Vietnam visa

Naid23

I am going travelling on April 1st to SEA for a few months. I need to organise my vietnam visa before i travel but i am a bit unsure of the process.

I know i need to send my passport to london but after that im lost - how long do i have to enter vietnam after its granted? I havent got specific dates of where i'll be and when.

Could someone explain what needs to be done cause i know i need to get it organised soon. Thanks

Tipperary animal lover

Hi naid23, have a look at this site myvietnamvisa.com I use this and will be using it again when we go in march, it's very easy and you keep your passport with you no need to send anywhere, it's much cheaper than sending it to London about €100, just follow the steps it's very easy, this only works if your flying into vietnam and not land border.
Travelling over land into Vietnam I'd get my visa in Bangkok or Phnom Penh which ever city your travelling through it'll take less than a day in either city and much cheaper, hope this helps and happy travels.....

Naid23

Tipperary animal lover wrote: »

Hi naid23, have a look at this site myvietnamvisa.com I use this and will be using it again when we go in march, it's very easy and you keep your passport with you no need to send anywhere, it's much cheaper than sending it to London about €100, just follow the steps it's very easy, this only works if your flying into vietnam and not land border.
Travelling over land into Vietnam I'd get my visa in Bangkok or Phnom Penh which ever city your travelling through it'll take less than a day in either city and much cheaper, hope this helps and happy travels.....

Hi tipp, thanks for that. I will look that up. At this stage i think we will be travelling overland so think i will prob apply to the embassy in bangkok.
Any idea how much it costs to get a visa this way?.

Tipperary animal lover

It'll cost I think about €70 for same day collection, have a goggle of "Vietnam visa in bangkok", go into the first page it's the travelfish page(great site for sea) and this will give you the run down of how and where to get the visa in Bangkok.
It's very simple did this a few years back. Happy Christmas and happy travels ..... You'll love vietnam...:D, oh and pack very light clothes are very very cheap

Gatica

We also got online visas, we got ours at http://www.starvietnamvisa.com for $15. Add $6 if you want a private application as they do batch applications otherwise (several travellers with the names and passport numbers on it).
As pointed out only valid at airport entries.

solerina

i also got my vias from myvietnamvisa.com...20 dollars to them and 25 at the airport in HCMC or Hanoi (maybe Danang too)...there is only one problem for you going this way, you need to know exact dates as you get a month from the start date.....Id get the visa in the embassy in Bangkok or apply online a week before you actually need the visa..it takes about 48 hours....Lucky you, Vietman is amazing !!

Hidalgo

solerina wrote: »

i also got my vias from myvietnamvisa.com...20 dollars to them and 25 at the airport in HCMC or Hanoi (maybe Danang too)...there is only one problem for you going this way, you need to know exact dates as you get a month from the start date.....Id get the visa in the embassy in Bangkok or apply online a week before you actually need the visa..it takes about 48 hours....Lucky you, Vietman is amazing !!

+1. Be careful on the dates you put down if your travelling the region before entering Vietnam and your not sure your spending in Thailand or Laos or Cambodia, especially if you want to get the month in Vietnam.
I got mine in Bankok, took 24 hours I think (in 2007).

Amazing country, you'll have a blast

Naid23

thanks for all the replies folks, you have been really helpful. I just want to clarify one thing though - Does my visa start from the actual day I get it or from when I enter the country??

I want to get the full 30 days in vietnam so if it start straight away I will need to organise the transfer to vietnam

Tipperary animal lover

Naid23 wrote: »

thanks for all the replies folks, you have been really helpful. I just want to clarify one thing though - Does my visa start from the actual day I get it or from when I enter the country??

I want to get the full 30 days in vietnam so if it start straight away I will need to organise the transfer to vietnam

When you enter the country.....

Theresalwaysone

When you enter the visa begins. Overstaying isnt a real big problem by a few days. They are usually pretty sweet about it. 5$ a day after 72 hours is the usual protocol but Ive overstayed more than that on occasion and been waved by at land borders.

Enjoy Vietnam, it is undoubtedly one of the worlds most beautiful countries with some of the friendliest people.

Gatica

it will start from date you put down for date of entry I think. You can enter the country after that date but not before and you get 1 month. That's why it's important to know when you enter the country or you'll lose a few days if you enter later.

Naid23

Thanks so much for all the replies. I want to make sure we make the most of our 30 days. Some great advice on here, cant wait to go now. Thanks again

Tipperary animal lover

From January the 1st the price of entry visas will rise so make sure you have the right amount of $ folks ...,

Shannonsider

My fiance and I are flying from Hong Kong to Hanoi for 10 days in March and I was wondering what the cheapest & least hassle-way of getting a visa? I've searched vietnam visa sites but I'm wary of sending a passport because a random website asked me to.

Gatica

see same info in this most recent thread:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=82432186#post82432186

We were happy with http://www.starvietnamvisa.com and didn't have to send away passport.

Shannonsider

Hi Gatica,

Thanks for your reply. Do you remember how much it cost and how long the process took?

Gatica

it's all on the website. Cost may have changed but we paid $15 pp. You don't need to send in your passport, you just give them your details and pay. Takes about a day.

Gatica

something should have mentioned is that this "visa on arrival" is not in fact a visa in itself, it's a pre-approval letter that will entitle you to a visa when you get to Vietnam.
The weird thing with Hanoi airport, you need to walk past what looks like the visa counter, through the hall to the other side of that office to give your visa letter and passport, then you get them back at the other end, which is closer to the entrance you came in through off the plane. It's an odd layout, but you'll notice people start queueing at the wrong end if they don't know this (speeds it up for you though if you do know this).

IMightKnow

We used these
http://www.vietnamvisa.ie/

they sent us an email 2 days later which you bring with you

had to pay 20$ with credit card to the website and then queue up as above and pay the official 25$

There may be cheaper places than these but we found them perfect to use

solerina

I used www.myvietnamvisa.com last summer and got the pre-approval letter in about 2 days, it cost $20 dollars to that company and $25 dollars in Hanoi airport...it was totally hassle free and I would certainly recommend them (Gatica is right about the walking out to come back in though...very strange...it took about 10 mins to get the actual visa applied to my passport !!)

Tipperary animal lover

Just applied for our visas last night with myvietnamvisa.com, for two of us we paid €50 to this company and when you arrive by air you pay $45( price has gone up from $25 since the 1st of jan) for the visa stamp, we got the visa approval letter this morning ..... Everything was straight forward and over €100 cheaper than going through the embassy in London.

Shannonsider

Thanks for the replies folks. I contact the Embassy directly and they are charging almost EURO160 for 2 of us. How can the likes of www.myvietnamvisa.com charge so much less? I would have thought they all have to go through an Embassy (or is it a case of the London Embassy charging what they like?

Gatica

they want ppl to get visas directly for them as they obviously make a hefty profit. The other way isn't a visa as such, it's the company arranging for you to get entry through a letter, I'm not sure if visa would be the right word for it.
We paid $15. If you want to pay the 160, I can't say I'd understand why...

solerina

My friends got their visa through the London embassy too, it cost them 80 euro per person...thats why I went through www.myvietnamvisa.com same thing and way cheaper (only thing is you must enter Vietnam through the airports in HCMCM, Hanoi or Da Nang...not by any other means to use the pre entry visa letter)

Tipperary animal lover

Shannonsider.... Revenue revenue revenue it's all about the money with the embassies, if your happy to pay the embassy that much go for it.

Lovetochill

I was in Vietnamese Embassy in London once and it was a bad experience, long queue and it was expensive. Staff were not friendly. I used www.myvietnamvisa.com last year on my way to Australia and it was quicker, cheaper and hassle free. I too highly recommend www.myvietnamvisa.com. Have a nice trip.

Mr.Prodston

I'm going to Southeast Asia next month and was going to look into how to get a visa for Vietnam and see this pop up. Gotta appreciate boards' sense of timing at times Flying into Hanoi too.

Fol20

Hey Guys,

I will be flying into Vietnam and will be traveling to Thailand by car. Will the visa on arrival letter work with http://www.myvietnamvisa.com/

I cant see anything on their website relating to entry with plane and exit by land.

Tipperary animal lover

Fol20 wrote: »

Hey Guys,

I will be flying into Vietnam and will be traveling to Thailand by car. Will the visa on arrival letter work with http://www.myvietnamvisa.com/

I cant see anything on their website relating to entry with plane and exit by land.

Once you enter the country by plane visa on arrival will do you and you'll have no problem leaving vietnam by land ....best of luck travelling by car to Thailand hope you have very good insurance!!

Fol20

Lol why, what is wrong with travelling by land. We will be travelling by train or bus to Thailand.

retalivity

Bump as I do not see a more recent thread on visas for Vietnam...

I'm going to SE asia for a few weeks over xmas, plan is for Thailand > Laos > Vietnam > Cambodia > Thailand all over land (by bus or train). As I understand it, we can get entry visas for Laos & Cambodia at the border but cannot for Vietnam - it needs to be pre-applied for. From reading the visa service websites posted already on this thread, the cheaper approval letter is only an option if we fly in to an airport, and to cross over land requires the more expensive option of getting one directly from the embassy in London.

Is this correct? Any other options?

Mr.Prodston

retalivity wrote: »

Bump as I do not see a more recent thread on visas for Vietnam...

I'm going to SE asia for a few weeks over xmas, plan is for Thailand > Laos > Vietnam > Cambodia > Thailand all over land (by bus or train). As I understand it, we can get entry visas for Laos & Cambodia at the border but cannot for Vietnam - it needs to be pre-applied for. From reading the visa service websites posted already on this thread, the cheaper approval letter is only an option if we fly in to an airport, and to cross over land requires the more expensive option of getting one directly from the embassy in London.

Is this correct? Any other options?

I did that exact route about 18 months ago and what we did was fly from Luang Prabang to Hanoi rather than get that fabled 24 hour bus. It was cheap enough all things considered and was a lot quicker and much less hassle.

I can't remember anything else about the other options now though.

AgileMyth

Mr.Prodston wrote: »

I did that exact route about 18 months ago and what we did was fly from Luang Prabang to Hanoi rather than get that fabled 24 hour bus. It was cheap enough all things considered and was a lot quicker and much less hassle.

I can't remember anything else about the other options now though.

I got what was supposed to be a 24 hour bus from sapa to luang prabang. Took 5 days.

Sometimes flying is a good option for lots of reasons.

sleepingghost

retalivity wrote: »

Bump as I do not see a more recent thread on visas for Vietnam...

I'm going to SE asia for a few weeks over xmas, plan is for Thailand > Laos > Vietnam > Cambodia > Thailand all over land (by bus or train). As I understand it, we can get entry visas for Laos & Cambodia at the border but cannot for Vietnam - it needs to be pre-applied for. From reading the visa service websites posted already on this thread, the cheaper approval letter is only an option if we fly in to an airport, and to cross over land requires the more expensive option of getting one directly from the embassy in London.

Is this correct? Any other options?

Correct - these is the current visa rules for Vietnam.

Your best option depends how much time pressure your under, versus how much of the country you want to see.

It will be peak tourist season when you visit so public transport should be reasonably reliable...ish. The horror stories above usually refer to travel during the raining season from May (landslide & floods are common). I would take the scenic route if I had the time.

Also be aware if taking the public transport option that you will be traveling to third world countries (at least infrastructure wise). When outside the major cities the roads are awful, particularly in Laos and Cambodia. It can take hours to travel only 100km. I would recommend the trains in Vietnam to travel up the coast. Also there is not much in Laos to see (But lots of backpacker style partying if that's what your into).

retalivity

So correspondence with the Viet embassy is London took an age, and they have only just sent me details on how to apply, due to time constraints before I leave I would need to apply for the 1 day express to be confident of it arriving here in time.

Alternatively, I was told that I can apply for a Vietnam visa in Bangkok or possibly Vientiane in Laos, it will apparently take 1-3 days. Has anyone done it this way, and will this allow me to cross the border by land? Its a lot cheaper as well (Visa from London embassy is £88 including P+P, whereas the one in Bangkok is $30) so if I do that, does anyone know if I can get it posted to a hotel I will be staying in at a later date, as I will not be in Bangkok on a weekday again to pick it up.

Thanks

pablo don

Hi all,
I am heading to Vietnam and Thailand in about a month's time.I have been looking into visas and am told I only need one for Vietnam.
Going through trail finders for the trip .The have said Vietnam visa is €128.I am thinking this is a bit steep.So has any one got them through there embassy in London.?or any other places that are bit cheaper.? Thanks.

solerina

There are loads and loads of threads on this site about VN visas. I got mine through www.myvietnamvisa.com and it was a lot cheaper than what you have been quoted. About 60 I think.

con1982

pablo don wrote: »

Hi all,
I am heading to Vietnam and Thailand in about a month's time.I have been looking into visas and am told I only need one for Vietnam.
Going through trail finders for the trip .The have said Vietnam visa is €128.I am thinking this is a bit steep.So has any one got them through there embassy in London.?or any other places that are bit cheaper.? Thanks.

I got the vietnam visa online at myvietnamvisa.com I paid $20 for the application then $20/25 dollars at the airport upon arrival

Gatica

There's an older thread here with good bit of info on sites that have been used: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=82432186
and http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=82484758

We used http://www.starvietnamvisa.com/fees.php#private-visa ourselves.