Vietnam 15 day visa exemption - transfer included?
 

Hi

My wife and I (both UK passport holders) are arriving I Hanoi on 28/2/17 and will be flying from Da Nang to Hanoi on the evening of 15/3/17, arriving at 21:35. However, our onward flight out of the country does not leave until 1:15am, taking us 1 hour and 15 minutes over our allotted 15 days including arrival and departure time. As this time will be spent transferring between the domestic flight and the international flight and we would not be leaving the airport, would this be allowed or is it likely to cause problems?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as we fly tomorrow.

28 February = Day 1, so 14 March = Day 15!

Fwiw we flew from Bangkok to Hanoi on 10 February, and at check-in had to produce proof of onward International travel out of Vietnam.

On arrival at Hanoi, again we had to show proof.

Strangely enough our 15 day visa exemption should have expired on 24 February, but the Valid until date written in our passports was 25 February.

I think you should be fine (but get your responses to any questions either on departure from the UK or on arrival in Hanoi, prepared in advance!

We have use these 15 day exemptions a couple of times. Both times our experience seems similar to LL i.e. 16 days rather than 15. One of my stamps shows entry 15 oct and exit by 30 oct. on that basis you should get a stamp in your passport on arrival showing your departure day which they then write in - CHECK it to make sure it shows the correct date - in your case that should show 15 March - occasionally they do get it wrong! You could be lucky and it could be in your favour!

Da Nang is an international airport so you should be able to go through immigration there and stay in transit in Hanoi, in which case you will have left the country for immigration purposes. Even if you can't do that then as long as you go through immigration before the witching hour, again you will be fine.

You biggest problem COULD be in persuading the airline in London that you are indeed leaving within the required time. If you are flying on a through ticket from Da Nang, there isnt an issue. If on two separate tickets just get the flight booking or schedule printed out, preferably on the same sheet of paper and show that to all concerned.

The only other alternative is to apply for a 30 day visa approval letter using an express service. I use http://www.instantvietnamvisa.com/rush-visa/ You should be able to get one in a few hours. Even using their normal service I usually get mine in 24 hours or less.

Good luck, but I am sure you will be fine. Let us know how it goes

Another point, hopefully one you don't have to worry about.

You haven't allowed much time between flights. If your flight from Danang is delayed you might start sweating a bit. Always a sound idea to spend your final overnight in the city that your international flight leaves from.

Good luck, hope you have a great trip. We're sat at BKK now waiting to check-in for our flight(s) home.