Visa on arrival in Vietnam, and what it really means
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Vietnam visa on arrival does not mean turning up and buying a visa. It means arranging a letter in advance through an agency, flying with it printed, and paying a second fee at a counter before immigration. The e-visa replaced most of the reason to do that.
How does it actually work?
Vietnam visa on arrival is a two-step system. An agency files for an approval letter from the Immigration Department, the letter arrives by email in one to three working days, and the visa itself is issued at a landing visa counter at the airport.
At the counter you hand over the printed letter, your passport, a photo and the stamping fee in cash. The clerk takes them, you wait, and the visa is stuck into the passport before you reach immigration.
Nothing about it is available to somebody who arrives without the letter. That is the misunderstanding the name creates.
| What | Visa on arrival | E-visa |
|---|---|---|
| Arranged | Through an agency, in advance | On the government portal |
| Cost | Agency fee plus 25 USD stamped | 25 USD, single entry |
| Works at | International airports only | Airports, land and sea crossings |
| Speed | Letter in 1–3 working days | Usually 3–5 working days |
| Queue on arrival | Yes, at the landing visa counter | No, straight to immigration |
Why does the e-visa beat it for most people?
The e-visa costs 25 USD in total, is filed on a government site, and is valid at land and sea borders as well as airports. Visa on arrival adds an agency to the process and a queue to the arrival.
The agency is doing paperwork rather than exercising influence, and the sites charging 60 to 120 USD for either route are charging for typing. The e-visa guide covers the official portal and the refusals that follow a bad application.
So the honest ranking is simple: apply for the e-visa unless something specific rules it out.
When is visa on arrival still the right choice?
When the departure is sooner than the e-visa can be processed. The approval letter can come back in a day, which saves a trip that would otherwise not happen.
Visa on arrival also helps where a traveller needs a visa type the e-visa does not offer, or where an employer or tour operator arranges the entry on their behalf.
Everybody else is better served by the portal, and by applying at least a week out.
What does it cost in total?
Two payments. The agency fee for the letter usually runs 10 to 25 US dollars, and the stamping fee at the counter is 25 USD for a single entry or 50 for multiple entries, paid in cash.
Carry those dollars. The counter takes cash in US dollars and the exchange desks are on the other side of immigration, which is the wrong side.
The two fees together put the total above the e-visa in almost every case, and the trip cost guide treats the difference as small against a flight and large against a day's budget.
Where does it not work?
At land borders. The approval letter is only valid at the international airports, so anybody crossing from Cambodia at Moc Bai or from Laos in the north needs an e-visa or an embassy visa instead.
Sea arrivals are the same. A cruise passenger landing at a port is not covered by a landing-visa letter.
Arriving overland with a landing-visa letter is the most expensive mistake the system produces, because the discovery happens at a border with no way to fix it.
What happens at the counter?
The landing visa counter sits before immigration and takes the letter, the passport, a photo and the fee. On a full flight the queue there can run to forty minutes, and there is no way to shorten it.
Fill in the entry and exit form while you wait rather than at the desk. Copies sit on the counter and having it done is the difference between one pass and two.
After the counter you join the ordinary immigration queue with a visa in the passport. The first trip guide covers what happens after that, which is baggage, an ATM and the argument about taxis.
What should you check before flying?
Passport validity of at least six months beyond entry, the letter printed rather than on a phone, a passport photo, and the fee in cash dollars. Any one of those missing turns a twenty-minute queue into a problem.
Check the letter carries your name spelled as it is in the passport. A mismatch is the usual reason a counter refuses one, and correcting it from the airside is not possible.
And check whether you need a visa at all. Several nationalities have visa exemptions for short stays, which the e-visa guide lists alongside the rules that change most often.
FAQ
What is visa on arrival in Vietnam?
A system where an agency arranges an approval letter from the Immigration Department before you fly, and the visa itself is issued at the airport counter when you land. It is not a walk-up visa: without the letter in advance, nobody is stamping anything on arrival.
Is visa on arrival still available in Vietnam?
It still exists and it matters much less than it did. The e-visa now covers most visitors at a lower total cost and works at land and sea crossings as well as airports, so visa on arrival is now a fallback rather than the default route.
What does visa on arrival cost?
Two payments: an agency fee for the approval letter, usually 10 to 25 US dollars, and a stamping fee paid in cash at the airport counter, 25 USD for a single entry and 50 for multiple. The e-visa costs 25 USD in total for a single entry.
Does visa on arrival work at land borders?
No. The approval letter is only valid at the international airports, so anybody crossing from Cambodia or Laos by road needs an e-visa or a visa from an embassy. This is the most common mistake with the system.
Which is better, e-visa or visa on arrival?
The e-visa for almost everyone: it costs less, it is arranged on a government site rather than through an agency, and it works at every kind of crossing. Visa on arrival is useful for a last-minute departure, since the letter can be arranged faster than an e-visa is processed.
What do you need at the airport counter?
The approval letter printed, a passport with six months of validity, a passport photo, the entry and exit form, and the stamping fee in US dollars in cash. The counter is before immigration and the queue for it can be long on a full flight.