PROCESS TO OBTAIN A VISA FOR THE INVESTOR IN VIETNAM

Sunday, 19/05/19

Vietnam is offers a promising business opportunities for foreign investors and has become a destination of choice for many of the world‘s leading co-operations. To establish your business or practice as a foreign lawyer, Investment Visa is a must unless you are a citizen of those states which have granted bilateral visa or Unilateral Visa exemption agreement with Vietnam government. This visa allows you to stay in Vietnam up to one year. If you would like to stay more, you have to issue a Temporary Residence Card to prolong your staying up to 5 years. There are three options for you to obtain your visa. Instead of visiting Vietnam Embassies or Consulate in person nearby your workplace or living place, you can stay at home to by submitting via online application named Visa on arrival, which saves much money and simplifies the visa process. The other is online visa but limited the entry and given time (only available for 46 countries). Based on the service you choose, the cost and time processing is changed. If you are still confused about the process and what difference between these services, let us share with you in following post.

PROCESS TO OBTAIN A VISA FOR THE INVESTOR IN VIETNAM

If you're planning to get a business, working, investment visa in Vietnam, you need to have a sponsored company has been registered and operating in Vietnam. The whole procedure for the investment visa must go through 2 steps: 1- The first step, have a visa Approval Letter (Pre-Visa) sponsored by a company in Vietnam, issued by the Ministry of Public Security in advance; 2- The second step, the applicant pick up the investment visa by themselves at the Vietnam’s international airports; Vietnamese Embassies/ Consulates overseas; or Vietnam’ international border crossings.

STEP 1: Obtaining an Investment approval letter from Vietnam Immigration Department

For the purposes of investment, business, or work, the applicants are required a Visa Approval Letter from the Ministry of Public Security in advance obtained by a 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 Vietnamese Embassies/ Consulates in your own or another country; or Vietnam’ international border crossings; or at all Vietnam’s international airports upon arrival: the international airports include Noi Bai International Airport (Hanoi); Tan Son Nhat International Airport (Ho Chi Minh City); Da Nang International Airport (Da Nang); Cam Ranh International Airport (Nha Trang); Phu Quoc International Airport (Kien Giang)

The required documents need to provide both the applicant and Vietnam’s sponsor company

A notary certified copy of sponsor company’s business or investment or representative license in Vietnam, tax and stamp registration certificate;
Visa application forms must be signed and sealed by a legal representative of the company;
Scanning 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);
The place of picking up the visa at any Vietnam international airports: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Cam Ranh, or Phu Quoc

* The visa duration is from 1 to 12 months with single or multiple entries

* Normal processing time: 7 working days

STEP 2: Picking up the Vietnam Investment Visa

You are able to get your visa stamped at the embassy or the airport or border crossing, to do this you must submit the following documents:

Applicant’s original passport must be valid for six months from your intended arrival date, and must have at least one blank visa page;
2 passport sized photographs (4x6 cm);
The copy of visa approval letter;
Complete the entry and exit application form;
Visa stamping fee depending on the visa single or multiple entry and visa validity ($25 for 1 and 3 month single, $50 for 1 and 3 month multiple, $95 for 6 month multiple and $135 for 1 year multiple entry) must be paid in cash at the place of visa picking up

WHERE TO PICK UP THE VIETNAM INVESTMENT VISA

There are three options to obtain Business Visa for those that require it

Obtain the visa at Vietnamese Embassies/ Consulates in your own or another country or
Obtain the visa at Vietnam’ international airports including Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City, Noi Bai airport in Ha Noi City, Cam Ranh airport in Nha Trang, Da Nang airport in Da Nang City or Phu Quoc airport in Kien Giang Province or
Obtain the visa at Vietnam’ international border crossings, Vietnam has over a dozen international overland border crossings. These allow overland travel to Cambodia (via five crossings), Laos (via six crossing) and China (at least two crossings)

THREE WAYS OF OBTAINING A VISA FOR VIETNAM
Most people need a visa in order to enter Vietnam, unless they are coming from one of the visa-exempt countries. There are three ways of obtaining such a visa:

Apply in person or by post through your nearest Vietnamese Embassy or Consulate;
Apply for a Visa on Arrival (VOA) or;
Apply for an e-visa online

While there are advantages and disadvantages associated with each of these, we recommend the Visa on Arrival as the best option for the purposes of tourist, business and work considering a trip to Vietnam.

Option 1: Vietnam Visa on Arrival

Key Features:

Convenient, as it can be done by completing an online application form
Can be used to apply for any type of visa (1- 3, or 6 months, or 1 year multiple-entry visa)
You will need to pay two fees: 1. Service fee for approval letter, 2. Stamping fee.
The service fee is paid online to the service provider. The amount depends on the visa type (number of months and number of entries) and service provider.
The stamping fee is paid at the arrival airport when the visa is stamped. The fee starts at $25 for 1 month and 3 month single entry, $50 for 1 and 3 month multiple-entry visas. The stamping fee must be paid in cash (USD or VND).
Can only be obtained at Vietnam’s international airports in Hanoi, Danang, Ho Chi Minh, Cam Ranh or Phu Quoc Airport. Hence it is only an option for air passengers.
For tourist approval letter takes about 2 working days to process and can be sped up to 1 day or 4 hours for an extra charge. While the business approval letter takes 5 working days to process

Visa on Arrival is a viable option with various advantages. With Visa on Arrival, you can apply for longer-term and multiple-entry visas, and you do not need to go in person to the Embassy, or apply by post. You just need to submit an online application and get a pre-approval letter.

Option 2: Via Vietnamese Embassy or Consulate

Key Features:

Traditional approach to getting a visa
Can be done in person or by post
Can be used to apply for any type of visa
The fee is uncertain as it depends on the consulate/ embassy
Can be used for any entrance point, whether by land, air, or sea
Takes about 5 working days to process, but can be sped up to 1- 2 days for urgent service.
Visa is stamped before departure.

You can apply for a visa through the local Vietnamese Embassy or Consulate either in person or by mail. To do this, you need to fill out and sign an application form, sending it along with your passport and a passport photo.

The advantage of applying this way is that you already have the visa stamped in your passport before leaving for Vietnam, which means you do not need to queue on arrival for your passport to get stamped.

The application process is not the most convenient, however, especially for people who do not live near a Vietnamese Embassy or Consulate. Moreover, the fees vary depending on the Embassy or Consulate, and the processing time is longer.

Option 3: E-Visa

Key Features:

Very recent, was only launched on 1 February 2017
Convenient, as it can be done by completing an online application form
Only costs $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).

Applying for an e-visa is our recommended option for tourists as it is most convenient and cost-effective. However, please note that this visa is only for visitors visiting for less than 30 days. Longer-term visitors will need to consider the other two options.

Please Note that the arrival port must be the same on the documents issued by Immigration Department. If you are to change the arrival port after receiving your E-visa, you should contact them to amend the information on the documents to avoid any issue on the ground.

As this kind of visa is very new, we suggest that visitors contact with Vietnamese Immigration Department via electronic system if having any queries or take a look at the E-visa Frequently Asked Questions.

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PROCESS TO OBTAIN A VISA FOR THE INVESTOR IN VIETNAM

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