Visas for VN
 

Does anyone know appx costs for a single entry visa into Viet Nam. I'm US citizen and live here in the Washington DC area so just like my trips to Africa and China, I can get the visa in person. I just can't find any info on costs.

Taking my dad for a father-son trip to HCMC in early April. I should have time to get the visa - right?

Thanks in advance and -

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look on their embassy web site for current info

The last I heard the price was US$65 for a single entry visa. Call the embassy or email them for verification of the price. Since you are in DC, you should be able to get the visas quickly, as you can arrange to pick them up if necessary. They don't take personal checks, so you'll need a money order or cashier's check.

My wife tells me that I'm pretty good at not seeing things that are right in front of me but I did look at the Viet Nam embassy website first and could find all of the information I needed including the visa app istelf but could find no mention of a price anywhere. That's when I decided to ask the Fodorite experts.

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Thanks Kathie! I'll take your advice and give them a call.

type to you later....

You're right the website doesn't specify the price.

If you look at the Vietnamese website for the visa fee you won't find it as the last poster mentioned. Don't attempt to send an e-mail for it; I did and never received a reply. After a week I called the embassy and learned it was $65.00 for a tourist, single entry visa.

The process was simple once I learned the fee:

1. Download the PDF visa application. (The one you fill out on screen moves all spaces and you'll spend more time re-aligning).
www.vietnamembassy-usa.org

2. Print off the instructions "How to Apply for a Visa to Vietnam?" Follow to the letter.

3. Have 1 passport photo taken (I took mine at home and printed with my own HP photo printer which had a passport setting). The background must be bright (I did against a white wall). You will either glue or staple to your application.

4. Follow the instructions you printed off for sending in to the embassy. Note: you will need a cashier's check or money order for payment. Most often your bank will not charge a fee for a cashier's check; a money order can be obtained at your local post office for a nominal fee.

5. Send in your passport, visa application (with photo glued or stapled), cashier's check, and a pre-paid return US Express envelope in a US Express Mail envelope. US Express Mail is the ONLY way the embassy will receive your application and the only way they will return it to you (you will have to sign for it when it is delivered). The cost is $16.25 each way (from Des Moines, Iowa to Washington, D.C.; two passports).

Note: applicants applying together can send in one envelope and they will be returned in one envelope.

Send to:
Embassy of Vietnam
1233 20th Street, N.W., Suite 400
Washington, D.C. 20036

US Express mail is either an overnight delivery or 2 day (cannot remember) but the post office will provide you with tracking numbers.

6. Processing times vary but for travel in April I was advised that processing was 5-7 business days. That is exactly what I experienced, even with the application arriving during Tet. Also keep in mind that the Vietnamese Embassy is closed during US and Vietnamese holidays.

As a side note, if you're going to call to confirm the visa price, I had the best luck with 202-861-2293. The first number listed on the instructions and all the extensions kept me dialing.

My visa is good for 30 days from the date of entry date (application asks for the date of your arrival and the date of your departure).

Good luck and bon voyage!

Really Blessed,

Sounds like fun with your dad. Regarding visas and costs, Vietnam makes a distinction betweeen single entries and multiple entries. For many vacationers, it's not unnusual to enter Vietnam and then go to say Laos, then return to Vietnam. If you go to another country then return to Vietnam, you would need a multiple entry visa (which is more expensive, don't remember how much).

I went to Vietnam (Hanoi), then flew to Laos (LP), then returned to Vietnam for my flight home. This required a multiple entry visa to Vietnam. I mention this to you just in case you decide you might want to move around the region and visit another country while in SE Asia.

One other thing to mention about the VN visa, you cannot under any circumstances enter VN before the date you specify you are going to enter.

Thanks folks. I actually spoke with someone at the embassy here in Wash DC and she said to fax our apps and copies of our passport to them for initial processing. She said to come down in 5 days with the original passport, the photos and the money. I did as she asked and it took about 10 minutes in the embassy office before I walked out with my visa equipped passports for my dad and myself. Pretty simple actually.

Since I didn't want to mess up our travel dates (arrival and departure) I just requested April 1 through 31 as my dates in Vietnam. That way, if my April 6 through 16 dates slid a few days either way, I didn't have to worry about it.

Again, thanks for all of your input/help folks.

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