VOA or Consulate Visa for Vietnam
 

Hi,

I am considering getting a VOA for Vietnam, however, Iam flying into HCMC and have heard that the wating time at the VOA desk can run up to 2 hours and I am having a car picking me up at the airport, so if I have to wait in line fo so long the driver may just leaving thinking I never arrived. Has anyone had a recent experience using VOA entering HCMC?

It may be easier just getting the visa from the embassy in DC, but I am not sure if their fe is $70 or $75. I sent them an email, but waiting for an answer from them.

Last year I used VOA for Cambodia and it was so easy - I arrived, went to their counter and in less than five minutes I was in the country.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.
Anita

Cambodia has true Visa on Arrival, VN does not. Even though their website calls it VOA, it is a pre-arranged visa. So for VN, you would pay a fee to a travel agency, which would email you verification of your pre-aranged visa and then you would need to get teh actual visa put in your passport in VN. You'll pay a "stamping fee" at the airport for the visa. Waits are variable, but are likely to be longer than for people who have a visa in their passports.

We got our VN visas from the consulate in LA, and they were very fast. We had our passports back in a week.

Kathie,

I just received an email from the embassy in DC and their fee is $70 so I am going to get the Visa through the embassy and I won't have to worry about the lines when I arrive at the airport. I have such a crazy flight itinerary that the last thing I want is to be stessed waiting in line at the airport for the visa

Great! I undertand not wanting any hassle once you start on your trip. Have a great trip!

I did the same here in the UK. Yes it costs more but i wasn't stressing about queues and potential hassle the other end,well worth it in my book!

Thanks Kathie and Smeagol - glad that you agree with me.

We got our Visa ahead of time through DC. Mail your passport Certified Mail and include a certified return mailer to insure that you don't lose your passport. Very easy;.

dgunbug,

I planned on doing that or sending it via USPS or Fedex. When you sent your paperwork and passport by certified msil, did you also have to include your own return envelope or just the certified return mailer? I know that sounds like a stupid question, but I don't want to do anything wrong to delay the process or lose my passport. I will also be mailing it to the DC consulate.

Thanks. Fodorites know everything and are so much help.

For a different perspective we did the VOA last year for arrival into Hanoi and it was absolutely no problem. I have no idea what arrival into HCMC is like though.
I think it saved us a fair amount of money and hassle too so I'd do it again.

Kristina,

I have read that arriving into Hanoi is no problem with the VOA, but it can be a nighmare at SGN. Too bad I'm not flying into Hanoi otherwise I would definitely do the VOA, but after reading about the problems in SGN I think I will pay the extra money so I won't have the hassle. After a 17 hour flight I will just want to get out of the airport and get to my hotel.