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.