A bronze statue of Ho Chi Minh stands before the colonial-era City Hall in Ho Chi Minh City.

Travel guide

Getting into Vietnam without a problem at the desk

Most travellers either apply for an e-visa online or enter visa-free for a set number of days. Both are simple. The trouble starts with the details: the wrong port, the wrong dates, a passport that runs out too soon.

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Overview

The two ways in

Last checked 22 September 2026

We check this page against the official immigration portal at the start of every month, and again whenever a traveller or an airline tells us something has moved. Entry rules here have changed several times in the last few years; if you are reading this more than a month after the date above, check the portal before you rely on it.

There are two routes into Vietnam for a holiday. The first is the electronic visa, which every nationality can now apply for online, for a stay of up to 90 days, with either a single entry or multiple entries. The second is a visa-free stay: a list of countries whose citizens can arrive with a passport alone and stay for a fixed number of days, provided they leave on time.

Which one applies to you depends only on the passport you travel on, not where you live or where you fly from. Two people on the same booking with different passports can need different things, and we see this most often with couples and families who hold dual nationality. Always check the passport you will actually hand over at the desk.

E-visa: All nationalities, up to 90 days
Entries: Single or multiple
Processing: Usually 3 to 5 working days
Visa-free: Selected passports, fixed number of days
Passport: 6 months valid beyond arrival
Fees: Shown on the official portal

E-visa

How the e-visa works

01
Use the official portal
Apply only on the government portal run by the Vietnam Immigration Department; its address ends in .gov.vn. Many lookalike sites charge a large mark-up to fill in the same form for you, and some are worse than that.
02
Upload a photo and your passport page
A plain passport-style photo and a clear scan of the photo page. A glare or a cropped corner is the commonest reason for a request for corrections.
03
Choose dates, entries and ports
The start date, the length of stay, single or multiple entry, and the airport or border gate you will arrive at and leave from.
04
Pay and wait
The official fee is paid by card on the portal. Approval usually comes in three to five working days; allow longer around public holidays and Tet.
05
Print it
Download the approval letter, check every character against your passport, and carry a paper copy as well as the file on your phone.

Apply once your flights are fixed and at least two weeks before you travel. Three to five working days is the normal turnaround, and it is normal, not guaranteed. We would rather you had the letter in hand a fortnight early than be refreshing an inbox the night before a flight.

Multiple entry is worth choosing if there is any chance you will leave and come back — a side trip to Angkor in the middle of a Vietnam route is the usual case. A single-entry e-visa ends the moment you cross into Cambodia, and you would need a new one to return.

Ports

Why the ports on the e-visa matter

The application asks which airport or land gate you will enter by and which one you will leave from, and the approval letter prints them. Treat those as part of the visa, not as a formality. Airlines check the letter at check-in, and immigration officers read it at the desk. An e-visa naming Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City is the wrong document if your flight lands in Hanoi, and a traveller arriving overland at Moc Bai with an e-visa for Da Nang airport is starting a very long conversation.

The fix is simple: fill in the ports from your actual itinerary, including the way out. If your route crosses a land border to Cambodia or Laos, name that gate as the exit. If plans change after approval, tell us before you travel, not at the airport, and we will tell you whether a new application is the safer course.

A duty-free fashion shop displaying leather bags inside Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi.

Yellow facade of Chua Anh Linh temple with red Chinese-script pillars in Ho Chi Minh City.

Your exit port is printed on the e-visa too. · A land gate has to be named on the application like an airport.

Visa-free

Visa-free stays

Vietnam grants visa-free entry to citizens of a list of countries, for a fixed number of days per visit. For several western European countries, the United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea the allowance has commonly been 45 days. Neighbouring South-East Asian countries have their own arrangements, generally shorter. Other nationalities — at the time of checking this includes the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — use the e-visa.

The mechanism is simple and strict. The clock starts on the day you arrive, the stamp shows the last permitted day, and overstaying is a fine and a problem at the desk on the way out. If your trip is longer than your visa-free allowance, or you want to leave and re-enter, apply for the e-visa instead of relying on the exemption. The list of countries and the number of days have both changed in recent years and will change again, so we do not reproduce the full list here; the official portal carries it.

Phu Quoc is a special case

The island has its own visa-free arrangement for foreigners who arrive there directly by air or sea and stay on the island. It does not cover a stop in Saigon on the way, and it does not let you continue to the mainland. For most itineraries that include the rest of Vietnam it is irrelevant; if you are flying straight to Phu Quoc from abroad for a beach week, ask us.

Passport

The passport itself

Validity: at least six months beyond your date of arrival. Airlines apply this at check-in, and they will refuse boarding rather than argue.
Blank pages: carry at least two, more if Cambodia or Laos is on the route, since both use a page for their own stamps and visas.
Condition: a torn cover, water damage or a detached page can be treated as an invalid passport. Replace it before you apply, because the e-visa is tied to the passport number.
New passport after applying: the e-visa does not transfer. Apply again with the new number.

Grand reception room in Ho Chi Minh City with lacquer mural, crystal chandeliers, and vintage sofas. — Hotels register every foreign guest, so keep the passport with you, not in a bag at the office.

Hotels in Vietnam are required to register foreign guests, which is why reception asks for your passport on arrival. It is normally copied and handed straight back; if a guesthouse wants to keep it overnight, ask for it back once they have taken the details.

Neighbours

Cambodia and Laos on the same trip

Both neighbours issue their own e-visas, and both also offer a visa on arrival for many nationalities. The detail that catches people is that neither country’s e-visa is accepted at every land border. A Cambodian e-visa that works perfectly at Phnom Penh airport may not be the right document at the river crossing from Chau Doc; the Laos e-visa has historically been valid only at a limited list of ports.

We check the specific gate against your passport before we book a border day, and our guide on border crossings goes through the gates we use one by one. For your Vietnam e-visa, remember the other half: if you leave Vietnam overland and fly home from Bangkok or Siem Reap, name the land gate as your exit port.

Common questions

Questions travellers ask most

Do you arrange visas for us?

No. Visas are never included in our prices, and the e-visa is an application only you can make in your own name. What we do is send the correct portal link, tell you which ports to enter from your final itinerary, and check your plan against your passport when you book.

Can I get a visa on arrival at the airport?

Not in the way many travellers remember. The old approval-letter system has been replaced by the e-visa for most purposes. Arrive with either an approved e-visa or a passport that qualifies for a visa-free stay.

I have two passports. Which should I use?

The one that gives you the simplest entry for the length of your trip, and then use that same passport for flights, the e-visa and hotel check-ins throughout. Switching passports mid-trip causes more trouble than it saves.

What if my visa-free days run out during the trip?

Then you need the e-visa rather than the exemption. Staying past the date on your stamp is an overstay, with a fine and a delay at departure. Tell us your dates and we will say which one fits.