Visitors to Vietnam must obtain a visa from one of the Vietnamese diplomatic missions unless they come from one of the visa exempt countries or countries eligible for electronic visas. However, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam, the issuance of visas was temporarily suspended. On March 15, 2022, Vietnam reopened its borders and resumed its pre-pandemic entry and exit policies though 90 day visas (available pre-pandemic via consular offices worldwide) have remained unavailable. Vietnam’s lawmakers on June 24 in the National Assembly passed an approval to increase the validity of electronic visas for inbound visitors on recommendation of the government. Effective August 1, the validity of the approved e-visa will be 90 days from the current duration of 30 days.
History
Decree No. 390/TTg dated October 27, 1959, on the regulation of passport control, signed by Prime Minister Pham Van Dong, was the first legal document that regulated passport control in Vietnam. Article 1 of the decree states:
This means that both Vietnamese citizens and foreigners, when leaving or entering Vietnam, must have a passport and a visa. A person who wants to leave the territory of Vietnam must have an exit visa. Exit visas are administrative procedures imposed to restrict the freedom of citizens of a country to travel abroad. This measure was previously used by many countries, especially socialist countries, to control their citizens and migration issues. Currently, only a very few countries in the world still use exit visas (for example: Saudi Arabia). Therefore, before the Renovation period, the travel of Vietnamese citizens abroad was highly restricted and tightly controlled. Vietnamese individuals were issued passports and exit/entry visas mainly for official work purposes, with decisions made by relevant authorities.
In 1988, Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet issued the Decision of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers No. 48/CT dated February 26, 1988, on allowing Vietnamese citizens to temporarily leave the country to settle personal matters. This decision relaxed the regulations on exit permits "to meet the legitimate aspirations of our people to apply for temporary exit permits to settle personal matters".
In 1993, the Government issued Decree No. 48-CP on passports and visas, which unified the regulations on passport types and visas for the first time. The decree officially abolished entry visas for holders of Vietnamese passports, as stated in Article 10, Clause 3:
It was not until 1997 that Prime Minister Phan Van Khai officially abolished the regulation on exit visas for Vietnamese citizens by issuing the Decision No. 957/1997/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister on improving some procedures for exit and addressing the issue of Vietnamese citizens who have left the country but have not returned on time, stated in Clause 2, Article 1:
As for foreigners, in 2000, the National Assembly abolished exit visas by referring to all types of visas (exit, entry, exit-entry, entry-exit) as visas (valid for entry and exit) in the Ordinance No. 24/2000/PL-UBTVQH10 on Entry, Exit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly.
In 2014, the National Assembly of Vietnam issued the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam (No. 47/2014/QH13), which is the highest legal document that regulates all activities related to the entry, exit, transit, and residence of foreigners in Vietnam.
Visa policy map
Visa exemption
Ordinary passports
Holders of normal passports issued by the following 25 countries do not require a visa to visit Vietnam, including all ASEAN nationals. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, the maximum allowed period of stay depends on nationality:
In addition, citizens of China, Cuba and North Korea who hold passports for public affairs or normal passports endorsed "for public affairs" do not require a visa to enter Vietnam.
A visa waiver agreement for ordinary passports was signed with in 21 August 2023 and it is yet to come into force.
Certificate of visa exemption
Holders of Certificates of Visa Exemption do not require a visa regardless of nationality. A Certificate of Visa Exemption is valid for up to 5 years or up to 6 months before the passport expiration date (whichever is shorter). This is available for Vietnamese residing abroad or spouses or children of Vietnamese citizens or Vietnamese residing abroad. The exemption is valid for up to 180 consecutive days of stay. There is no limit placed on the number of entries or exits during the stay or minimum waiting time needed in between each 180 days of stay.