Nationals of eligible countries will be able to apply for a 30-day single-entry e-visa starting February 1.
The Vietnamese government has announced a two-year pilot plan to launch an electronic visa system for foreign tourists visiting the country.
Included on the list are China, Japan, South Korea, the U.S., the U.K., Germany and Sweden, all major target markets for Vietnam’s tourism sector. Below is the full list of eligible nationalities:
1. Azerbaijan
2. Argentina
3. Armenia
4. Ireland
5. Poland
6. Belarus
7. Bulgaria
8. Brunei
9. South Korea
10. Germany
11. Chile
12. Colombia
13. Czech Republic
14. Cuba
15. Denmark
16. Timor Leste
17. United States of America
18. Hungary
19. Greece
20. Italy
21. Kazakhstan
22. Russia
23. United Kingdom
24. Luxembourg
25. Myanmar
26. Mongolia
27. Japan
28. Panama
29. Peru
30. Finland
31. France
32. The Philippines
33. Romania
34. Spain
35. Sweden
36. China (not applicable to Chinese e-passport holders)
37. Uruguay
38. Venezuela
39. Norway
40. Slovakia
To apply for e-visas, foreign citizens can access the websites http://www.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn or http://www.immigration.gov.vn.
Applicants are required to complete a form available on two separate websites (one in Vietnamese and the other in English) run by the Ministry of Public Security. They will receive an application code and will be asked to pay a non-refundable fee online.
It will take three working days for tourists to find out if their applications have been approved or not, according to the directive.
Successful applicants will be able to print off their e-visas to present when they arrive.
Visitors can touch down at any of Vietnam’s eight international airports, including Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City, Noi Bai in Hanoi and Da Nang in the central region. They can also arrive via land at 13 international border gates, and via sea at seven ports across the country.
In November last year, Vietnam’s National Assembly overwhelmingly approved the plan to allow foreign visitors to apply online for 30-day, single-entry e-visas.
Apart from visa exemptions for tourists from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Vietnam offers 15-day visa exemptions for visitors from the U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Belarus.
Tourism authorities are expecting to receive 11.5 million foreign arrivals this year, up 15 percent from 2016.