Hi,

My son was in vietnam in January and had a 3 mos visa. He has since moved on to Europe and soon onto South Africa. He would like to return to vietnam in May, flying from South Africa. What is the best way to renew or get another vietnam visa while out of the USA?
I have read about the Visa on Arrival? Is this the best option or should he go to a vietnam embassy in Europe or SA?

Thanks

He can get a visa from a VN embassy in Europe or South Africa. If he is flying to VN via Bangkok, he can get a visa there. The other option is a pre-arranged visa though a travel agency in VN. While they call it "Visa on Arrival" on the website, it is not a visa on arrival, but must be pre-arranged. He must have the email confirmation of the pre-aranged visa with him in order to board a plane to VN.

PS He can't "renew" his visa, he must get a new one.

Thank you for the input. I see there are several companies that offer VOA. Is there a company that anyone has used and would recommend or are they all good?

I concur with the above. He could get in touch with the local embassy or consulate but the easiest and fastest way in his case is visa on arrival. The only downside is that he'll have to wait for some minutes at the airport to get his passport stamped with visa.

I haven't used the pre-arranged visa, but a number of people here have used vietnamstay.com

Our extended family traveled in Vietnam a few months ago, used Vietnamstay.com for our visas and were completely satisfied with the service. They were very attentive and quick in reply to our emails.

Thanks for the suggestions. He is going to get the VOA. I gave him the above links and he will need to decide which one to hire. I will let you know how it goes. Thanks again. This site is so helpful.