How Can You Get a Visa for Vietnam Post Covid?

If you’re looking to get a visa for vietnam, you may well have noticed that the whole thing can be a minefield of frustration. You open site after site that looks official, each offering to get you a 30 day tourist visa, or a 6 month business visa with ease. But how do you know these sites are real and will do what they say? How do you navigate the sea of trashy sites and find the one site that will get you a real visa? Well hopefully by the end of this article you will know.

First a quick disclaimer: I wanted to create this page because when Vietnam first opened after covid, the process of getting a visa was a just a little bit confusing. Even once the process made more sense, it seems to have never really been well publicised to the world. This has led to many people searching frantically online on how to get a tourist visa for Vietnam but only finding unscupulous agents and scam artists who are looking to take their money. So I wrote this article to help these people (the tourists, not the scam artists). As time goes by, the visa situations will surely change. I will try and keep this page updated as best as I can, but I can’t promise that it will always represent the most up-to-date information on Vietnam visas. As of today though, it is correct.

Content still valid as of 04 August 2022

Is There an Arrival Visa for Vietnam?

Many people believe they can turn up to Vietnam and get a visa at the border, and for some people that is true, but that depends on what country you are from.

At the time of writing, the visa exemption upon arrival is available to the following countries:

Chile – 90 days, Panama – 90 days, Cambodia – 30 days, Indonesia – 30 days, Kyrgyzstan – 30 days, Laos – 30 days, Malaysia – 30 days, Singapore – 30 days, Thailand – 30 days, Philippines – 21 days, Brunei – 14 days, Myanmar – 14 days, Belarus – 15 days, Denmark – 15 days, Finland – 15 days, France – 15 days, Germany – 15 days, Italy – 15 days, Japan – 15 days, Norway – 15 days, Russia – 15 days, South Korea – 15 days, Spain – 15 days, Sweden – 15 days, United Kingdom (Not applicable to BNO) – 15 days.

At this time, only these countries can turn up to Vietnam without a visa and enter the country. Once you’re in, though, this time cannot be extended. If you’ve got 15 days, then you need to leave the country before this 15 days is up.

If nobody else can enter the country through this method, what does the rest of the World do?

The E-Visa for Vietnam

If you are not eligible for a visa exemption, the only other option you have right now is to get an e-Visa. This is actually remarkably convenient, and fairly easy to do, if you know where to go, and your country is on the list. The important thing to note right now, is that there is only one place to get an e-Visa for Vietnam. There is one official government site that can provide an e-visa, and a million and one agent sites all pretending to. Some of these agents will still get you a visa, but they will do so by applying through the official government site in your name, as you could do yourself, and then charging you a premium for the service. The other agents will just charge your credit card, then ghost you, leaving you with no visa and a used credit card.

As of today, the e-Visa costs $25, payable in advance through the website, and can take anywhere between 3 and 5 working days.

The link to the only official place to get an e-visa for Vietnam right now is the following:

https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/web/guest/khai-thi-thuc-dien-tu/cap-thi-thuc-dien-tu

Unfortunately, as it stands right now, not every country can get an e-Visa for Vietnam. Currently there are 80 countries that can apply for an e-visa through this site, and that list I have added below.

Taken from the Vietnamese National Web portal on Immigration for application of visa for Vietnam

If your country is on this list, then, you can apply for the evisa through the above site.

How Long Does the e-Visa for Vietnam Last?

At the moment, the e-Visa for Vietnam is strictly for 30 days. Any company that tells you that they can get you a tourist visa for Vietnam for two or three months is most probably lying. The 30 days is all anyone can get right now, and this 30 days cannot be extended at the moment. Again, if any tour agent tells you that they can extend your 30 day visa, they are probably lying and just looking to take your money.

At the time of writing, there are no ways to extend an e-Visa within Vietnam. If you find that you do want to spend more time in Vietnam and your visa is running out, your only option is to leave the country and re-enter. You can do this either by air to a nearby country, or over land. The easiest land visa run is probably to Cambodia via the Moc Bai border gate. There are many companies that will help you do the run to Cambodia and back again, and it can be done easily in a single day.
Of course, to be able to do this in a single day, you will need to get another e-Visa ready to go. As it stands, right now, it appears that you can apply for another e-Visa while inside Vietnam. Once you leave the country, your previous visa is cancelled and your new visa will be activated once you re-enter the country. This might not last forever if too many people abuse the system to work illegally or try to stay within the country indefinitely, but for now it appears to be fine.

When you apply for your visa for Vietnam, you will have to provide the date that you intend to enter the country. If your flight is due to land very early in the morning, it might be best to put the day before as your entry date. When the e-Visa for Vietnam is issued they give you 30 days from the date of entry for you to use the visa and leave the country. This means that if you put the 22nd August as your entry date, you will be fine entering the country on the 28th August, but you will only get the remainder of the 30 days on the visa from that point, i.e. 24 days. The chances are high, however, that you will not be able to fly, or enter the country, at all on the 21st August.

Can I Still Get a Visa for Vietnam if My Country is Not On The List?

The answer to this question is a rather tentative “yes?”, but it is certainly not easy. What you should definitely not do is jump online and believe every agent that claims they can get you a visa for Vietnam, especially if they are offering you a six month business visa or something similar. The days of getting business visas using shady travel agent-run shell companies are well and truly over, and could land you in a lot of hot water in the long run. The only way to get a business visa for Vietnam these days is through sponsorship from a real, reputable company for whom you will be working. This doesn’t mean it is impossible to get a tourist visa when you’re not on the list, though.

One way you can get a tourist visa for Vietnam when you are not on the e-visa list is to find a reputable tour company that will book you on a “tour group” and sponsor you for the visa that way. As you can imagine, this can also be a minefield trying to navigate past the crooked agents to find the reputable ones, and I certainly hope the Vietnamese government will make this process safer and easier for people in the future. I am not comfortable with recommending any specific agents here right now as I do not have experience with any, and do not wish to play favourites, but if I get any confirmed recommendations, I will add them here later. The best bet is to contact the embassy in your country and ask them, although, to be fair, this is not always a very fruitful endeavour.

I have also heard from some travellers that they managed to get a visa through the embassies or consulates in their home countries. It seems that this is certainly possibly for some people as I have heard it first hand from guests, but it is also true that for many, this will not be an option. Many embassies and consulates around the world are simply saying that they cannot give visas or that the visitor must book a tour to be allowed to enter the country. This seems to even be the case in countries that are allowed to apply for the evisa.

Where Can I Enter and Exit Vietnam With My e-Visa?

At the moment there is a list of allowed ports that can used to enter and exit Vietnam with an e-Visa. While this list will certainly cover every possible option for your average traveller, if you are planning to arrive on your own yacht or cross the border on a motorbike, then you might want to check that your visa is valid at your chosen border crossing.

The current list as follows:

Cửa khẩu đường không (International airport)
1 SBQT Cát Bi Cat Bi Int Airport (Hai Phong)
2 SBQT Cam Ranh Cam Ranh Int Airport (Khanh Hoa)
3 SBQT Cần Thơ Can Tho International Airport
4 SBQT Đà Nẵng Da Nang International Airport
5 SBQT Nội Bài Noi Bai Int Airport (Ha Noi)
6 Sân bay Phú Bài Phu Bai Int Airport
7 SBQT Phú Quốc Phu Quoc International Airport
8 SBQT Tân Sơn Nhất Tan Son Nhat Int Airport (Ho Chi
Minh City)

Cửa khẩu đường bộ (Landport)
9 Cửa khẩu Bờ Y Bo Y Landport
10 Cửa khẩu Cha Lo Cha Lo Landport
11 Cầu Treo Cau Treo Landport
12 Hữu Nghị Huu Nghi Landport
13 Hà Tiên Ha Tien Landport
14 Lao Bảo Lao Bao Landport
15 Lào Cai Lao Cai Landport
16 CK La Lay La Lay Landport
17 Mộc Bài Moc Bai Landport
18 Móng Cái Mong Cai Landport
19 Cửa khẩu Nậm Cắn Nam Can Landport
20 Cửa khẩu Na Mèo Na Meo Landport
21 Sông Tiền Song Tien Landport
22 CK Tịnh Biên Tinh Bien Landport
23 Cửa khẩu Tây Trang Tay Trang Landport
24 CK Xa Mat Xa Mat Landport

Cửa khẩu đường biển (Seaport)
25 Cảng Chân Mây Chan May Seaport
26 Cửa khẩu Cảng Đà Nẵng Da Nang Seaport
27 Cảng Dương Đông Duong Dong Seaport
28 Cảng Hòn Gai Hon Gai Seaport
29 Cảng Hải Phòng Hai Phong Seaport
30 Cảng Nha Trang Nha Trang Seaport
31 Cảng Quy Nhơn Quy Nhon Seaport
32 Cảng TP.Hồ Chí Minh Ho Chi Minh City Seaport
33 Cảng Vũng Tàu Vung Tau Seaport

If you need more practical help on getting a visa for Vietnam, then please come stay with us at Hoi An Odyssey Hotel and we will do our best to help you steer clear of the scam-artists and get a real Vietnamese visa. Book a hotel room in Hoi An today. We can also help you arrange any tours or transport that you might want to take while in Vietnam.