If you have traveled to Vietnam, you will probably recall that you had to obtain a visa from the Vietnam Embassy prior to travel. Currently, the Vietnam Embassy offers a standard visa that is attached to your passport page at the consulate, as well as a looseleaf visa. Looseleaf visas are applied for at the consulate, but do not require the applicant to show their actual passport; the applicant only needs to provide a copy of their passport as well as an application and passport photo to obtain this kind of visa. The looseleaf visa is issued on a thick piece of paper that the traveler simply carries the visa along with their passport. The looseleaf visa is a little more convenient than the standard visa, and was made available to make it easier for tourist and business travelers to enter Vietnam. Processing times and fees for standard and looseleaf visas are the same.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is rolling out a new policy to make this process even more simple. The government had allocated 200 billion Vietnamese dong ($8.97 million) to speed up the implementation of visas through an electronic visa application system which is slated to go into effect January 2017. If you have traveled to Australia, or obtained an India ETA visa, you may be familiar with the process. The goal is to make entry into Vietnam easier, and less costly to increase tourism. Fees for the future E-visa have not been established.
In the meantime, Vietnam is rolling out a 1 year visa option. Previously, applicants could not obtain a visa valid longer than 90 days. This means frequent travelers would have to apply for new visas up to 4 times a year! Creating a 1 year visa will save these frequent travelers time and money. Swift Passport and Visa Services can help with all types of Vietnam visas. If you would like assistance, you can visit our Expedited Vietnam Visa Page for information and instructions, or call us at 877.917.9438
3 thoughts on “Vietnam E-Visa Expected to Launch 2017”
Hello, do you know how the new e-visa system will affect entering the country by land? It’s my understanding that for the e-visa, the Vietnamese government will email a PDF containing the visa, and the tourist can print it out. Do you know if land crossings will honor this new visa? Thanks
Greetings!
The Vietnamese Embassy has not provided an update to this new policy. Please keep checking back for updates as soon as they are made available to us!
In fact, the E-Visa has significant contribution in solving the visa registration documents for large numbers of tourists in the short term, creating favorable conditions for tourists reach the destinations, and also supporting implementation of tourism promotion programs to promote tourism to key markets.