Vietnam Visa Cost And Processing Time

“How long does it take?” and “How much does this process cost?” are probably the two most common questions we receive from our readers when it comes to Vietnam visa inquiries, even though the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Affairs has made several attempts to upload the latest information on their portals.

This article is our best effort to capture all you need to know about the fees and processing times for different types of visas to Vietnam, whether you're a tourist, a business traveler, or intending to stay in Vietnam for an extended period.

Take note of these numbers where relevant to you and plan your trip with confidence.

VIETNAM WORKING HOURS AND PAYMENT METHOD

WORKING HOURS

The Vietnam Immigration Department is open for public service from 8.00 AM to 11.00 AM as the morning shift and 1.30 PM – 4.00 PM as the afternoon shift (GMT+7) (excluding Saturday, Sunday and national holidays).

Here is the catch: your application will only start being processed 01 (one) day after you submit the full dossier of what is required. Let's examine three hypothetical scenarios below to understand this particular way of working in Vietnam:

Scenario 1

Your application is sent in around 9.00 AM on Monday, which means it will start getting processed from the morning shift on the next day - which is Tuesday. Let's say the processing time for an e-visa is 03 working days. This is interpreted as Friday being the earliest time you can expect to receive their response.

Scenario 2

Your application is sent in around 9.00 AM on Tuesday, which means the officers would not start processing your application until 9.00 AM on Wednesday. When we apply a similar 3-day relay, this should be interpreted that the result will come by Saturday. However, Saturday is their day off. Therefore, you will only get an e-visa response from the immigration officials by the end of next Monday. This situation is also true for any national holiday Vietnam may host at the time.

Scenario 3

Your application is sent in any time on Friday or during the weekend. This is interpreted as a next-Monday morning submission, which means the Immigration office would not start processing your application until the morning shift of Tuesday. Therefore, you will only get a result by 4.00 PM on Thursday. This inconveniently prolongs the process to 6 actual days, hence avoid this scenario if you are in a hurry.

PAYMENT METHODS

On the self-applying portal

From e-banking apps administered by Vietnamese and Southeast Asian banks to Paypal, Payoo and other local e-wallets, the selection of payment methods is wide enough. But perhaps the most common ones among foreigners are debit and credit cards issued by Mastercard, Visa and JCB.

In the event you are handling the application by yourself, as always, be aware of the site address you are on before keying in your card number. Avoid using public wifi data during the payment step is also a more precautious way to prevent yourself from being exploited through identity theft and credit theft.

With a visa agent or a sponsor

Nevertheless, if you are requesting the service of a travel agent or a sponsor company, ask them directly for the preferred payment method since they will be requested to pay on your behalf throughout the entire process - and it is all advance payment, not after the service is due.

When you are making the transfer, it won't hurt at all to have a quick check on the account name. Legit accounts should not indicate an individual's name, but the company’s name you are working with, unless the same individual imposes as the legal representative of that company.

At the airport

Relying on your card or transfer app may not be the smartest choice at the border gate or any customs checkpoint in Vietnam. Cash is king here, either in VND or USD. Do not forget to ask for a receipt if you are to pay by cash.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF VISA SERVICE

In compliance with Circular No. 25/2021/TT-BTC, any fixed fees paid to Vietnam's government agencies of all industries, including the Immigration Department where you apply for a visa, are regulated by the Ministry of Finance. 

Beyond this parameter, any other quoted service fee will be collected independently by the chosen agency that manages your application.

TOURIST VISA

Vietnam provides quite a large array of visa options for foreign tourists to choose from. Find out which one works best for you from our comprehensive guides:

(1) Visa On Arrival or Traditional Visa

(2) E-visa

(3) Visa Exemption

Note: Higher fees and shorter permitted days of stay are quite common to citizens from countries with less support when obtaining their Vietnam visa. These countries include:

 

BUSINESS VISA

The aim of a business visa is to help you explore all employment opportunities in Vietnam before you make a decision to commit through a work contract, which can later help you score a Work Permit or a TRC (Temporary Residence Card).

Note: Higher fees and shorter permitted days of stay are quite common among citizens from countries with less support when obtaining their Vietnam visa. These countries include:

 

TEMPORARY RESIDENCE CARD (TRC)

The epitome of a powerful international travel paper inside and outside Vietnam, a TRC facilitates a small subset of individuals, their spouses and children included, to reside in Vietnam for a long period of time up to 5 years. Owning a TRC allows you and your family to get married, purchase real estate, and conduct your business in Vietnam with few restrictions, providing you fall into one of the most common cases below:

• You have an active Work Permit that is not going to expire in the next 1 year.
• Your country has signed treaties with Vietnam on granting you and similar citizens to be employed in Vietnam without having to acquire a Work Permit.
• You are an active investor in one Vietnam-established enterprise and have made a proven investment of 3 billion VND and above into this business.
• You are enrolled in a certified university or institute in Vietnam as a student or a researcher.
• You have a valid practicing certificate to work as a reporter or a journalist.

Legal references: Law No. 47/2014/QH13, Circular No. 04/2015/TT-BCA, and Circular No. 219/2016/TT-BTC

5-YEAR VISA EXEMPTION CERTIFICATE

The certificate allows Vietnamese, together with your spouse and your children who are residing overseas, to visit Vietnam on multiple occasions for a maximum of 180 days per time within 5 years without having to apply for a visa.

TRANSFER VISA BETWEEN PASSPORTS

In case you forget to prepare a few blank pages readily available while applying for a new visa, or your old passport happens to expire before your current visa does, you might need to submit a request to transfer this visa to the new passport. The cost incurred is $5 per request.

What if my application is rejected? Is it possible to get a refund in this case?

Compliant to Immigration’s latest policy, any e-visa application where visitors can lodge online and pay the visa charges without going through an agency medium, is subject to no refund in the face of rejection.

In the opposite case, a third-party sponsor, invitee, or visa agency most definitely should guarantee you a refund or at least a trustworthy entity would do so. This is because before undertaking your case, the agency of service must conduct a vetting process on their end to ensure the outcome you are asking for can be done, and thus, avoid wasting both your and their time. On this basis, they will then deliver a suitable quotation soliciting all the associated charges.

This is why it is always important to take great caution whenever an agent requests a sum deposit before they can clearly state the success ratio and their refund policy.

Disclaimer:

1) The content of the tables is subject to future changes beyond the acknowledgment of our website as the statistics collected are compiled from various sources. This derives from our utmost intention, which is to provide a well-rounded source of information for readers to navigate the current complex landscape of fees and processing time when it comes to different Vietnam visa types.

2) Working on the premise that the following factors - duration of stay, type of visa (single or multiple entry), passport holders' nationality, processing time, number of people per application, and other particular circumstances - are at play, fees are expected to vary.

3) Children under 14 are quoted $25 per pax, regardless of the visa type and the duration of stay.

4) For those seeking a Vietnam Visa at an Embassy/Consulate, it is advised to contact your embassy/consulate for the most up-to-date information.

Reference:

https://www.vietnam-visa.org/fees.html

https://vietnam-e-visas.com/vietnam-visa-fees/

https://vietnamvisa.govt.vn/vietnam-visa/visa-fees/ 

https://www.vietnam-immigration.org.vn/visa-fee.html 

https://xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/en/tin-tuc/procedures-temporary-residence-cards-foreigners-vietnam-immigration-department-ministry 

https://vinpearl.com/en/cost-of-visa-for-vietnam 

https://visaguide.world/asia/vietnam-visa/ 

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/visa-requirements-for-vietnam 

https://luatvietnam.vn/thue-phi-le-phi/le-phi-lam-ho-chieu-565-24841-article.html