Booking · 1–3 months out
Do I need a visa for Vietnam?
Vietnam runs an e-visa valid up to 90 days, plus two separate 45-day exemption programmes. Which applies to you depends on your passport, here is how to find out and what it costs.
Checked August 2026 4 min read Sources & methodology
The short version
Three routes exist. Only the official portal can tell you which one is yours.
You will enter Vietnam under one of three arrangements: a visa exemption, an e-visa, or a visa issued by an embassy. Which one applies depends on your nationality, your passport type, why you are coming and how long you are staying. No guide can answer that for you, including this one, because the answer changes by passport and by instrument.
The Vietnamese e-visa is valid for a maximum of 90 days, and can be issued for either single or multiple entry.
Quoted directly from the National Portal on Immigration.
Sources National Portal on Immigration, e-visa Official source Vietnam National Electronic Visa system Official source
What the e-visa costs
Set by the Ministry of Finance, the same for every nationality, and non-refundable if the application fails.
US$25 for a single-entry e-visa.
Dated 27 March 2026, in force from 1 April 2026. It supersedes Circulars 25/2021/TT-BTC and 62/2023/TT-BTC, so any fee quoted from those is out of date.
Sources Viet Nam Portal, immigration fee schedule Official source Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC, immigration charges and fees Official source
US$50 for a multiple-entry e-visa valid up to 90 days.
The same schedule runs to US$165 for multiple-entry visas valid five to ten years, which are not e-visas and not what a visitor applies for.
Sources Viet Nam Portal, immigration fee schedule Official source Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC, immigration charges and fees Official source
Children under 14 pay a flat US$25 regardless of the visa duration.
Sources Viet Nam Portal, immigration fee schedule Official source Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC, immigration charges and fees Official source
That is the state fee, payable by card on the official portal. An agency will charge this plus its own service fee. Using one is a legitimate choice if you would rather someone else handled the form, it is not a requirement, and the agency has no influence over the outcome.
The 45-day exemptions
Two separate programmes under two separate resolutions. They are frequently reported as one list, which is where the confusion starts.
A unilateral visa exemption of up to 45 days runs under Resolution 44/NQ-CP, in force from 7 March 2025.
Read via secondary reporting rather than the resolution text. The country list must be confirmed against the instrument itself before publication.
Sources Resolution 44/NQ-CP: 45-day visa exemption Official source Viet Nam Government Portal Official source
A separate 45-day exemption for tourism runs under Resolution 229/NQ-CP, from 15 August 2025 until 14 August 2028, covering Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland.
Twelve countries named and counted consistently, but read via secondary reporting rather than the resolution text.
Sources Resolution 229/NQ-CP, tourism stimulus exemption Official source Viet Nam Government Portal Official source
Exemption generally requires a passport valid at least six months beyond entry, a qualifying purpose such as tourism or a short visit rather than work or study, and entry through an international checkpoint.
Consistently reported across commercial visa sources but not yet confirmed on a government page. Treat as a preparation checklist, not as the legal test.
Source Vietnam Immigration Department Official source
How to apply
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Go to thithucdientu.gov.vn or evisa.gov.vn directly. Do not arrive there through a search advertisement.
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Check your passport is valid well beyond your intended stay, and that you have a clean digital photo and a scan of the passport data page.
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Enter your details exactly as they appear on the passport, including the order of given and family names.
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Choose single or multiple entry, and name your intended entry checkpoint.
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Pay the state fee by card.
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Keep the application code. It is how you retrieve the visa, and it is not resent.
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Print the e-visa as well as storing it on your phone. A phone with a dead battery at an immigration desk is a problem you can avoid for the price of one sheet of paper.
Commercial agencies advertise three to five working days, but the immigration portal publishes no processing-time guarantee. We will not print a number that would have somebody book a flight around it.
What goes wrong
People say Any site at the top of the search results is the official one.
In fact Paid results for Vietnamese visas are almost entirely agencies. The two government domains are named above; type them in.
People say My exemption lasts 45 days, so I can stay 45 days on any trip.
In fact Exemption terms are set by the resolution that grants them and can carry conditions on purpose and re-entry. Confirm yours rather than assuming the headline number.
People say I can enter anywhere with an e-visa.
In fact E-visas are issued for approved international checkpoints, and you name your entry point on the application. Arriving somewhere else is a problem.
Sources & methodology
Every claim above carries its source and the month we checked it. Anything about visas, entry, official fees or the law rests on a government source or it is not published; where we could not verify something, the page says so instead of estimating. A rule is replaced by instrument, which is why the circular or resolution number is printed beside the claim: it is what lets anybody check whether a newer one exists.
- Official source Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC, immigration charges and fees Dated 27 March 2026, effective 1 April 2026. Supersedes Circulars 25/2021/TT-BTC and 62/2023/TT-BTC.
- Official source National Portal on Immigration, e-visa Live portal. Names thithucdientu.gov.vn and evisa.gov.vn as the official domains as of 11 November 2024.
- Official source Resolution 229/NQ-CP, tourism stimulus exemption Effective 15 August 2025 to 14 August 2028.
- Official source Resolution 44/NQ-CP: 45-day visa exemption Effective 7 March 2025. Unilateral exemption programme.
- Official source Viet Nam Government Portal National government information portal.
- Official source Viet Nam Portal, immigration fee schedule Reports the Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC fee schedule effective 1 April 2026.
- Official source Vietnam Immigration Department
- Official source Vietnam National Electronic Visa system The only authority for e-visa eligibility, fees and validity.
We don't rank businesses, invent prices or repeat a rule we have not read at its source. Where a topic turns on your own circumstances, your passport, your purpose, your health, the official source is the only place that can confirm them.