On June 18, 2015, the Vietnamese Government adopted a Resolution on visa exemption for citizens of 5 countries: France, Spain, England, Germany and Italy. This visa exemption is for the moment extended until June 30, 2021. The visa remains compulsory for travelers whose stay in Vietnam exceeds 15 days and 14 nights.
Vietnam tourist visa formalities
These formalities are prescribed in the Interministerial Circular N ° 04/2002 / TTLT / BCA-BNG published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Security.
1. The competent authorities for issuing tourist visas
The Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (represented abroad by embassies, consular services or services responsible for consular functions).
The Central Department for the management of entries and exits, placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Security.
2. Forms of tourist visa
The tourist visa can be single entry or multiple entries. There are three forms that should normally be affixed to the passport:
The visa obtained directly by the traveler from a representative body of Vietnam abroad (Embassy, Consular Service or Service responsible for consular functions) with or without invitation from a receptive travel agency established in the country. This type of visa costs the most.
The visa issued by the Central Department for the management of entries and exits at the request of an approved travel agency and whose recovery is made at the airport (This is called "the visa to the 'arrival"). This type of visa is the cheapest.
The visa, the issuance of which is decided by the Central Department for the Management of Entries and Exits, but which is collected from a representative body of Vietnam abroad.
3. Obtaining formalities
For the visa obtained at the Embassy of Vietnam
The traveler submits a duly completed application form, passport, two recent identity photos and required fees to Vietnam's representative body abroad. The validity period of the issued visa is 15 days. He may be invited to present an invitation from an approved travel agency if he wishes to obtain a visa of a longer duration.
For concrete formalities, please contact the Vietnamese embassy in your country.
For visa on arrival:
As a first step, the traveler communicates to the approved travel agency the information of civil status and his passport number.
The travel agency applies for prior authorization from the Central Department for the management of entries and exits.
It sends this prior authorization to the traveler by fax or email. The latter prints it out and brings it with him.
Upon arriving at Vietnam International Airport, the traveler produces this clearance, two recent passport photos. The customs agent will affix the visa on view of the document, subject to payment of the consequent fees.
The validity period of this visa is one month, renewable.
For the visa collected at the Embassy but issued by the Central Department of Entry and Exit Management
The traveler communicates to the approved travel agency the information of civil status and his passport number.
The travel agency must issue a visa application to the Central Entry and Exit Management Department. This Department checks whether the request complies with legal requirements. It carries out other necessary checks.
If everything complies with legal requirements, this Department issues two documents:
The first is an acceptance that he gives to the travel agency. The travel agency sends this acceptance to the traveler who must hand it over to the Vietnamese Embassy.
The second document is a letter he faxes to the Vietnamese Embassy in the traveller's country saying he agrees to issue the visa and asking the Embassy to physically grant it to the traveler.
The traveler deposits the acceptance and his passport at the Embassy to collect the visa, subject to payment of the corresponding fees.
The only advantage of this type of visa is that it is cheaper than the first type of visa.
Zenvoyage Vietnam recommends the second type of visa which is the most practical.
How long to get a visa for Vietnam?
It takes 7 to 10 working days for any request to the French Embassy and 1 to 3 working days for online requests after receipt of the file. But rather count 1 week (maximum) from the day of your file submission. For Vietnam visa requests by correspondence, allow around 10 days.
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