Vietnam – New 30-Day E-Visa for Nationals of 40 Countries
Effective February 1, 2017, Decree 07/2017/ND-CP introduces guidelines on the implementation of an e-visa pilot program.
E-Visa
The principal details of the new e-visa are as follows:
- Travelers of 40 nationalities can apply for an e-visa through the Vietnamese government’s dedicated portal;
- The e-visa is issued for a single entry and for a maximum duration of 30 days;
- Extension post arrival for another 30 days is possible;
- The processing time is three working days, and the e-visa costs $25;
While neither the Decree, nor the e-visa document issued by the authorities, provide details of the visa category, the application form includes several purposes of entry for the applicant to select from. These purposes include tourism, investment and employment among others. It is uncertain whether an e-visa can be converted, post arrival, to a work visa.
As well as individual applications from eligible foreign nationals, Vietnamese host organizations or individuals may apply for an account on the e-visa portal, obtain approval and apply for e-visas for individual foreign national applicants.
The 40 eligible countries in the pilot program include the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, the United Kingdom, and many European and South American countries. Notably absent from the list at present are Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Note also that Vietnam offers 15-day visa exemptions for visitors from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Belarus, as well as for travelers from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states.