Urgent Vietnam Visa: How to Get an E-Visa Fast When You Fly Soon

It happens every day: a flight is booked, the bags are half packed, and someone discovers at online check-in that Vietnam needs a visa. The situation is usually recoverable - if you act on a working day and act now.

What "urgent" really means

Vietnam's immigration department normally takes three to seven working days to issue an e-visa. Urgent processing means your application is handled ahead of that queue. It does not mean the office opens at the weekend.

Three limits apply to everyone, whichever agent you use:

• Working days only. Vietnam's immigration offices process applications Monday to Friday, Vietnam time, and not on Vietnamese public holidays.
• Vietnam time. Hanoi is three to four hours behind eastern Australia, six to seven hours ahead of London and eleven to twelve ahead of New York. An application sent on Friday afternoon from Sydney has missed Friday in Hanoi.
• A complete file. A rejected photo or a wrong passport number cannot be fixed in the time available. Urgent applications only work when the first submission is right.

Your options, fastest first

When you apply with us, you choose the speed:

Speed	For	What it involves
Urgent	Flying within days	Handled first, ahead of every other application
Express	Flying within about a week	Handled ahead of the standard queue
Standard	Two weeks or more to spare	The normal queue, at the base price

The current time and price for each is shown on the e-visa page and in the application form, because they change with how busy the immigration department is.

What to do right now

1. Check your passport. It needs six months' validity from the day you arrive. If it does not have that, a visa will not help - you need a new passport first.
2. Get the photo right first time. White background, face forward, no glasses, taken today. This is what sinks urgent applications. The photo rules.
3. Photograph the passport page in daylight, with both code lines at the bottom sharp and no glare.
4. Apply with Urgent selected, and give the date you actually land in Vietnam.
5. Message us on WhatsApp with your flight time once you have paid, so the file is looked at immediately.

If you fly at the weekend

This is the hard case. If it is Friday evening in Vietnam and your flight is on Saturday or Sunday, an e-visa cannot be issued before you leave, because no one is working until Monday.

Your realistic choices:

• Move the flight to Tuesday or later and apply for urgent processing first thing Monday.
• Ask about a visa on arrival. In a genuine emergency an agent can sometimes obtain an approval letter for a visa on arrival faster than an e-visa. It works at international airports only, and you queue for the visa after landing. How visa on arrival works.
• Check whether you need a visa at all. British, German, French, Japanese, South Korean and many other passports can enter visa-free for a short stay. Check your passport. A trip only to Phu Quoc may also be visa-free for any nationality.

Do not go to the airport hoping to sort it out there. Airlines check for a visa at the desk and will not board a passenger without one.

Around public holidays

Urgent processing stops when the immigration department stops. The longest closure is Tet, the Lunar New Year, when offices shut for about a week in late January or February. Before Tet, apply at least three weeks ahead; urgent processing in the final days before the holiday is the least reliable time of the year.

What it costs

Urgent and express processing are charged as an addition to the standard price, per applicant. The government fee is the same whatever the speed. If your visa arrives later than the processing time we quoted for the speed you paid for, we refund everything you paid us - the conditions are in our terms.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get a Vietnam visa on the same day?

Sometimes, on a working day, if the application is complete and is lodged early in the Vietnamese working day. It cannot be promised in advance and is never possible at a weekend.

Can I get an emergency visa at the airport in Vietnam?

Not without paperwork arranged before you fly. A visa on arrival needs an approval letter that the airline checks before boarding.

Does urgent processing guarantee approval?

No. It moves your application to the front of the queue; the decision is still the immigration department's. If the visa is refused, or is late against the time we quoted, you get a full refund.

I applied on the official portal and have heard nothing. Can you speed it up?

We cannot take over an application lodged by someone else. If your flight is close, the practical step is a new application with urgent processing.

Is an urgent e-visa different from a normal one?

No. It is the same e-visa, valid for the same 90 days. Only the handling time differs.