Getting a Vietnam Visa on Arrival

With so many agen­cies it can be over­whelm­ing try­ing to nav­i­gate the process of get­ting a Viet­nam Visa on Arrival (VOA). It is in fact, very straight­for­ward. This arti­cle will describe the steps nec­es­sary for get­ting a Viet­nam Visa on arrival if you are enter­ing Viet­nam at an Inter­na­tion­al Air­port (Inter­na­tion­al Air­ports and their codes are list­ed near the end of this arti­cle). See this arti­cle for land bor­der cross­ings into Viet­nam. (com­ing soon)

What is the Vietnam Visa on Arrival?

It is the most pop­u­lar Viet­nam Visa and must be picked up at an Inter­na­tion­al Air­port (list­ed below) upon arrival. It is NOT an e visa and can­not be used if you are cross­ing into Viet­nam by land. The Viet­nam Visa on Arrival is more of a Pre-approved visa through a visa agency. You fill out a sim­ple form, pay the visa agency $10-$20 (depend­ing on the visa length). They then issue you an approval let­ter. You take the Approval Let­ter with you when you fly to Viet­nam and then pay Visa Fee and get your visa. These steps are laid out in detail below:

1. Get your approval letter through a Visa Agency

Find an online Visa agency, fill out the form and pay the fee. There are many online visa agen­cies. I used Viet­nam Visa Pro http://www.vietnamvisapro.com/ ( I do not receive any­thing in return for rec­om­mend­ing this company/website). The process was quick, easy and they helped with ques­tions that I had, via e‑mail.

You will pay them a fee for the approval let­ter. This is sep­a­rate from the fee you will pay when you pick up the Visa upon your arrival at the air­port. Enter your infor­ma­tion to find out how much the Visa let­ter is. For me (US Cit­i­zen) it was $20 for a 3‑month mul­ti­ple entry Visa (again this is just the fee for the approval letter)

2. Double check your approval letter once received:

You will receive an approval let­ter with­in about 2 busi­ness days. DOUBLE CHECK it to ensure they got all your infor­ma­tion right includ­ing your intend­ed length of stay. I had applied for a 3‑month visa and the orig­i­nal let­ter had only 1 month. I caught this and they fixed it quick­ly, re-issu­ing my approval letter.

3. Print out the Approval Letter and Visa application form:

Print out your Approval Let­ter and the Visa Appli­ca­tion form (Fill­ing out the Visa Appli­ca­tion form in advance will save you some time at the air­port). Be sure to bring 2 pass­port size pho­tos with you as well.

Keep your paper­work ready to show the flight atten­dant at the air­port as they will ask to see your Visa approval let­ter before you board your flight.

4. (Immigration) Give your paperwork and pay your Visa fee at the airport in Vietnam:

Give your pass­port, paper­work (Visa Approval Let­ter and com­plet­ed Visa Appli­ca­tion Form) as well as one pass­port-sized pho­to to the Immi­gra­tion offi­cer at the air­port. Have a seat and wait for your name to be called (it should take about 20 min­utes depend­ing on how many peo­ple are wait­ing. Can be longer if there are many peo­ple). Pay your visa fee (fees list­ed below). You can pay in Viet­namese Dong or US Dollars.

Vietnam Visa Fees (Paid on arrival in Vietnam. This is a separate fee than the approval letter.):

1 month and 3‑month sin­gle entry: $25
1‑month mul­ti­ple entries and 3‑month mul­ti­ple entry: $50
6 months mul­ti­ple entries (USA — Must exit every 3 months): $95
1‑year mul­ti­ple entries (USA — Must exit every 3 months): $135

International Airports:

You can pick up your Visa at the fol­low­ing Inter­na­tion­al Air­ports (With the Visa Approval Let­ter) Air­port codes fol­low­ing the name. Alpha­bet­i­cal order:

Cam Ranh Inter­na­tion­al Air­port (Serves Nha Trang): CXR
Can Tho Inter­na­tion­al Air­port: VCA
Da Nang Inter­na­tion­al Air­port: DAD
Hanoi (Noi Bai Inter­na­tion­al Air­port): HAN
Ho Chi Minh City — Saigon (Tan Son Nhat Inter­na­tion­al Air­port): SGN
Lien Khuong Inter­na­tion­al Air­port (Serves Da Lat): DLI
Phu Quoc Inter­na­tion­al Air­port: PQC

Additional Information:

Pri­va­cy:
Some­thing else you should be aware of is that these com­pa­nies that issue you your Visa Approval Let­ter will put you in a batch of peo­ple on the same let­ter. In my case, there were 16 oth­er peo­ple with Name, Gen­der, Nation­al­i­ty, Date of Birth and Pass­port num­ber all list­ed. If you are con­cerned about your pri­va­cy, e‑mail them ahead of time and request a sep­a­rate let­ter for just yourself.

Get­ting mon­ey at the air­port in Ho Chi Minh City:
I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City with­out any Viet­namese or US mon­ey and there was no cur­ren­cy exchange acces­si­ble. After giv­ing the immi­gra­tion offi­cer my pass­port and paper­work he showed me through a gate to the front of the air­port, past the lug­gage pick-up area, where there are a few ATMs, cur­ren­cy exchange and a place to buy sim cards. I with­drew mon­ey (you can also exchange mon­ey here) and went back through the gate to immi­gra­tion, paid my fee and I was on my way.

Pass­port photo:
I saw a few peo­ple at the air­port in Ho Chi Minh City that did­n’t have any pass­port sized pho­to. The immi­gra­tion offi­cer direct­ed them to a com­put­er where they took their pass­port pho­to. I’m not sure if there is a fee for this or if it is always available.