Vietnam entry reference
Vietnam Entry Questions, Answered
Short answers to the questions travellers actually ask about Vietnamese entry documents, including the ones with awkward answers.
- Updated
- 15 August 2026
- Reading time
- 3 minutes
- Purpose
- Independent reference
Why these answers are short
Every question below gets asked because the answer is genuinely hard to find, not because it is complicated. Most of the pages competing to answer them belong to companies selling a visa service, and a short honest answer is bad for that business in a way it is not for ours.
If an answer here matters to a booking, follow it through to the fuller page on the same subject — and then confirm it on the government portal, which is the only source that binds anyone.
The one answer worth repeating
If you hold a passport from one of the exempt countries and your trip fits inside the exemption, you need nothing. No form, no fee, no site, no service. That is the answer for a large share of the people who arrive here searching, and it is worth stating before anything else.
Confirm before you book
Everything above was checked on 15 August 2026. Vietnamese entry rules move by decree, sometimes at short notice, and this page is a reference rather than an authority. The current position is at evisa.gov.vn.
Quick answers
Questions covered in this guide
How much does a Vietnam e-visa cost?
25 USD for single entry and 50 USD for multiple entry, paid by card directly to the immigration department on the government portal. There is no separate processing charge and nothing is payable on arrival. Any larger figure is a company's service fee added on top of the government's.
How long does a Vietnam e-visa take?
Three working days is the stated processing time, excluding weekends and Vietnamese public holidays. Plan for three to five days in practice, and considerably longer around Tet in late January or February and the 30 April to 1 May break.
Can I apply for a Vietnam e-visa myself?
Yes. It is one online form, two uploaded images and a card payment, and takes most people about twenty minutes. No agent, interview, courier or posted document is involved at any point.
Do I need a visa for Vietnam at all?
Not necessarily. Citizens of around 39 countries enter with no document under a visa exemption, for periods from 14 to 45 days depending on nationality. If your trip fits inside your exemption there is nothing to apply for and nothing to pay.
How long can I stay in Vietnam on an e-visa?
Up to 90 days. The permitted stay ends on the expiry date printed on the visa regardless of when you entered, so arriving late in the validity window shortens the trip rather than extending the window.
Can a Vietnam e-visa be extended from inside the country?
No. As of 2026 an e-visa cannot be extended once you are in Vietnam. If you want longer, apply for a longer stay before you travel, or leave the country and obtain a new visa.
What is the difference between single and multiple entry?
A single-entry visa is spent the moment you leave Vietnam, even with validity remaining. A multiple-entry visa stays live for its whole window. If your plans include a side trip to Cambodia, Laos or Thailand and a return, you need multiple entry.
Why was my Vietnam e-visa refused?
Most refusals are mechanical rather than personal - a cropped passport scan, a portrait that no longer matches the passport, a mistyped passport number, or a name entered in a different order from the document. There is no appeal step; the route is a corrected fresh application, and the original fee is not refunded.
Is there an official express or same-day e-visa service?
No. The government system has one processing speed. Services advertising urgent processing are selling their own handling around the same queue, not faster access to it.
Which website is the official one?
The national immigration portal at evisa.gov.vn, also reachable at thithucdientu.gov.vn. Many near-identical sites take the same form and add a fee of their own. If a site is not on a gov.vn domain, it is a company rather than the government, whatever its name suggests.
Does an e-visa guarantee entry to Vietnam?
No, and neither does any other document. Every route authorises you to present yourself at a border checkpoint; the officer on duty makes the decision. Passport validity of at least six months and two blank pages are checked at the counter regardless of what you hold.