01 · The 30-second answer Day Trips Vietnam · 2026

Vietnam tourist visa policy

Vietnam Visa
2026

Two policies cover almost everyone. Here's which applies to you.

The August 2023 and August 2025 reforms simplified Vietnam's tourist-visa landscape. For most international visitors, the answer is now binary: visa-free if you're on the 25-country list, e-visa if you're not.

Path A · Visa-free
45-day
visa-free
25 countries · UK, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, +20 more
  • No application
  • No fee
  • Bring a passport with 6+ months' validity
  • Single entry, 45 days max
Resolution 128/NQ-CP · Aug 2023 · expanded Aug 2025
Path B · E-visa
90-day
e-visa
Every other country in the world
  • $25 single entry · $50 multiple
  • Apply at evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn
  • Approval in 3–5 working days
  • 42 international checkpoints
Department of Immigration · since Aug 2023
Path C · ASEAN
14–30 days
visa-free
ASEAN neighbours under bilateral arrangements
  • Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia
  • Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei
  • Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar
  • Stay length varies 14–30 days by country
Bilateral · separate from the 45-day list

Sources. Resolution 128/NQ-CP (August 14, 2023) and successor measure (effective August 15, 2025). Department of Immigration, Vietnam — Cục Quản lý Xuất nhập cảnh.

Day Trips Vietnam
daytripsvietnam.com · independent · affiliate-free
Joy Nguyen · Editor · May 2026
01 / 06 · Hero Pin 1080×1620
02 · Who needs what World map

Eligibility at a glance

Who needs what

Twenty-five countries enter visa-free for 45 days. Nine ASEAN neighbours have separate arrangements. Everyone else applies for the 90-day e-visa online — at $25 it's the cheapest paperwork in the region.

Vietnam North America South America Africa EU + UK Russia China JP KR India Australia
45-day visa-free25 countries — UK, EU, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Belarus
90-day e-visaEvery other country in the world. $25 single, $50 multiple.
ASEAN bilateral9 ASEAN states · 14–30 days depending on country.
China · 15 daysVisa-free under separate bilateral arrangement.
The 25 visa-free countries
45 days · single entry · no fee
Original 13 — Resolution 128/NQ-CP, August 2023
  • Germany
  • France
  • Italy
  • Spain
  • United Kingdom
  • Russia
  • Japan
  • South Korea
  • Denmark
  • Sweden
  • Norway
  • Finland
  • Belarus
Added 12 — August 2025, runs through Aug 14, 2028
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Czech Republic
  • Hungary
  • Luxembourg
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Romania
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Switzerland

Sources. Department of Immigration, Vietnam. Resolution 128/NQ-CP (Aug 2023) and successor measure (Aug 2025). Verify current rules at immigration.gov.vn before booking.

02 / 06 · Who needs what The 25 + everyone else
03 · The reforms Aug 2023 · Aug 2025

Two reforms in 24 months

What changed in 2023 — and again in 2025

Vietnam's tourist-visa landscape was rewritten in three steps. The pre-2023 regime was restrictive by regional standards. The 2023–2025 reforms made it the most open in mainland Southeast Asia for the markets it targeted.

Pre-Aug 2023Old regime
The pre-reform baseline
E-visa available to ~80 countries · 30-day max stay · single-entry only · ~28 entry checkpoints · 30-day gap rule required between visa-exempt entries.
Aug 14, 2023Resolution 128/NQ-CP
First visa-free expansion
13 countries gain 45-day visa-free entry · stay duration tripled (15 → 45 days) · the 30-day gap rule eliminated. Targeted European, Russian, Japanese and Korean long-stay markets.
Aug 15, 2023E-visa expansion
E-visa opens to the world
E-visa eligibility extended to every country and territory · stay duration tripled (30 → 90 days) · single OR multiple entry · 42 international checkpoints recognise it. Application moves to evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn.
Aug 15, 2025Successor measure
Second visa-free expansion
12 more European countries added to the 45-day visa-free list — Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland. Runs through August 14, 2028.
The arrivals signal — calendar 2025
+38.8%
European arrivals YoY
+196.9%
Russian arrivals YoY
+55.8%
Italian arrivals YoY
+20.8%
UK arrivals YoY
European arrivals grew at nearly 2× the 20.4% national rate. The targeted-market response is the headline outcome of the 2023–2025 reforms.

Sources. Vietnamese government Resolutions (text published in Công báo Chính phủ). Arrivals data: Vietnam General Statistics Office (Tổng cục Thống kê) — January 2026 release covering calendar 2025.

03 / 06 · The reforms Pre-2023 → 2025
04 · Apply for the e-visa 5 steps

If you're not on the visa-free list

Applying for the e-visa, in 5 steps

Five steps. The whole process happens at one website. Anyone selling you a different one is a markup, not a service.

1
Confirm you're not visa-exempt
If you're a citizen of one of the 25 visa-free countries (Panel 2), you don't need an e-visa. Save the $25 and bring a passport with 6+ months' validity.
2
Apply at the official site only
Use evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn — the Department of Immigration's official portal. Third-party "visa services" charge 3–5× the official fee for the identical document.
3
Pick single ($25) or multiple entry ($50)
Single entry covers a straight Vietnam-only trip. Pick multiple entry if you plan side trips to Cambodia, Laos, or Thailand and want to re-enter Vietnam afterwards.
4
Wait 3–5 business days
Standard processing is 3–5 business days. Apply at least 1 week before travel; leave a buffer for technical issues, photo rejections, or a follow-up information request.
5
Print the approval. Bring it to the airport
Border staff may still want a paper copy on arrival. The e-visa is recognised at all 42 international checkpoints — every airport, land crossing and seaport that accepts foreign tourists.
Do not
Apply through any site that isn't evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn. Third-party "visa services" charge $75–125 for the $25 e-visa, and many add unauthorised fees on top. The official portal is the only one approved by the Department of Immigration.

Sources. Department of Immigration, Vietnam — Cục Quản lý Xuất nhập cảnh. Official portal: evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn. Fee figures from the official portal as of April 2026.

04 / 06 · How to apply One website. Five steps.
05 · What goes wrong Plan around these

Practical pitfalls

What goes wrong

Four mistakes account for most denied entries and overpayments. None of them require interpretation — they're calendar issues and one URL.

Passport with under 6 months' validity
Always denied entry, regardless of which path you're on. The 6-month rule is enforced at the airline check-in counter — your flight crew won't let you board.
Fix. Renew before booking flights. Don't book to the maximum visa stay if your passport expires within that window.
Using a third-party visa service
Pays 3–5× the official fee for the identical document. Some add unauthorised fees on top, or use addresses that look like government domains but aren't.
Fix. Apply directly at evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn — that domain, exactly.
Applying with under a week to spare
Standard processing is 3–5 business days. Photo rejections and follow-up information requests can add another 1–3 days. Tight timelines fail.
Fix. Apply at least 1 week before travel. Two weeks if you need a buffer for re-applications.
Overstaying
Fines accumulate per day. Re-entry into Vietnam can be blocked at the border for repeat offenders. Airline check-in staff increasingly refuse to board departing passengers with expired stays.
Fix. Extend in-country through a travel agency in Hanoi or HCMC — typical rate $60–90, 5–7 working days. Never overstay.

Sources. Department of Immigration practical guidance; in-country agency-extension rates as observed in Hanoi and HCMC, April 2026.

05 / 06 · Pitfalls Four common mistakes
06 · The data Calendar 2025 arrivals

The reforms in numbers

The visa policy is reshaping who visits

The targeted-market response to the 2023–2025 reforms is the cleanest signal in Vietnam's tourism data. Russia, India and the Philippines moved together with the policy.

+38.8%
European arrivals YoY 2025
vs +20.4% national rate. The targeted markets responded at nearly double the headline pace.
+196.9%
Russian arrivals YoY 2025
The largest single-market jump on the chart — visa-free 45-day entry restored after a multi-year decline.
+48.9% / +81.3%
India / Philippines arrivals YoY 2025
The 90-day e-visa expansion to "every country" captured these emerging-market flows.
From the editor · Joy Nguyen

"I edit Day Trips Vietnam from a Vietnamese editorial position. The 2023–2025 visa reforms are the single most consequential tourism-policy shift Vietnam has made in over a decade. They're why your friends from Frankfurt or Manchester can spend six weeks here without paperwork — and they're why the country is on track for its first 25-million-arrival year."

Sources. Vietnam General Statistics Office (Tổng cục Thống kê), arrivals data through December 2025 — January 2026 release. Country-level YoY growth rates from the same release.

Suggested citation Day Trips Vietnam, "Vietnam Visa 2026" (May 2026), daytripsvietnam.com/guides/vietnam-visa
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