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26
Jun
2023

Vietnam Government agrees to extend the e-visa validity to 3 months

Posted By : Threeland Travel / Travel Alert ( Top News )

The Vietnam Government agrees to extend the validity of tourist e-visas from 30 to 90 days and allow visitors multiple entries beginning on August 15.

1. Extend the tourist e-visa validity to 3 months

In the morning of June 24, with 470 out of 475 members voting in favor, Vietnam government approved the needed amendments to the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam to extend the validity of tourist e-visas from 30 days to 90 days, valid for multiple entries to 80 countries lised below. They also agreed to increase the duration of visa-free stays at the border gate for people entering the country under the visa exemption category from 15 days to 45 days.

This new visa policy has increased the duration of e-visas to 90 days, valid once or multiple times to meet the needs of international tourists, facilitating foreigners who want to enter Vietnam to for extended travel, study, survey markets, seek and promote investment. Especially, there is a need to travel to many countries in the Indochina region and return to Vietnam to assess and compare the possibilities of expanding business in Vietnam.

List of countries with e-visa eligibility (2023)

E visa Vietnam is available for citizens of the following countries who wish to stay in the country for no more than 30 days currently.  

Andorra Greece Palau
Argentina Hungary Panama
Armenia Iceland Papua New Guinea
Australia India Peru
Austria Ireland Philippines
Azerbaijan Italy Poland
Belarus Japan Portugal
Belgium Kazakhstan Qatar
Bosnia and Herzegovina   South Korea                     Romania
Brazil Latvia Russia
Bruney Liechtenstein Samoa
Bulgaria Lithuania San Marino
Canada Luxembourg Serbia
Chile North Macedonia Slovakia
China Malta Slovenia
Colombia Marshall Islands Solomon Islands
Croatia Mexico Spain
Cuba Micronesia Sweden
Cyprus Moldova Switzerland
Czech Republic Monaco Timor Leste
Denmark Mongolia United Arab Emirates
Estonia Montenegro United Kingdom
Fiji Myanmar United States of America
Finland Nauru Uruguay
France Netherlands Vanuatu
Georgia New Zealand Venezuela
Germany Norway

 

Note:

Those who are not included in this list should wait for further updates for a tourist visa to Vietnam.
Those who wish to stay in Vietnam for more than 30 days should do a visa run, as neither e-visa extension nor visa on arrival is available at the moment.

2. Increase the unilateral visa exemption period to 45 days

With the increase in the temporary stay at the border gate for immigrants unilaterally exempt from visas, some suggest clarifying the basis of the 45-day regulation, indicating a rise to 60 or 90 days to be most convenient for tourists entering Vietnam.

2.1 Visa exemption in brief

  • Number of visa-free countries (2023)           

 25 countries (regular passports)

  • Longest visa exemption period 

 5 years (For Overseas Vietnamese)

  • Shortest visa exemption period 

 14 days (Brunei, Myanmar)

  • European visa-free countries (2023)

15 days (Citizens of 11 European countries: United Kingdom, Germany,  France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Belarus, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland).

  • The 30-day gap between 2 consecutive entry policy

This rule was removed in July 2020

  • APEC card holders

Exempt from visa for 60 days

  • Phu Quoc island visa exemption

 30 days

  • Documents required

 Valid passports (6 months)

 Proof of onward travel

2.2 List of countries with visa exemption

In regard to Resolution No. 32/NQ-CP issued on 15 March 2022, there are a total of 25 countries that are exempted from the Vietnam visa. Foreigners just need an ordinary passport which is valid for 6 months minimum and includes 2 blank pages for the stamp. Besides, Vietnam supports many other foreigners with diplomatic passports to enter Vietnam without a visa.

Ordinary passports

Citizens with an ordinary passport from one of the 25 following countries will be waived visa to Vietnam:

No.  

Country

 

Duration of stay           

Purpose of entry

1

Chile

90 days

Purpose of generating income is not allowed

2

Panama

90 days

Purpose of generating income is not allowed

3

Cambodia

30 days

N/A

4

Indonesia

30 days

N/A

5

Kyrgyzstan

30 days

N/A

6

Laos

30 days

N/A

7

Malaysia

30 days

Tourism, conference, seminars, visiting relatives, business negotiation

8

Singapore

30 days

Purpose of generating income is not allowed

9

Thailand

30 days

N/A

10

Philippines

21 days

N/A

11

Brunei

14 days

N/A

12

Myanmar

14 days

N/A

13

Belarus

15 days

N/A

14

Denmark

15 days

N/A

15

Finland

15 days

N/A

13

France

15 days

N/A

17

Germany

15 days

N/A

18

Italy

15 days

N/A

19

Japan

15 days

N/A

20

Norway

15 days

N/A

21

Russia

15 days

N/A

22

South Korea

15 days

N/A

23

Spain

15 days

N/A

24

Sweden

15 days

N/A

25

United Kingdom (Not applicable to BNO)

15 days

N/A

2.3 Diplomatic passports

With a diplomatic passport, foreigners can enter Vietnam without a visa and stay for 15 to 90 days.

Reference: The list below is obtained from the official website: https://lanhsuvietnam.gov.vn/

No.

Country

Duration of stay

1

Afghanistan

30 days

2

Albania

30 days

3

Algeria

90 days

4

Angola

30 days

5

Argentina

90 days

6

Armenia

90 days

7

Azerbaijan

30 days

8

Bangladesh

90 days

9

Belarus

30 days

10

Bolivia

90 days

11

Botswana

90 days

12

Brazil

90 days

13

Brunei

14 days

14

Bulgaria

90 days within 180 days period from the date of entry

15

Cambodia

30 days

16

Cameroon

90 days

17

Chile

90 days

18

China

30 days

19

Colombia

90 days

20

Costa Rica

90 days

21

Croatia

30 days

22

Cuba

30 days

23

Cyprus

90 days

24

Czech

90 days

25

Denmark

15 days

26

Dominican (Republic)

90 days

27

Ecuador

90 days

28

Egypt

90 days

29

El Salvador

90 days

30

Estonia

90 days within 180 days period from the date of entry

31

Finland

15 days

32

France

03 months within 6 months period from the date of entry 

33

Germany

15 days

34

Greece

90 days within 180 days period from the date of entry

35

Hungary

90 days

36

India

90 days

37

Indonesia

14 days

38

Iran

30 days 

39

Iraq

90 days

40

Israel

90 days

41

Italy (Republic)

90 days within 6 months period 

42

Ivory Coast

90 days

43

Japan

90 days

44

Kazakhstan

30 days

45

North Korea

30 days

46

South Korea

90 days

47

Kyrgyzstan

30 days

48

Kuwait

90 days within 06 months period from the date of entry

49

Laos

30 days

50

Liberia

90 days

51

Macedonia

03 months within 06 months period from the date of entry

52

Malaysia

30 days

53

Malta

90 days

54

Mexico

90 days

55

Moldova

90 days

56

Mongolia

90 days

57

Montenegro

90 days

58

Morocco

90 days

59

Mozambique

90 days

60

Myanmar

30 days

61

Nepal

90 days

62

Nicaragua

30 days

63

Nigeria

90 days

64

Norway

15 days

65

Pakistan

90 days

66

Panama

90 days

67

Paraguay

90 days

68

Peru

90 days

69

Poland

90 days within 180 days period from the date of entry

70

Philippines

30 days

71

Romania

30 days

72

Russia

90 days 

73

Serbia

90 days

74

Seychelles

90 days

75

Singapore

90 days

76

Slovakia

90 days

77

Slovenia

3 months within 6 months period from the date of entry

78

South Africa

90 days

79

Spain

90 days within 180 days from the date of entry 

80

Sri Lanka

90 days

81

Sudan

90 days within 180 days period from the date of entry

82

Sweden

15 days

83

Switzerland

90 days

84

Tanzania

90 days

85

Thailand

30 days

86

Tunisia

90 days

87

Turkey

90 days

88

Ukraine

90 days 

89

United Arab Emirates

90 days

90

United Kingdom

15 days

91

Uruguay

90 days

92

Uzbekistan

60 days

93

Venezuela

90 days

2.3 Other visa exemptions

Apart from 25 countries whose citizens are eligible for the visa exemption as listed above, there are some other visa-free categories you can refer to.

5 year visa exemption for Overseas Vietnamese

According to Clause 5, Article 12 in the Law of entry, exit, transit, and residence of foreigners, Vietnam Government grants a 5-year visa exemption to the following objects:

  • Overseas Vietnamese having a valid passport or international travel documents issued by competent foreign agencies and foreigners who are their spouses and children.
  • Foreigners who are spouses and children of Vietnamese citizens.

A 5-year visa waiver allows foreigners/overseas Vietnamese to enter and exit Vietnam at any time during 5 years but the maximum stay for each entry is not exceeding 180 days. If you do not want to exit and en-enter Vietnam, you must extend your visa to continue to stay. The extension time is up to 180 days (6 months).

Requirements

To get a 5-year visa waiver, you have to submit all required documents at the Vietnam Embassy or Consulate in your residing country if you are staying outside Vietnam or at Vietnam Immigration Office if you are currently staying in Vietnam territory.

2.4 Phu Quoc Visa exemption

For the development of Phu Quoc Island (Kien Giang Province), Vietnam issued Decision 80/2013/QĐ-TTg on 27/12/2013 that foreigners can enter, exit, and stay on Phu Quoc Island without a Vietnam visa for no longer than 30 days. The decision is applied to both foreigners entering Vietnam directly on Phu Quoc Island and those transiting at a Vietnam border gate (airport or seaport) and moving to Phu Quoc Island thereafter.

Requirements

In order to enter Vietnam with a Phu Quoc visa exemption, foreigners have to follow some requirements below:

  • Owning a passport with 6-month validity upon arrival date.
  • Flying from your residing country to Phu Quoc via Phu Quoc International Airport. No matter if direct/indirect/transit flights, your final destination must be Phu Quoc.
  • A valid exit date (air ticket, cruise departure date, etc.) showing your duration of stay on Phu Quoc island is no longer than 30 days.
  • Only airport or seaport is available for this visa type.

Threeland team believe that, increasing the unilateral visa exemption period to 45 days is the average in the region, thereby enhancing Vietnam's regional competitiveness in attracting tourists and creating more favorable conditions for international tourists, allowing them to take the initiative in their time and schedule to visit and stay in Vietnam for an extended time or combined trip with other nearby countries: Vietnam, Laos and back to Vietnam for their home flight.

Contact Threeland team for more updates on Vietnam travel packages, latest news of destinations, activites, visa policy and procedure in Indochina at [email protected]