Which type of Vietnam visa do I need?

Since 2018, you can easily apply for the visa online for your holiday or business trip to Vietnam. You will receive the e-visa as a PDF document. With this e-visa, you can stay in the country for up to 90 days.

Do you want to stay in Vietnam for 45 days or less? You may be exempt from the visa requirement. Travellers with the nationality of Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, or Switzerland always require a visa. Tourists and business travellers with the nationality of the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, or Spain only require a visa if they want to stay in Vietnam for longer than 45 days.

Do you want to stay in Vietnam for more than 90 days? You will not be able to use the e-visa from on this website. Apply for a paper visa by making an appointment at the Embassy of Vietnam.

Warning: You cannot obtain a visa upon arrival in Vietnam
Several websites still state that you can also obtain your visa upon arrival in Vietnam. This information is incorrect and outdated.

The visa upon arrival was available in the past. To apply for this visa, you had to arrange a so-called approval letter before departure to Vietnam, allowing you to purchase a Visa On Arrival (VOA) upon arrival in Vietnam. During COVID-19, Vietnam closed its borders. Since the reopening of the borders in March 2022, e-visas have been available again. However, the Visa On Arrival has not been brought back.

Requirements of the Vietnam e-visa

The online application procedure for the Vietnam e-visa is available to tourists and business travellers, but only if all these requirements are met. For example, your passport needs to be valid for six more months upon arrival. Additionally, you cannot pose a risk to the safety or public health in Vietnam. This applies if you have a contagious disease, for example.

It is important to keep in mind the validity period of the e-visa. You can stay in Vietnam a maximum of 90 days. When filling in the application form, you select your presumed arrival date. The validity period of the visa will start on this day, meaning that you are allowed to enter Vietnam at the earliest on that date. You must also indicate your departure date from Vietnam in the form. You are permitted to leave prior to this date, but not later.

You can enter and exit Vietnam through 8 airports, 16 border crossings, and 9 seaports with the e-visa. You fill in which entry or exit location you are planning to use. You cannot change these locations at a later stage.

Apply for your Vietnam visa

The application procedure for the electronic Vietnam visa is online. First, you must complete this application form. You can do so from a computer, smartphone or tablet. Next, you complete the payment securely and easily with your credit card or with Google Pay, Apple Pay, Trustly or PayPal. To complete your application, you will have to provide an image or scan of your passport and a photograph. The photograph can also be a high-quality selfie. You can submit both documents online.

Once you have submitted the application, a visa specialist at e-Visa.co.uk will check if you made any mistakes. One of the checks they perform is comparing the passport details you filled in with the scan of the passport you submitted. You will be notified of any mistakes you made, so that you can correct them in time. Your application will then be sent to the immigration service in Vietnam, which decides whether to approve the application. Once your visa is granted, you will receive it by email. You have to print it twice and take the copies with you on your trip.

Processing time and cost

The Vietnam visa is usually granted within 13 days. You can also choose for an urgent delivery. Urgent applications are usually processed within 5 days. The delivery times mentioned on this pages are averages, not maximum delivery times. If the immigration service performs a random check, your application could be delayed.

The total cost of the Vietnam visa is £54.95 per person. This price consists of 640,352 VND in consular fees and £35.04 in service fees. If you choose 'urgent delivery', you pay a surcharge of £17.50 per visa.

Questions about the Vietnam visa

If you have any questions about applying for your visa for your holiday or business trip to Vietnam, continue reading the page with frequently asked questions and their corresponding answers.