HOW TO GET VIETNAM TOURIST VISA FOR AMERICAN

Saturday, 18/05/19

US passport holder has pretty many priorities than others since you can travel around the world up to 166 countries without issuing visa. In case, you travel to Vietnam, you might wonder whether you have to issue Vietnam Tourist Visa or not. Visa matter leaves you such many questions that you are confused. Don’t worry because today we will share with you some useful information. You might not know that Vietnam and The US have not signed any treaty or agreement about Visa Waiver, so American citizens have to get Tourist Visa if you would like to travel to Vietnam – a land of history and magnificent landscapes. Although, American is not included in the Visa Waiver Countries, Tourist Visa holders are permitted to enter and stay in Vietnam up to one year with the maximum stay of 90 days for each entry. To be more specific, follow our guideline below to get Vietnam Tourist Visa for American only.

1. AMERICAN – NO VIETNAM TOURIST VISA EXEMPTION

Although Vietnam and America cooperate and sign many treaties in various sectors, for some reasons American is not a member in the Vietnam Visa Exemption list. It means that to travel in Vietnam, issuance of Tourist Visa is a must as an American citizen. Hence, you have such many priorities to hold American passport in terms of visa options and given time. If you hold Vietnam Tourist Visa, your visa is valid about one year with the maximum stay of 90 days for each entry. Please keep in your mind that unlike Business Visa, you have to exit Vietnam after 90 days since the entry day and then you absolutely can re-enter again to immerse yourself in our beautiful country and explore more destinations in Vietnam.

2. THREE WAYS TO GET VIETNAM TOURIST VISA FOR AMERICAN

We introduce to you three channels that American can get Vietnam Tourist Visa to travel around Vietnam. American passport is rather powerful since all these options is applicable for American citizen.

► Apply in person or by post through your nearest Vietnamese Embassy or Consulate;

Here we share some brief information about Vietnam Embassies or Consulate in the biggest cities. Try to find out the nearest one that you can visit easily to save your time.

Vietnam embassy in Washington D.C., US
Address: 1233 20th St NW, Ste 400, Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-861-0737
Fax: 202-861-0917
Email: vanphong@vietnamembassy.us (general information); visatovn@vietnamembassy.us (consular affairs)
Office: Embassy: Mon - Fri, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm & 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Consulate: Mon - Fri, 09:00 am to 12:00 pm & 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm
Link: http://vietnamembassy-usa.org/

Consulate of Vietnam in New York, US
Address: 866 U.N. Plaza, Suite 428, New York, NY 10017
Phone: 1-212-644-0594 or 1-212-644-2535 or 1-212-644-0831
Fax: 1-212-644-5732
Time: Mon - Friday 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Email: lanhsuquan.newyork@gmail.com
Link: http://www.vietnamconsulate-ny.org/

General Consulate of Vietnam in San Francisco, US
Address: 1700 California Str, Suite 580, San Francisco, CA 94109
Phone: (415) 922-1707 ; (415) 922-1577
Fax: (415) 922-1848 ; (415) 922-1757
Time: 8:30 AM - 12.00 PM, 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM. Monday - Friday, except for holidays
Link: https://vietnamconsulate-sf.org/en/home/

Consulate General of Vietnam in Houston, US
Address: Vietnamese Consulate General in Houston, United States
5251 Westheimer Road, Suite 1100
Houston, TX 77056
United States
Phone: (+1) 713-850-1233 ; (+1) 713-840-0096
Fax: (+1) 713-840-0159 ; (+1) 713-871-0312
Link: http://vietnamconsulateinhouston.org/

► Apply for a Visa on Arrival at the Vietnam’s international airports (VOA);

For the purposes of travel, visiting relatives, friend, the applicants are required the tourist Visa Approval Letter from the Ministry of Public Security in advance obtained by a travel company in Vietnam. The Visa Approval Letter is the legal document approved by the Vietnam Immigration Department to allow foreigners enter into Vietnam and pick up visa at the overseas Embassies or Consulates of Vietnam, or at the international border gates or at the Vietnam’s international airports.

* The required documents need to provide both the applicant

A scanned copy of the applicant’s passport;
Providing the proposed date of arrival (this is the date you want your visa to start from. The start date of the visa itself will be the day you arrive - you can enter Vietnam at a later date (up to your exit date) but not before that date, so be sure to take time zone differences into account);
Providing the place of picking up the visa (the visa can be picked up at either the Vietnamese Embassies/ Consulates in your own or another country, or airports of Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang or Nha Trang);
The visa duration for tourist visa is from 1 to 3 months with single or multiple entries (Only United States nationals are able to arrange one-year visas)
Normal processing time: 4 working days

► Apply for an e-visa online (applicable for American): only for ONE MONTH SINGLE ENTRY

Very recent, was only launched on 1 February 2017
Convenient, as it can be done by completing an online application form
Only costs USD 25, which is non-refundable if the visa is declined.
May be used for any entrance point, whether by land, air, or sea. (there are 28 entrance points, including 8 international airports, 13 international border gates, and 7 seaports.)
Only for 1 month single-entry.
Takes about 3 working days to process, and you’ll know quickly whether the application was accepted or not.
The visa does not need to be stamped on your passport; hence there is no stamping fee and no need to queue for your passport to be stamped on arrival.
Only available to citizens of 46 countries (including the UK and the USA).

Before applying for an e-visa for Vietnam, you will need to have:

A Passport (Valid for at least 6 months after arrival to Vietnam)
A Credit/Debit card /Paypal account
A digital copy of passport page which contain personal information.
A recently taken digital photo (it should present full face, front view, eyes open without glasses, background should be plain light colored or white)

We hope that our guideline is useful for you so that it can help you to get your Vietnam Tourist Visa as a American Citizen. To get more information about Vietnam Tourist Visa, Work Permit or TRC you can access these following posts.

OTHER INFORMATION RELATED TO VIETNAM'S WORK PERMIT, VISAS AND TEMPORARY RESIDENCE CARD

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HOW TO GET VIETNAM TOURIST VISA FOR AMERICAN

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