I now have my full Vietnam Visa stuck in my passport after it arrived back from the Embassy in Australia. Cost me AUD$80

I have a question regarding the fees I have to pay at the airport. I have the visa approval letter and have been told by the agency that on arrival I will need to pay $25 to get the visa. My question is I am traveling from Spain and will be bringing Euros. Do I need to get dollars or is this an un neccesary expense?

Brett, ask the agent whether Euros are accepted. As mentioned above, the stamping fee - what you pay at the airport - has recently been increased to $45.

Thanks Kathie.

The agent told me this morning that it is better to have $ and yes,the stamping fee has increased to $45

I have just returned from Vietnam. I am glad I obtained my Visa before I arrived in Vietnam. I just walked straight through to immigration. It seemed a shambles at the booth where the Visa on Arrival were issued.

I paid AUD$80 in Australia and my travel agent organised it. I did not pay anything when I arrived in Vietnam.

We obtained our visas before our trip. We also got multiple entry as we made a side trip to Siem Reap from HCMC and then on to Ha Noi. We also used Tonkin Travel and they were happy to take our US$ when we arrived to cover everything we booked through them. We found them very good, responsive and everything (with minor snafus) worked out just great.

We just signed up for a trip that involves a short (6-day) visit to Hanoi and Halong Bay. I phoned the Vietnamese embassy in Ottawa (Canada) and was told that they hoped I had not sent any money to the online "Visa On Arrival" companies since that particular letter of approval was ONLY for those travelling for family emergency (medical, funeral, etc) or those travelling as members of an NGO conducting relief or medical support. Instead they now offer a "loose leaf visa" in which you mail an application, passport photos, and COLOUR PHOTOCOPY of your passport page and they mail you back a loose visa that you tuck into (or staple into) your passport.

I then checked with a friend in the US and he'd just gone through the same experience with the Vietnam Embassy in Washington. (The price, btw, is now $100 US or...strangely...$93 Cdn for a 30-day visa).

Don't trust any of those online companies offering a "letter of pre-approval" for "visa on arrival"... at best you'll likely be out your application fee and at worst, be denied boarding for your flight. Do phone the closest Vietnamese Embassy and get the word "straight from the horses mouth".

The loose-leaf visa has been available here in the US for at least a decade. But the pre-approved visas through travel agencies in VN has been used by many people here with no problem (except for the endless line at HCMC). Was the person you spoke with saying they no longer accept the pre-approved visas except for family emergencies, etc.?

I expect some of the "visa on arrival" companies are scams... see all the deleted posts on this thread? All of them were advertisements for companies offering "visa on arrival."

I used http://www.instantvietnamvisa.com/ last year to obtain the document required for Vietnam. They were inexpensive, quick and responsive to my inquiries.
Whoever you eventually use, make sure you get a personal document. Some issue one document for many applicants(which is legit, but your privacy is in jeopardy).

I currently am living in Hong Kong and hold a Hong Kong ID card and an American passport. Can I get a multiple-entry visa in advance (not pre-arranged) from here? Do I go to the US consulate here or the Vietnam consulate? For how long is a multiple-entry visa valid?

To get a VN visa, you go to the VN consulate. Sorry, I don't know how long the multi-entry visa is valid for, but they can answer all of your questions at the VN consulate.

Bookmarking

Tourist visas are for one or three month for single and multiple entry. there are different rules for other visa types e.g. business or government.

My husband and I are flying to Hanoi from Laos in February 2015. We had planned on purchasing out ticket to Hanoi in Luang Prabang. Is it possible to get a visa for Vietnam without a date of arrival?

Thanks.

You can get a visa from the VN consulate in your own country. You must give them a date but it is a date you can't arrive before - no problem arriving a few days later.

The last time we got a vietnam visa in Laos they dated it fro the date of application and it was fixed which cut our visit short somewhat! You can apply for it from a fixed date but do check that they put the right date in the visa. I don't THINK they will issue a flexible visa. AA Kathie says, it is ok to arrive a few days later as long as you leve the country before the visa expires. You can apply direct to the consulate but it is easier to get an agent to do it for you for a small fee.

Easier, cheaper and more straightforward to apply for a visa approval letter online which does afford a greater flexibility.

FWIW, I recently wrote to the Consular Section, Embassy of Vietnam (in USA) with several questions regarding visa. Here is the reply (copy/pasted - apologies for all the caps - not mine - this is how I received it):

HELLO,

THANK YOU FOR WRITING TO THE EMBASSY OF VIETNAM.

FIRST OF ALL, THE CONSULAR SECTION OF THE EMBASSY OF VIETNAM STRONGLY RECOMMENDS YOU TO HAVE THE VISA BEFORE YOU DEPART FOR VIETNAM.

THE FOLLOWING FEE IS TOTAL FEE, COVERING FOR VISA STAMPING FEE, VISA APPROVAL ARRANGEMENT FEE AND PROCESSING FEE.

A. SINGLE ENTRY, ONE-MONTH: $100.00/ EACH PERSON
B. SINGLE ENTRY, THREE-MONTH: $130.00/ EACH PERSON
C. MULTIPLE ENTRY ONE-MONTH: $150.00/ EACH PERSON
D. MULTIPLE ENTRY THREE-MONTH: $180.00/ EACH PERSON

NORMAL PROCESSING TIME: 3 WORKING DAYS.
EXPEDITE SERVICE: PLUS $30 (1-2 WORKING DAYS)

*SINGLE ENTRY: IF YOU ENTER VIETNAM ONE TIME.

*MULTIPLE ENTRIES: YOU ENTER VIETNAM MORE THAN ONE TIME (YOU ENTER VIETNAM, GO TO ANOTHER NEIGHBOURING COUNTRY AND GO BACK TO VIETNAM) OR CRUISE MAKES SEVERAL STOPS IN VIETNAM.

* AT PRESENT, THE EMBASSY OF VIETNAM CAN ARRANGE AN APPROVAL FOR A VISA GOOD FOR 3 MONTHS, MULTIPLE ENTRIES AS MAXIMUM.

*A VISA GOOD FOR MORE THAN 3 MONTHS CAN ONLY BE ISSUED TO ANY APPLICANT WHO HAS OBTAINED A WORK PERMIT AND A VISA APPROVAL ALREADY.

WHAT TO SUBMIT?

- PASSPORT (YOU CAN SEND A COPY OF YOUR PASSPORT AND ASK FOR A LOOSE-LEAF VISA with 02 photos. For loose leaf visa, please be adviced that you will not keep it any more when going out from Vietnam; the immigration department will collect it back AND IF YOU LOOSE THE VISA, YOU NEED TO REAPPLY FOR A NEW VISA AND HAVE TO PAY AGAIN FOR FULL FEE)

- APPLICATION FORM (TO BE FILLED ONLINED AT http://vietnamembassy-usa.org/vi/lanhsu/thi-thuc-visa-0 ).

- FEE (1 MONEY ORDERS PER APPLICATION PACKAGE), PAYABLE TO "EMBASSY OF VIETNAM." APPLICANTS APPLYING TOGETHER MAY SUBMIT THE FEE IN ONE MONEY ORDER.

- A SELF-ADDRESSED POSTAGE-PAID RETURN ENVELOPE IF YOU WANT TO HAVE YOUR VISA MAILED. FOR THE SAFETY OF YOUR PASSPORT(S), PLEASE USE ONLY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING MAILING SERVICES WHICH PROVIDE TRACKING NUMBERS: OR US EXPRESS MAIL OR CERTIFIED MAIL WITH FULL LABEL OR FEDEX/UPS. PLEASE DO NOT USE OTHER MAILING SERVICES. APPLICANTS APPLYING TOGETHER MAY PROVIDE ONE ENVELOPE FOR VISAS TO BE RETURNED TO THE SAME ADDRESS.

WHERE TO SUBMIT?

CONSULAR SECTION
EMBASSY OF VIETNAM
1233 20TH STREET, NW
SUITE 400
WASHINGTON, DC 20036

REGARDS.

Far cheaper and easier to get a visa approval letter online - cost $ 23 pp. And then get the visa on arrival
$45 1/ 3 month single entry $ 65 one month multiple $ 95 3 month multiple.

@Crellston. On which site does the approval letter cost only 23$?