Vietnam Visa

General information and do you need a visa

Citizens of Russia can visit Vietnam without a visa for up to 45 days. To get visa-free entry, you don't need to fill out any forms or provide additional documents: just show your valid passport and get a visa-free stamp. It's extremely simple!

For longer stays, as well as for citizens of other countries, you need to get a visa at the airport upon arrival, or get a visa in advance at the consulate in Russia or other countries, and you can now also get a 90-day e-visa on the website https://evisa.gov.vn/. Visas can be valid for 3 or 6 months, single or multiple entry. The cost of the visa depends on the duration and number of entries.

And now, in more detail:

Visa-free entry for citizens of Russia and Belarus

Citizens of Russia can visit Vietnam without a visa for up to 45 days. Citizens of Belarus can visit Vietnam without a visa for up to 30 days (but no more than 90 days within a calendar year).

Upon arrival at the border, a stamp for a stay of 45 or 30 days is simply placed in your passport, no visas or form filling required. You can get the stamp at any entry passport control, both at airports and at land border crossings from neighboring countries. The day of arrival and the day of departure are both counted towards these 45/30 days of stay.

Conditions for visa-free visits to Vietnam:

• Not be on the list of persons banned from entering Vietnam
• Passport valid for at least 6 months (at the time of entry)
• Have a return ticket to Russia or any other (third) country

Having a return ticket or a ticket to a third country is rarely checked at passport control when entering Vietnam, especially considering that most tickets are now electronic. However, the airline often checks for a ticket at check-in back home, because if you're not allowed into the country, the airline would have to fly you back at their own expense.

So now for Russians and citizens of other visa-free countries, the entry procedure upon arrival is extremely simple. Here's what you need to do and where to go when you land at one of the international airports:

• After getting off the plane, follow the signs for Arrival or Passport Control, i.e., wherever everyone else is going.
• Walk past signs for Visa and the like.
• You'll reach the queue for the passport control counters.
• At the passport control counter, you need to show your passport and boarding pass. If requested, you may additionally need to show a printed ticket or a ticket on your smartphone for departure from the country, but this is rare.
• After checking your documents, you'll receive a stamp in your passport indicating the maximum final date of stay (for Russians, this is 45 days).
• Then you enter the baggage claim area.
• Collect your luggage, and with all your belongings, go through customs control via the green channel (nothing to declare) or the red channel (something to declare).
• After passing through customs, you'll be in the arrival hall, where there are currency exchange booths, taxis, SIM card sales, car rentals, etc. This is where tour operator representatives will be waiting for you with signs if you've come on a package tour.

More or less the same procedure applies when entering Vietnam by land from Laos, China, and Cambodia.

Fine for overstaying visa-free period in Vietnam:

Regarding penalties for exceeding the 45-day visa-free stay period or the visa validity period, according to some information, Vietnamese law provides for a fine of $5 for each day of overstay.

Getting an e-visa for Vietnam

Getting an e-visa for Vietnam has now become the main way to obtain a visa instead of getting it on arrival or at an embassy. It is issued to citizens of all countries. You can get an online visa for a stay of up to 90 days, and it can be single or multiple entry.

The online visa is issued on the websites – https://dichvucong.bocongan.gov.vn, https://evisa.gov.vn/. They are available in English and Vietnamese. To avoid problems, it's better to do it on a PC rather than a mobile device. It's advisable to turn off the translator, and if that doesn't help and the site is still 'glitchy', you can try switching to Vietnamese.

Cost of processing:

• Single-entry visa for 90 days – 25 US dollars
• Multiple-entry visa for 90 days – 50 US dollars

Unfortunately, payment on the website is only accepted with foreign Visa and Mastercard cards; Union Pay cards are not accepted.

Conditions for getting an e-visa for Vietnam:

• Not be on the list of persons banned from entering Vietnam
• Have a passport valid for at least 30 days after the visa expiration date

Getting a Vietnam visa at the embassy

If you are planning a longer visit, you can get a visa in advance at embassies or consulates of Vietnam in any country! The conditions and fees are the same in all countries, except for Southeast Asian countries. You can see the list and addresses of Vietnamese embassies worldwide here. In Russia, you can get a visa in advance at the embassy in Moscow, as well as at the consular offices in Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg.

Embassy of Vietnam in the Russian Federation

Consulate of Vietnam in Vladivostok

Consulate of Vietnam in Yekaterinburg

To get a visa at the Vietnamese embassy or consulate, you need to provide the following documents:

• visa support (VISA APPROVAL CODE) from the Immigration Department of Vietnam, which is provided by the inviting Vietnamese party. The visa support number is given to the consular officer at the Vietnamese embassy or consulate general when submitting documents;
• passport valid for at least 6 months beyond the intended stay;
• two photos 4x6 or 3x4 cm.
• visa application form.

Visa support for Vietnam visa (VISA APPROVAL CODE) is usually done online, for example, on one of the sites http://www.vietnamstay.com/service, http://www.vietnam-visa-service.com, etc. On the websites, you select the duration and type of visa, pay for the service with a bank card or through a payment system, receive a code (VISA APPROVAL CODE), which you then provide to the embassy to get the visa. The cost of visa support depends on the duration and number of entries of the visa you wish to obtain, as well as the agency you contact (prices start from $8 for a one-month single-entry).

Cost of a Vietnam visa obtained in advance at the consulate

The consular fee for visa processing depends on its duration and number of entries and is:

• 1 month, single entry : $45
• 1 month, multiple entries : $65
• up to 6 months, multiple entries : $95
• over 6 months, multiple entries : $135

The cost of a visa when applying at Vietnamese consulates in other countries may differ. The cheapest visas are issued in Laos. Getting a visa in Moscow through agencies will cost from $65.

Vietnam visa validity period

Visas for Vietnam can be single-entry (only one entry) and multiple-entry (you can enter and exit as many times as you want during the visa's validity period), and in terms of duration, they can be for one month or three months. Theoretically, there are also visas for 6 months and one year, but they are very difficult to obtain.

The duration of stay and type of your visa are determined by the visa support (or in the case of getting a visa in Southeast Asian countries, the duration specified in the application form). That is, if you apply for visa support for a multiple-entry three-month visa, that's exactly what you'll be issued.

Vietnam visa extension

You can extend your stay without leaving Vietnam by contacting specialized companies (you can find them online or locally in Vietnam through travel agencies).

Usually, a visa is extended for 1 or 3 months depending on its type. The cost of extension has increased significantly since 2015, amounting to 185 dollars for a 30-day extension. The number of extensions is not infinite (no more than 3 times), and if you are refused on the next extension, you must leave Vietnam for another country (preferably in Southeast Asia) and get a new visa there, and then extend it again. Theoretically, you can do this indefinitely.

Russian Embassy in Vietnam

Embassy in Hanoi

Address: 191 La Thanh street, Hanoi;

Phone: (844) 3833-69-91, (844) 3833-69-92

Fax: (844) 3833-69-95

Email: kons_hanoi@inbox.ru;

Website: https://vietnam.mid.ru/ru/

Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City

Address: 40 Ba Huyen Thanh Quan street, Ho Chi Minh City;

Tel.: (848) 930-39-36

Fax: (848) 930-39-37

E-mail: cgrushcm@fmail.vnn.vn

Consulate General in Da Nang

Address: 22 Tran Phu Street, Da Nang

Tel.: (84511) 382-23-80, 381-85-28

Fax: (84511)381-85-27

E-mail: consdanang@dng.vnn.vn