Vietnam E-Visa - Single Entry (90 days)

What is the Vietnam e-visa?

The e-visa is an electronic visa issued by the Vietnam Immigration Department. You apply online, it arrives by email as a PDF, and you show it with your passport when you check in and when you reach passport control. There is no sticker, no embassy appointment, and nothing to collect.

A single-entry e-visa lets you enter Vietnam once and stay for up to 90 days. It covers tourism, visiting friends and family, and short business visits. Since 15 August 2023 it has been open to citizens of every country and territory, which is why it has replaced the embassy visa and the old "visa on arrival" for almost everyone.

Who needs one?

Anyone whose passport is not on Vietnam's visa-free list, and anyone on that list who wants to stay longer than the exemption allows.

• Visa required: Australia, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, India, China, Ireland, South Africa and most other countries.
• Visa-free for a limited stay: 39 countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan and South Korea (45 days) and most of South-East Asia (14 to 30 days).

If you hold a visa-free passport but plan to stay longer than your exemption, you need an e-visa before you travel - the exemption cannot be turned into a longer stay once you are in Vietnam. Check the rule for your passport.

E-visa requirements

A passport with six months left

Your passport should be valid for at least six months after the day you arrive. Airlines check this at the desk and turn passengers away over it, so look at the expiry date before you book anything.

A scan of the passport photo page

A clear image of the whole page with your photograph, including the two lines of letters and chevrons at the bottom. Vietnam's system reads your details from those lines. All four corners must be visible, with no glare, shadow or fingers over the text.

A portrait photo

A recent passport-style photo: white background, face forward, no glasses, no hat, taken within the last six months. A cropped copy of your passport photo is not accepted - it has to be a separate picture. The photo rules in full.

Your travel details

The form asks for the date you will enter Vietnam, the airport, land border or seaport you plan to arrive at, and your first address in the country - a hotel name and city is enough.

How to apply

1. Choose your visa and speed. Single entry is right for a trip that starts and ends in Vietnam. If you will leave and come back, pick the multiple-entry e-visa instead.
2. Upload your passport page and photo. Our scanner reads the passport so you only have to check the details.
3. Pay once. The price includes the Vietnamese government fee.
4. We check and lodge. A person checks the photo, the scan and every field against your passport, then lodges the application on the government system.
5. Receive your e-visa by email. Print it and keep a copy on your phone.

Processing time - and when to apply

Vietnam's immigration department quotes three working days for an e-visa and often takes five to seven in busy periods. It does not work weekends or public holidays, and the Tet holiday (late January or February) stops processing for about a week.

Apply once your flights are booked - two to three weeks ahead is comfortable. An e-visa's dates are fixed when it is issued, so there is nothing to gain by applying months early without a firm arrival date. If you are flying sooner, choose Express or Urgent processing when you apply. More on processing times.

The dates on your e-visa

This catches people out. The e-visa shows a valid from date and a valid until date:

• You cannot enter before the valid-from date. If your flight lands a day earlier, you will not be let in.
• You can enter later than the valid-from date, but the end date does not move. Arrive ten days late and you have ten days fewer.
• You must leave on or before the valid-until date.

So give the day you actually land in Vietnam, not the day you leave home.

Where you can enter

An e-visa is accepted at 83 international airports, land borders and seaports, after 41 were added in December 2025. That covers every airport international travellers use - Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Nha Trang (Cam Ranh), Phu Quoc and more - plus the main crossings from Cambodia, Laos and China, and the cruise ports. See the list of entry points.

When you arrive

Go straight to passport control with your passport and the printed e-visa. There is no visa counter to visit and nothing more to pay.

Two things to do around arrival:

• Complete the pre-arrival form. Vietnam now asks arriving foreigners to submit their details online and show a QR code. It is free and takes a few minutes. How the pre-arrival form works.
• Check the stamp. The officer stamps your passport with the date you must leave by. Make sure it matches your e-visa before you walk away from the desk.

Can the e-visa be extended?

Not as a matter of routine. An e-visa has fixed dates, and Vietnam only accepts e-visa applications from people who are outside the country. Travellers who want longer usually leave - a short trip to Cambodia, Laos or Thailand - and apply for a new e-visa from there.

If there is any chance you will want more than a few weeks, apply for the full 90 days from the start. The government fee is the same whether you ask for 30 days or 90.

E-visa, visa-free entry or visa on arrival?

Common reasons an e-visa is delayed

• The photo. A coloured or shadowed background, glasses, or a crop of the passport photo.
• The scan. Glare over the code lines, or a corner cut off.
• The name. Given names and surname in a different order from the passport, or a middle name left out.
• A wrong digit in the passport number, date of birth or expiry date.
• An entry date that is too soon for the visa to be issued in time.

The official portal does not email you when it wants something corrected - applicants are expected to keep checking the status page. Checking for these before lodging, and watching the status afterwards, is what our service is for.