Vietnam Embassy Visa: When You Need One and How to Get It

An embassy visa is a visa issued by a Vietnamese embassy or consulate and placed in your passport before you travel. It used to be the main way in for many nationalities. Since August 2023, when the e-visa was opened to every country for up to 90 days, it has become the route for the trips the e-visa doesn't cover.

Do you need an embassy visa?

Probably not, if your trip is a holiday, a family visit or business meetings of up to 90 days. The Vietnam e-visa covers those for every nationality and is applied for online. Check the list of e-visa eligible countries and whether your passport is visa-free.

You need an embassy visa (or a visa issued on arrival through a sponsor) when:

• You are staying more than 90 days on one visa - visiting relatives (VR, up to 180 days), or a family, work or study visa of a year or more.
• The purpose isn't a visit - working (LĐ), studying (DH), investing (ĐT), joining family (TT), or journalism (PV). See Vietnam visa types.
• You are travelling officially - diplomats and members of official delegations apply through the inviting agency and Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

How an embassy visa works

Most embassy visas start in Vietnam, not at the embassy.

1. A sponsor in Vietnam files a request. The sponsor is whoever you are going to: your employer, school, a partner company or a relative who is a Vietnamese citizen or resident. They submit the request to the Immigration Department, which can be done online through the department's sponsorship service.
2. The Immigration Department approves it and notifies the embassy or consulate you named, along with your sponsor.
3. You collect the visa at that embassy or consulate with your passport, the visa application form (form NA1), a passport photo and the fee. The visa is placed in your passport.

Instead of an embassy, the approval can name the airport where you will arrive, and the visa is then issued on landing - see visa on arrival.

Some embassies also issue short visits directly, without a sponsor, at their own discretion. Ask the mission before you rely on it; for a visit, the e-visa is simpler.

What to bring to the embassy

• Your passport, valid for at least six months and with blank pages. The visa must end at least 30 days before the passport does.
• The visa application form (NA1), completed in block capitals. Embassies supply it or publish their own version - see Vietnam visa forms.
• A passport-style photo, 4x6 cm, white background, no glasses.
• The approval reference from your sponsor, if your visa needed one.
• The fee, in the currency and form the mission accepts.

Fees, opening hours, appointment systems and processing times are set by each mission, so check its website before you go.

Where Vietnam's missions are

In our main markets, Vietnam has an embassy in Canberra with consulates in Sydney and Perth; an embassy in Washington DC with consulates in San Francisco and Houston; and embassies in London, Berlin, Paris, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Doha and Kuwait City, among others. Each nationality page lists the missions for that country where we know them.

Embassy visa or e-visa?

	Embassy visa	E-visa
Applying	Sponsor's request, then a visit or post to the embassy	Online, from anywhere outside Vietnam
Longest stay	Up to several years, by visa type	90 days
Purposes	Any, including work, study, family	Visits: tourism, business, family
Needs a sponsor	Usually	No
Time	A week or more, plus the appointment	About three working days

Frequently asked questions

Can I get a Vietnam tourist visa from the embassy?

Some embassies issue tourist visas directly, but the e-visa covers tourism for up to 90 days for every nationality and is applied for online. Most travellers no longer need the embassy.

Do I need an invitation letter for a Vietnam embassy visa?

For most long-stay visas, yes - in the form of an approval obtained by your sponsor in Vietnam. Short visits on an e-visa need no sponsor.

How long does a Vietnam embassy visa take?

It depends on the sponsor's approval, usually about a week, and then on the mission's own processing. Allow two to three weeks in all.

Can I apply at any Vietnamese embassy?

You apply at the embassy or consulate named in your approval, which is usually the one for where you live. Without an approval, ask the mission whether it will accept you.

Is an embassy visa valid at every border?

Yes. Unlike the e-visa, which lists approved border gates, a visa in your passport can be used at any international border gate.