1. Legal documents:
- Ordinance dated April 28th 2000 on Entry, Exit and Residence of Foreigners in Viet Nam.
- Decree No. 21/2001/NĐ-CP dated May 28th 2001 by the Government detailing on the implementation of the Ordinance on Entry, Exit and Residence of Foreigners in Viet Nam.
- Joint Circular No. 04/2002/TTLT/BCA-BNG dated January 29th 2002 guiding the implementation of Decree No. 21/2001/NĐ-CP dated May 28th 2001 by the Government detailing on the implementation of the Ordinance on Entry, Exit and Residence of Foreigners in Viet Nam.
- Joint Circular No. 01/2007/TTLT-BCA-BNG dated January 30th 2007 by Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Foreign Affairs amending and supplementing some provisions of the Joint Circular No. 04/2002/TTLT/BCA-BNG dated January 29th 2002 (guiding the implementation of Decree No. 21/2001/NĐ-CP dated May 28th 2001 by the Government detailing on the implementation of the Ordinance on Entry, Exit and Residence of Foreigners in Viet Nam).
- Circular No. 44/2011/TT-BCA dated June 29th 2011 by Ministry of Public Security guiding the grant of Viet Nam travel or tourism permits for in-transit foreigners.
2. General provisions
- A foreigner entering and exiting Viet Nam is required to hold a valid passport or equivalent document (hereinafter referred to as ‘passport’) and visa issued by a Vietnamese authority unless he/she is entitled to visa exemption (Article 4, Ordinance on Entry, Exit and Residence of Foreigners in Viet Nam). Passport – equivalent documents have to be informed and accepted officially in Viet Nam in advance through diplomatic channels.
- Overseas Vietnamese with no passport can enter Viet Nam using a travel document issued by an authority of that country, provided that this document sample has been in advance informed and accepted officially in Viet Nam through diplomatic channels (Chapter II, Article 1a, Joint Circular No. 04/2002/TTLT/BCA-BNG dated January 29th 2002).
3. Visa categories and descriptions
a. Forms:
- Sticker: pasted and sealed directly onto an applicant’s passport.
- Loose-leaf: a separate visa attached to a passport.
b. Validity:
- Single entry: valid for a single entry and exit.
- Multiple entries: valid for multiple entries and exits.
c. Duration:
- Viet Nam visa is valid for no more than 12 months and cannot be extended.
d. Categories:
- A1: granted to official members of delegations invited by the Central Party Committee, the National Assembly, the State President, the Government and guests of rank equivalent to the ranks of ministers, vice ministers, presidents or vice presidents of the People’s Committee of the provinces or centrally-run cities, their accompanying dependents and servants.
- A2: granted to members of foreign missions and their accompanying dependents and servants.
- A3: granted to persons who enter Viet Nam to work with foreign missions or to visit members of foreign missions.
- B1: granted to persons who enter Viet Nam to work with the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the Supreme People’s Court, the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the governmental agencies, the People’s Committees of the provinces or centrally-governed cities, and the central bodies of the mass organizations.
- B2: granted to persons who enter Viet Nam to implement investment projects already licensed by competent Vietnamese State agencies.
- B3: granted to persons who enter Viet Nam to work with Vietnamese enterprises.
- B4: granted to persons who enter Viet Nam to work at representative offices, branches of economic, cultural or other professional organizations of foreign countries, Vietnam-based non-governmental organizations.
- C1: granted to persons who enter Viet Nam for tourist purposes.
- C2: granted to persons who enter Viet Nam for other purposes.
- D: granted to persons who enter Viet Nam without invitation or reception by any agencies, organizations or individuals wishing to enter and stay in Viet Nam for no more than 15 days, meeting all requirements of type D Visa (please contact Vietnamese Diplomatic Missions overseas for details). Type D visa is a single-entry visa which shall be issued no more than 15 days prior to the effective date of the visa.
4. Visa application dossier
A holder of foreign passport submits to a Vietnamese consular/ authority visa application, including:
- 01 duly completed application form; 01 original passport photograph glued to the application form (taken within the last 01 year, 4x6 cm in size, straight face, no hat, no dark or tinted glasses).
- Passport, the remaining validity of which must be at least one month longer than the valid duration of the to-be granted visa (Please note that some airlines will not allow passengers to get on board with passports valid for less than six months).
- Documents with information about the trip to Viet Nam (if any): note verbale from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or diplomatic mission/consular office of the respective country (as for visitors under the supervision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs); or approval from Vietnamese authorities, namely the Immigration Department (Ministry of Public Security), or the Consular Department (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) or Ho Chi Minh city Department of Foreign Affairs.
- Application for type D visa: please contact the respective Viet Nam mission for details.
* Application for loose-leaf visa: please clarify state the reason (see details on loose-leaf visa eligibility).
* For overseas Vietnamese holding an eligible travel document, seeking to visit their relatives in Viet Nam: application form, travel document, evidence of recent entry into Viet Nam within the past 36 months (if any).
5. Processing time
- Applicants who have already obtained an approval from the Vietnamese authorities shall be granted visas in accordance with the approval within two working days from the receipt of the duly completed visa application.
- Visa D: within three working days from the receipt of duly completed visa application.
- As for overseas Vietnamese holding a foreign passport or a valid travel document, paying a family visit and having evidence of recent entry into Viet Nam within the past 36 months, shall be considered for single-entry three-month C2 visa within 02 working days from the receipt of duly completed visa application.
Please note that first-time family visit, applicants should have their family member contact Viet Nam Immigration Department for approval. Upon receipt of approval, the Vietnamese diplomatic mission/consular office shall issue appropriate visas within 02 working days from the receipt of duly completed visa application.
6. Loose-leaf visa eligibility (Clause 1, Article 3, Decree 21/2001/NĐ-CP and point c, Clause 1, Chapter II, Joint Circular No. 04/2002/TTLT/BCA-BNG)
Applicants are eligible in the following cases:
- Valid Passport runs out of blank visa pages;
- Passport issued by countries that have not yet established diplomatic/consular relations with Viet Nam;
- For security or diplomatic reasons.
- Overseas Vietnamese holds an eligible travel document, which was informed and accepted officially in Viet Nam in advance through diplomatic channels.
7. Visa-on-arrival (Article 6, Ordinance dated April 28th 2000 on Entry, Exit and Residence of Foreigners in Viet Nam)
Applicants are eligible in the following cases :
- To attend the funeral of family member or visit a family member in critical condition;
- Arrival from a country where there is no Vietnamese diplomatic mission/consular office;
- Visit Viet Nam on tours organized by Vietnamese international travel agencies;
- To provide emergency technical assistance for construction works, projects; emergency treatment for critical patients or accident victims; emergency relief in cases of natural disasters or epidemics in Viet Nam;
- Other cases of emergency.
