Americans need a visa to travel to Vietnam. If you arrive in Vietnam without a visa, customs will turn you away and send you back to the USA. Fortunately, it’s easy to get your tourist visa and you have a few options to decide on before embarking on this process. Visa regulations always change. Contact the Vietnam embassy in your country for the latest information. Your passport must have two blank pages and have six months left or more before it expires. The link to the Vietnam Embassy Consular Services website is at the end of the article.
Duration: Vietnam tourist visas come in two durations. American’s can get a one-month tourist visa or a three-month tourist visa. The difference in price is minimal. If you know you are staying for less than a month, then go for the one-month. If you are not sure about how long you are staying and you are meandering around with your backpack in the area for a while, you probably want to spring for the three-month visa.
Single and Multiple-Entry: For both the one-month and three-month Vietnam tourist visas American’s can choose either single or multiple-entry. The single-entry visa is slightly less expensive than the multiple-entry, but of course. With a single-entry visa you can enter Vietnam one time and stay for the duration of your visa. However, if you leave Vietnam you cannot get back in without buying another visa. With a multiple-entry visa you can come and go as you please. Once in Vietnam, you can change your single-entry visa to a multiple-entry visa, but this requires a fee and a trip to the immigration office or an authorized travel agency.
Visa by Mail: You can order your Vietnam visa through by snail mail if you choose. Go to the Vietnam embassy website for your country and the details are outlined there. Basically, you need to send in your passport with the application and fee. The process takes a couple weeks or longer.
Electronic Visa on Arrival: This is new for Vietnam and very convenient. To get your visa on arrival you must fill out an electronic form on the website of the visa processing company you plan to use. Search the Internet because prices vary depending on the company. Email your forms and in two to three days you get your Visa on Arrival Letter. There are two pages and one has your name on it, along with other names. At customs, you go to the Visa on Arrival Desk, fill out a form, hand over your paperwork and pay about $50 which must be in U.S. dollars.
Reference: Vietnam Embassy USA: Consular Services
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