Tourist visas allow visitors to enter and exit Vietnam at Hanoi, HCMC and Danang air-ports or at any of its nine land borders, three each with Cambodia, China and Laos.

Tourist visas are valid for a single 30-day slay. The government periodically talks about issuing visas on arrival to certain favoured nationalities, but as yet this sensible scheme has failed to materialise. Arranging the necessary paperwork for a Vietnamese visa has become tairly straightforward, but it remains quite expensive and unnecessarily time-consuming. Processing a tourist-visa application typically takes four or five working days in countries in the West.

In Asia the best place to pick up a Vietnamese visa is Cambodia, where it costs just US$30 and takes as little as 15 minutes. Bangkok is also a popular place as many agents offer cheap packages with an air ticket and visa thrown in.

If you plan to spend more than a month in Vietnam, or if you plan to exit Vietnam and enter again from Cambodia or Laos, arrange a three-month multiple-entry visa. These cost around US$70 in Cambodia, but are not available from all Vietnamese embassies.

In our experience personal appearance influences the reception you receive from airport immigration - if you wear shorts or scruffy clothing, look dirty or unshaven, you can expect problems. Try your best to look “respectable”

Business Visas

Business visas are usually valid for three or six months, allow multiple entries and the right to work. Getting a business visa has now become fairly easy. The main drawback is the cost - a business visa is about four times the cost of a tourist visa. It is generally much easier to apply for a business visa once in Vietnam.

Student Visas

A student visa is usually arranged after your arrival. It's acceptable to enter Vietnam on a tourist visa, enrol in a Vietnamese language course and then apply at the immigration police for a change in status.

Visa Extensions

If you've got the dollars, they've got the rubber stamp. Tourist-visa extensions cost around US$20, but it is easier to pay more and sort this out through a travel agency. The procedure takes two or three days and you can only extend one time tor 30 days.
In theory you should be able to extend your visa in any provincial capital. In practice it goes smoothest in major cities, such as HCMC, Hanoi, Danang and Hue, which cater to mass tourism. In Hue the place to arrange a visa extension is at the immigration police.

Re-Entry Visas

It's possible to enter Cambodia, Laos or any other country from Vietnam and then re-enter without having to apply for another visa. However, you must apply for a re-entry visa be fore you leave Vietnam. If you do not have a re-entry visa, you will liave to go through the whole Vietnamese visa nonsense again.

Re-entry visas are easiest to arrange in Hanoi or HCMC, but you will almost certainly have to ask a travel agent to do the paperwork for you. Travel agents charge about US$25 for this service and can complete the procedure in a day or two.