Vietnam Tourist Visa : How to apply for e-visa online directly

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Apply for Vietnam Visa online

Vietnam Tourist Visa : How to apply for e-visa online directly

Indian passport holders need to get a tourist visa to enter Vietnam, weather they are entering for a day or a month. There is a common misconception that this can be done only through a travel agent. There are popular websites directing visitors to another travel agent’s website (case in point this MMT article: https://www.makemytrip.com/blog/vietnam-visa-for-indians). There are also websites that can get an approval letter from the Vietnam immigration department and send it to you. Based on this approval letter, you can get a visa on arrival when you land in Vietnam.

I am writing this post to clarify that Indian nationals can apply for Vietnam single entry visa online and without going through any travel agent. Save yourself the trouble and money and go through the easy process of applying for Vietnam e-visa.

While this post is mainly intended for Indian tourists, the process is same for citizens of all countries that are eligible for Vietnam eVISA. The list is available on List of countries for which Vietnam eVisa is allowed. Frequently asked questions are answered on https://immigration.gov.vn/faq

VISA fee for Vietnam tourist Visa:

Visa fee is 25 USD per person. There are no service charges of you apply directly.

There are 2 ways to obtain a Vietnamese visa yourself:

Apply Online – This is hassle free, quick and involves no processing /service fee. The visa is approved in 2-5 working days.

Apply at Vietnamese embassy: If your stay in Vietnam is for more than 30 days, or if you need a multiple entry visa, you need to apply at the Vietnamese Embassy. Vietnam has an embassy in Mumbai and Delhi.

Requirements for applying for a Vietnam tourist e-visa:

  1. Passport valid for your entire duration of stay.
  2. Children less than 14 yrs of age must travel with either a parent or guardian
  3. A photo to be uploaded (looking straight into the camera and no glasses)

Vietnam Visa Application form and application fee for Indians

Step 1:

Go to https://immigration.gov.vn/en_US/web/guest/khai-thi-thuc-dien-tu/cap-thi-thuc-dien-tu or https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/en_US/web/guest/khai-thi-thuc-dien-tu/cap-thi-thuc-dien-tu

Read the note and select the confirmation checkbox at the bottom of the page. Click on Next.

Vietnam Visa Online - Step 1
Vietnam Visa Online – Step 1

Step 2:
Upload your photo, first page of your passport and fill in all the details.
Guidelines for filling the form:

  • There are no specific guidelines for the visa photo; except that you should be looking straight at the camera and not wearing any glasses. However, it is good to use any standard visa guideline to avoid complications.
  • Your fullname should be entered exactly the way it is in your passport. Eg. I do not use my surname; so my Given Name in the passport is PRIYANKA and the surname field is blank. This is how the bottom of my passport looks like:
Vietnam Visa - Name guideline
Vietnam Visa – Name guideline

So in the name field, I need to write PRIYANKA. Follow the guideline and enter the name field as mentioned at the bottom of the passport.

In the sample passport shown, the name is “Specimen Martin” as mentioned in the passport.

  • Enter the name of the hotel you are first checking-in the field “Intended temporary residential address in Viet Nam”.
  • There is a field Under 14 yrs old accompanying child(ren) included in your passport (if any). Note that Indians do not need to enter any details here. This is only for children who do not have their own passport; which is allowed by some countries. India does not give that option. So even kids need their own passport to travel outside India (except for Nepal and Bhutan under some conditions).
  • Granted Evisa valid from and to date get automatically populated based on your Intended Date of entry and the Intended length of stay fields. You can enter and exit on any of the dates in between the dates for which your visa is approved.
  • Entry checkpoint and exit checkpoint drop-down have all the airports, seaports and land immigration checkpoints listed. Please select the one which is valid for you.

See my filled in application form:

Vietnam tourist Visa for Indians - Online application form
Vietnam tourist Visa for Indians – Online application form

NOTE: You will have to fill in different application form for every person travelling to Vietnam. You can use the same email ID multiple times though.

Step 3: Review the application form

Vietnam Tourist Visa Online Application
Vietnam Tourist Visa Online Application – review step

Step 4: Submit the application form and note the registration code

Note the registration code and verify that all details are correct. You will also see the amount to be paid for your visa. A mail is also sent by the portal at this stage with the same details.

Registration code details of Vietnam Visa process
Registration code details of Vietnam Visa process
Mail from Vietnam immigration department
Mail from Vietnam immigration department

Step 5: Make Payment

You can click on Pay e-visa fee button to make the payment. If by any chance you could not make the payment at that time; you can always pay later. Click on evisa search menu link in the email to check the status of your application form. Click on edit to modify the details (if required) and make payment.

Status of Vietnam online Visa application form
Status of Vietnam online Visa application form

Vietnam eVisa Status and Approval

Click on https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/tra-cuu-thi-thuc  to check your visa status. You will need to enter your registration number, email and date of birth. It usually takes 2-5 days to get the visa. You get an email once the visa is approved. An approved visa looks this this:

Approved Vietnam Visa
Approved Vietnam Visa

Documents to carry when you travel to Vietnam

Carry all the documents to support the details you have mentioned in the visa application form. These include:

  • Approved visa copy
  • Passport
  • Return tickets
  • Hotel confirmation

Photo is not required, but it is good to carry a few passport size photos when travelling. Check my post on things to take care when travelling abroad for a more detailed guide on what to carry.

18 Comments

  1. Hi Priyanka,

    I have the following two queries with regards to my Vietnam e-Visa Application form :

    1. In the Vietnam e-Visa application form, although the applicants have been asked to write their name as ‘Full Name (First Name, Middle Name, Last Name)’, I have written my full name as last name followed by my given name (my name followed by my father’s name), as seen at the bottom portion (MRZ – Machine Readable Zone) of my passport’s first page (data page), which basically displays my last name followed by my given name.

    So is it alright if I enter my full name as per my passport, which is last name followed by my given name, instead of entering my first name, followed by the middle name & then my last name ?

    2. Regarding my travel dates, when I select my Vietnam arrival/entry date in the e-Visa application form, it automatically goes ahead & pre-selects my exit/return date from Vietnam 30 days from the date of my arrival/entry.

    So is it okay for me to submit my e-Visa application form with my exit/return date from Vietnam showing as 30 days from the date of my arrival/entry OR do I need to change the pre-selected exit/return date & enter my actual scheduled departure date as per my return flight ticket?

    Thank you & have a nice day.

    Regards,
    Hemant

    1. Hi Hemant,

      1) I checked in our visa and we had entered the full name as seen at the bottom portion (MRZ – Machine Readable Zone) of our passport’s first page. So that should be fine.
      2) Even on our visa the dates are for a month only. It is basically single entry visa valid for 1 month from the date of entry. So you can leave it as is.

      Hope it helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

      Regards,
      Priyanka

  2. hi, status say: Unpaid, is this not an issue for processing?

    I have same screen image but my card has been charged already

    1. Hi Kannan,

      You will need to approach their customer support for specific queries like these.

      Thanks,
      Priyanka

    1. Hi Vijay,

      Usually these sites only allow credit card payments. But you can go ahead till the payment page and check if they allow debit cards. You can always cancel the transaction if they do not allow your choice of card and retrieve the application later to make the payment.

      Hope this helps!
      Priyanka

  3. Hey Priyanka , I have a query. The e-Visa fee os 25 USD. Will we be required to pay additional 25USD when arriving to Vietnam as stamp fee? Some websites are mentioning that? Please advise.

    1. No Ankit, you do not need to pay anything extra. You can proceed to the immigration directly with this visa.

      1. Great! Thanks a lot for this Priyanka. I could not find it anywhere apart from on your blog!

        1. Glad it helped Ankit. There is lot of mis-information about Vietnam visa, therefore I decided to write this post first in my Vietnam blog posts. I am yet to pen down rest of the experiences 🙂

            1. I will try to write a few posts before that.If you have any specific questions, do let me know. Also, weather and activities in Vietnam are very varied; so let me know your itinerary so I can give some pointers.

  4. Hey!

    Your page is very helpful. I had query. My stay in Vietnam is from 7th March – 17th March. In grant e-visa valid from and to fields, I’ve mentioned 7th March – 18th March. Is that okay? Or should I have entered 30 days from 7th March? Worried if the same could lead to rejection of the application.

      1. Hi Priyanka..thanks for posting this..please help me..i done my visa with first name and surname..is it okay?

        1. Hi Jitender,

          You need to write your name as it is on your passport. Any deviation will result in issues with immigration department.

          Thanks,
          Priyanka

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