Hi,

I am stuck and would greatly appreciate some advise! I live in Greece and there is no Vietnam consulate in Greece as it is apparantly run from Italy. As a result I cannot get by Vietnam visa from there.

I am planning to travel through Cambodia to Vietnam overland. Specifically i plan to arrive at the Chau Doc border crossing by boat from Phnom Pehn. I will then make my way to Ho Chi Minh CIty and will be leaving from there by airplane.

I understand that I cannot apply for a Vietnam visa at the border when entering. Is there some other way?
PS: I will only be in Cambodia for a total of 4 nights split between SR and PP (3 + 1 respectively) so I am a bit worried if that is enough to process the visa application.

Thanks,
panlou

What about sending your passport in to the consulate for processing?

I took exactly the same route as you describe, and the border crossing was complicated enough as it was. All staff I dealt with seemed to be very anxious that my visa was in order. They would not even let me purchase a ticket for the boat ride to Chau Doc without first showing them my passport with the visa.

You can get a VN visa in PP or an agent in SR can get you a VN visa in a few days.

Will you be in any other place for a longer period? You could get the visa in Bangkok, for instance in three days, though for an extra payment they can often get it faster.

We got visas in Phnom Penh for Vietnam via our guesthouse. Gave them the cash and passports and they return with visas the next day (about 36 hours in total) - much quicker and more efficient than trying to DIY. Connections are everything in Cambodia!

http://www.myvietnamvisa.com/vietnam...-cambodia.html

Totally concur with Femi's comment. The last thing you want is hassle at the border which is often a pain as it is.

Bangkok is probably your safest bet if you are spending any time there.

Thank you for the feedback. I am trying to contact my nearest consulate (in Italy) but I cant say I have had much luck. I will try again tomorrow. Otherwise I guess I will have to try and get the viza while in Cambodia. Should I assume that it will be easy to arrange with my hotel while in Siem Reap for 3 nights? I am not spending more time in any other town in the region prior to going to Vietnam. I am a bit stressed about the whole thing because my schedule is pretty tight and cant really afford time wise to get stuck somewhere...

Since the visa has to come from PP, 3 days in Siem Reap may be cutting it close to get the visa.

How firm is your schedule? Is there any flexibility to stay a day longer to be sure you can get it?

If you have pre booked hotels in PP and SR I would email or call the hotels to ask whether they can arrange for you given your time restraints. Generally anything is possible (at a price). My personal experience is that I have found small guest houses to be more efficient, helpful and cheaper at arranging this sort of thing especially if they are arranging your transportation etc.

If you literally have just one day in PP I would ask the hotel IMMEDIATELY to arrange the visa the minute you arrive. If you arrive in the morning and leave the next day in the pm it should be possible (but tight).

An alternative could be to get the hotel in PP to arrange and send a courier to SR but to be honest I would not be happy travelling around without my passport. If by some chance you are staying in hotels within the same group that may make things a bit easier.

Have a look at the attached link it seems to indicate that the embassy Sihanoukville operates a faster service:

http://www.myvietnamvisa.com/vietnam...-cambodia.html

Good luck! I hope it works out for you. Let us know how it goes

Because you have such a short time in Cambodia I would organise it all before you leave. Even with the time you have allocated it will not allow you to see what each place has and with the added hassle of trying to get a visa will just shorten your time. You need at least a week in each place to really get the feel and culture of both places, with only four days you will only be doing the whilstop tour.