Vietnam Visa on Arrival - Help
 

Hi, has anyone ever gotten a Vietnam visa on arrival? And from who?

I was thinking of going through Tonkin Travel (someone mentioned them on Fodor's), but wasn't sure how I'd get payment to them, since they are in Vietnam and don't seem to have a payment option online.

Any reputable references would be great!


Thanks!

There is no visa on arrival for VN. What you are talking about is a pre-arranged visa. There are a number of agencies that offer this service, but note that this works only if you are flying into Hanoi or HCMC. Any chance you can get your visa before you leave home?

Tonkin Travel calls it a "visa on arrival." You can contact them by email -- they explain the visa-on-arrival procedure at http://www.tonkintravel.com/id17.html. They do take credit cards--but you have to send them your card info by email. I found them to be very reliable and professional and easy to deal with by email. But as Kathie notes, I used this process at HCMC airport. If you are not flying in to Vietnam, you may not be able to use it.

I don't think I have time to get a visa beforehand (I'm leaving in two weeks). Also, I think expediting it may cost me a lot more than a pre-arranged visa may. Do you know what sites are reputable to arrange a pre-arranged visa?

Easy if you are arriving to Hanoi or HCMC. I wrote to the following company via email, filled in their online form, along with my credit card information and authoorzations to charge $US 20, and within a few hours received this email back (in part):

"Thanks for choosing www.visavietnam.org.vn - A member of Vietnam-Immi.Org.Vn
* This is confirmation from us to show that you are successful to apply visa to Vietnam. We will send you the visa letter in 24 hours to 48 hours from now via email
* Please print out the pre-approved letter as we will send you by email & 2 pieces of your picture 4x6cm for boarding the airplane and pick up your visa at Vietnam airports when you arrive. You will see “Landing Visa” sign and please come to Landing Visa Counter for pick up your visa.
* Pay in cash for the stamp fee for collecting your visa : 25USD for single entry visa or 50USD for multiple entries visa.
* Please double check for making sure your information is correctly as in your passport. Any change after approved will be charged."


I printed out the email that they sent me the next day, with a red approval stamp on it, and used it to show the airline that I had a pre-approved visa. Then when I arrived in Hanoi I showed it to the immigration officers and I paid the additional fees and that was that!

I used http://www.vietnam-visa.com/ It was very easy and we got the letter in 2 days. At the Hanoi Airport we paid the $25 dollars and we were good to go. The customer service was great - immediate emails confirming the application etc. Easy process and it was cheaper than applying at the consulate!! I and my wife applied together and the give you discounted price for more people
http://www.vietnam-visa.com/pricing.html

-h

April is right to point out that the travel agencies offering the pre-arranged visa do often call it a "visa on arrival." Of course, it is not a visa on arrival (which means you can show up and buy a visa by filling out forms and perhaps supplying photos).

We just came back from Vietnam a few weeks ago and used myvietnamvisa.com for our "visa on arrival". We too received excellent communication via email and received the paperwork via email within 2-3 days. Very easy and reliable.

Thanks for all the info, everyone! I think I'll arrange my pre-arranged visa using one of the sites you recommended. Saves me about $150! The agencies here quoted me about $150-200 to rush a Vietnam visa prior to my departure...

Speaking of visas, if we fly into HCMC and stay a few days and then fly to Cambodia for a few, do we have to get another visa to fly back into Vietnam? If anyone has prior experience with this, I would really appreciate any info.

I think I read somewhere that you have choices--either a single entry visa or a multi-entry visa? I'm not certain but that seems like it'd make the most sense (i.e. cheaper for the single entry, more $$$ for the multi-entry one)

fregflyer - All you have to do, as I have just done, is click on any one of the sites mentioned above and there is your information. Obviously, you get a multiple entry visa.

Thanks dogster. Should of thought of that!

I have travelled to Vietnam several times and really love the country. I have always used visa on arrival and it works excellent if you travel by air. It is cheaper (at least in my country Norway) than going the local embassy and getting your visa there. And you don't have the hassle with sending in your passport. You just bring the approval letter you get when you travel and show it at the visa landing counter at the airport in Vietnam and the get your visa there.

I have used 3 different online agencies and they all have worked really well. It took about 1-2 days getting the approval letter. Search for visa on arrival to Vietnam on any search engine and you will find many agencies that can do this for you.

The last time I travelled to Vietnam (in december 2011 and stayed 5 weeks) I had to wait about an hour at the airport in Ho chi minh before I finally got the Visa. Was a very long queue of people waiting. But earlier this has been a very quick experience, just about 10 minutes.

One thing that has always bugged me about this service though is that the approval letter you get isn't private but shows all the others who have applied for a visa on arrival the same day. So a lot of strangers will have information about you like name, passport number and birth date. I would recommend using an agency having the option of a private visa for your order only. I used this the last time and that did feel more secure even though I had to pay a little more for it.

Im posting this again since my first post strangely enough got removed by the moderators last time. Not mentioning any links to any of the sites I have used this time.

A friend of mine told me had to wait for 3.5 hours for his visa in Saigon last month. Anyone else have this issue? We're going in a low season but I would hate to wait that long if I can avoid it by simply getting the visa here in Shanghai earlier...

Thanks for this... I had no idea about the Visa. I have just booked to travel in July.

Miss Green, any travel agency in VN can do a pre-arranged visa for you. Note that it is good only if you are entering the country by air. If you are entering overland, you'll need to get a visa in advance from your nearest VN embassy. Note that the post just above your is advertising. I expect it will be gone soon.

We got our Visa in advance and were glad we did. there seemed to be longish lines when we arrived in Hanoi. We zipped right thru with our visas.

I guess it depends on time of arrival - there were no lines at all when we arrived in Hanoi, just walked up to the window, paid our money and got our stamp.

Remember that you no longer have to part with your passport to get a visa in advance. You can get a "loose leaf" visa which doesn't require sending in your passport.

Or if you are fortunate to have relatives from Vietnam, you can get a 5 year Visa Exemption for $60. That's less than the cost of 1 pre-arranged 30 day Visa.

Hi everyone,

IMO anyone who plan to get pre-arrange Visa to Vietnam will get what it call Visa Approval Letter. It's normally take 3 working days to get this, sometime it can be quicker not count weekend.
My tips for saving time at the airport when you have this type of Visa is to fill in the Visa Application Form at home beforehand and stick your passport size photo in there(the company who arrange your Visa will always have this form or you can down load it from internet.
When you are landed at the airport in Hanoi or Saigon (HCM city) you may want to go straight to the custom office to place your Visa Approval Letter and The Visa Application Form in stead of waiting to get your bags at the baggage claim to get your Visa upon arrival ( stamping fee now is 45$ USD, cash should be prepare to save the time. After getting your Visa you can go back to the baggage claim to get your bags.

Hope this info might help.

Hai Tran

The wait at the airport can be a drag though. We waited nearly two hours after having a flight that was 17 hours late....Ugh!

My travel agent is going to do it for $80. Yeah it is probably more but it will save me the stress. I am a bit of a worrier!

Miss Green, do you still have to pay the $45 stamping fee on top of the $80?

Note that the posts about long lines described above are for those with the pre-arranged visas. If you get a visa in advance from the closest consulate or embassy, your wait will be much less. So it is likely you will feel more stress rather than less by getting the pre-arranged visa.

That's what I am getting. I am getting the visa in advance so you say my wait will be less. How is that more stress?

I'll be off plane first so at least I can beat 100 or 200 passengers in the queue.

If I have to pay another $45.. so be it!

You are not getting a visa in advance - that is what you get from a consulate or an embassy. You are getting a pre-arranged visa which means you will stand in line to get processed at the airport. Perhaps you will be lucky and the line will be short - not as sort as the line for those who already have a visa in their passport, but it may be ok. And you will have paid a hefty price for it. Up to you.

Yes - the prearranged visa only allows you the right to stand in line to get the real visa at the airport. The wait can be very long! I would absolutely recommend getting the real visa before you go - through one of the many consulates in the states, if you are AMerican that is.

I am getting the full visa from the Embassy in Australia. My passports are being couriered there. That's what I mean baying I am getting my visa in advance.

I think you will be glad you are getting your visa in advance rather than going through a VN travel agency.

I'm traveling to Cambodia with someone who goes often and we can get the Cambodian visa in the airport in Phnom Pehn when we arrive. Maybe the same in Vietnam?

No, not the same in VN. Cambodia has visa on arrival, VN does not. VN does offer a per-arranged visa as per all of the posts above. It is arranged through a travel agent and will cost you more than getting your VN visa in advance from an embassy or consulate in your own country.

"It is arranged through a travel agent and will cost you more than getting your VN visa in advance from an embassy or consulate in your own country".

Can you really get a 30 day single entry Vietnam Visa for less than $55, including the shipping charges for sending your passport to/from the embassy/consulate?? $55-$65 what you pay to get a pre-arranged Visa through a travel agent in Vietnam.

Bisbeee, $55-65 is what you pay the travel agent for the pre-arranged visa, but there is also a stamping fee, recently reported to have increased to $45.

I paid US$60 or $65 for my visa, and under $10 for roundtrip priority mail.

The cost of the stamping fee is based on the type of Visa. Here's an example of the fee breakdown for specific Visas from a VN Travel Agency.

30 Day single entry - $10 processing fee/$45 stamping fee
30 Day multi entry - $14 processing fee/$65 stamping fee
3 month single entry - $22 processing fee/$45 stamping fee
3 month multi entry - $30 processing fee/$95 stamping fee

If anyone is paying the travel agent $55-$65 processing fees, then they are being way over charged.

Useful info, Bisbeee. The rates we've seen reported here are much higher. People knowing what should be charged can give them leverage in bargaining with an agency.

Just want to make sure people aren't being overcharged. I can certainly understand some people wanting to get your Visa ahead of time, but for those who chose the pre-arranged route, it's good to have correct information. I've been fortunate enough to only wait in line 15 minutes the few times I've done this, but that seems to me the product of me arriving just before Noon. I know that late arriving night flights (like United) can have some pretty long waits.

Here's the link to the agency that lists out those prices.

http://www.vietnamvisapro.com/

Bisbeee has it exactly right, the only real difference between the companies that provide pre-approved visa letters online is the amount of the processing fee they charge. I've searched the Internet looking for the best deal and http://www.vietnamvisapro.com has the lowest fees I've found, and I've always gotten fast service.