The three routes in
| What it is | |
|---|---|
| Visa exemption | No visa at all, for a set list of nationalities |
| E-visa | Open to citizens of all countries since 15 August 2023 |
| Visa on arrival | Stamped at the airport, with an approval letter arranged first |
| E-visa cost | 25 USD single entry, 50 USD multiple entry |
| E-visa stay | Up to 90 days |
| E-visa ports | 17 international airports, 31 road crossings, 24 sea ports |
| Visa on arrival airports | Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Phu Quoc, Hai Phong, Da Lat, Nha Trang |
| Phu Quoc | 30 days visa free arriving directly from outside Vietnam |
Disclosure: VietSIM sells prepaid eSIMs for Vietnam. We are not a visa agent, we do not sell approval letters, and nothing on this page is a service we provide.
Check in this order
Most pages about Vietnamese visas answer the question you typed rather than the question you have. The order that saves money is exemption, then e-visa, then visa on arrival.
1. Are you exempt? Chile and Panama have 90 days. The 45 day list is Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. A 30 day list covers Belarus, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand. The Philippines has 21 days, Brunei and Indonesia 14.
How long each passport gets
2. If not, the e-visa. Since 15 August 2023 it has been open to citizens of all countries: 25 US dollars single entry, 50 multiple, up to 90 days, valid at 17 international airports, 31 road border crossings and 24 sea ports.
3. Visa on arrival is the remainder. It needs an approval letter from the Immigration Department or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, arranged before you travel, and it is stamped at one of seven airports.
Why visa on arrival lost its reason to exist
The name is misleading. It was never a visa you could simply turn up and buy: it always required a letter arranged in advance by a sponsor in Vietnam. Before the e-visa, that was the route most nationalities had to use, so it earned the search traffic it still has.
Now the e-visa covers every nationality, costs a published fee, and works at land and sea crossings as well as airports. Visa on arrival is airport only, which matters if you plan to enter overland from Cambodia or Laos.
The 2025 change worth knowing
Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia moved to the 45 day exemption on 15 August 2025. If you read a guide written before that date, it will understate what those passports get.
And Phu Quoc
Phu Quoc allows 30 days visa free to all foreign visitors arriving directly by air or sea from outside Vietnam. It is its own rule, not a variant of the others, and it covers the island rather than the country.
Related
The longer visa picture, including what the e-visa portal asks for, is in Vietnam visa. Planning the trip those days are for is in a Vietnam itinerary and when to go to Vietnam.
Arriving with a working connection means your booking references and visa documents are readable at the counter: sizing is in how much mobile data for Vietnam and the plans are in the Vietnam eSIM store.