do not rely on the 3 working days timeline, because some applications take more than 3 days, sometimes even going up to 6-10 days for no plausible reason! A friend of mine had experienced this first hand. He wanted to get into Vietnam from Cambodia via the land border crossing and had applied for the e-Visa 10 days before the intended entry date.

Since the Vietnam embassy is not linked to the e-Visa department, there was no support helpline available for e-Visa applicants. To make matters worse, there was no English-speaking representative at the public security department who he sought to obtain some clarity on the status of his e-Visa application. The only way to find out is by logging in on the website, or when an email notification reaches you.

After waiting for 10 days, when the e-Visa finally came through, the approval of the visa wasn’t updated in the system. As a result, it wasn’t showing up on the immigration officer’s computer during the border crossing and he had to wait 30-40 minutes while the system was being checked.

The bus driver left him as the other passengers grew impatient. Once the higher officials clarified that the system wasn’t correctly and timely updated, he was given the green signal to proceed, but since his bus driver left him, he had to randomly hop into another bus that drove him to the heart of Vietnam city at an additional cost of USD 5 from the border, after haggling when the driver tried to take advantage of the situation and charged him USD 10, when that was in fact the fare he paid for the Cambodia – Vietnam journey.

🚀 Vietnam Visa On Arrival at Vietnam International Airports

You can get a visa stamp when arriving at Vietnam International Airports such as Ha Noi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh city, Nha Trang, Hai Phong city, Phu Quoc island, and Dalat. However, it is imperative to get an approval letter from a Vietnam-based travel agency before flying to Vietnam. The visa approval letter is a letter issued by Vietnam Immigration Department that allows you to enter and exit Vietnam for a given time period. A number of agencies have been authorized by the Vietnamese government to issue an approval letter.

To obtain the approval letter, you will need to provide the following information:

• Full name as per passport
• Gender
• Date of birth
• Nationality
• Passport number
• Type of visa required: Single Entry / Multiple Entry – 1 month or 3 months validity
• Purpose of entry: Tourism or Business
• Entry date into Vietnam
• Port of arrival

Document checklist for visa stamp procedure at Vietnam airports:

1. Original passport (valid at least 6 months beyond date of arrival)
2. One completely written form NA1 to save your time on arrival – downloadable from here.
3. 2 recently taken photos – 4 cm×6 cm
4. Official Visa Approval Letter (printed) – black and white printing accepted
5. Visa stamping fee: Prepare cash to pay for Government visa stamp fee (only USD or Vietnamese Dong)

Please note: There is no official website to pay for Vietnam Visa On Arrival. Do not fall for top-level organizational domains such as org/gov. Only service fees for the approval letter by the agency can be paid online through their website.

Note: The stamping fee at Vietnam airport is payable in cash only, no credit cards are accepted.

🚀 Vietnam Visa On Arrival at Land Border Crossing

Contrary to current beliefs, it is possible to get a Vietnam Visa On Arrival when crossing the Mộc Bài border from Cambodia. Buses depart daily from Phnom Penh. Before crossing the border, the bus driver will collect your passport to get the exit stamp from the Cambodian Immigration.

After that, the bus will stop at a restaurant while the driver completes the above procedure on your behalf. If you already have a visa, you stay at the restaurant. 20 minutes later, the bus heads to the border crossing zone. You alight the first time without your belongings, to walk across the border, then you hop back into the bus that brings you to the Vietnam Immigration side. Here is where you take your belongings and alight, clear immigration, and pass through the baggage scan.

If you don’t have a Vietnam visa, the bus conductor will ask you to hop on a bike so you can be brought to the immigration to apply for Visa On Arrival. It was mind blowing to find out that Visa On Arrival is available when crossing the Mộc Bài international border gate between Cambodia and Vietnam. The Visa On Arrival at Mộc Bài border also costs USD 25 for a single entry and requires an approval letter that is issued by the Vietnam Immigration Department.

Do refer to the information required for the approval letter and documents required for visa stamping as mentioned above for the VOA at airports.

Notable fact: There are hotels, restaurants and a few shops available before the border crossing near the Cambodia exit in case you need to spend your night by the border.

We hope that this guide has given you a better clarity regarding the somewhat complex and confusing Vietnam visa application processes.

Read on to discover all the wonders waiting for you in Cambodia and Vietnam!