Vietnam business visa vs Vietnam tourist visa

Although Vietnam business visa (DN) is granted for business purpose and Vietnam tourist visa(DL) is used for tourism-related activities, they can be interchanged sometimes as the purpose of visit is not really the matter that Immigration Officer cares about.

Validity

Visa validity refers to the period of time that the applicants are permitted to remain in Vietnam. The visas usually become effective from the proposed date of arrival put in the application form and allow single or multiple entry. While the tourist visa is valid from 15 days to 90 days, the business visa is valid for up to 1 year.

Charges

The Vietnamese tourist visa is much cheaper compared to the business visa. This is one of top reasons that people like to use tourist visa for short business trip. However, if you are in Vietnam to be a teacher or employee of a company, the business visa should be obtained from the beginning. Especially, once you had a long-term DN visa, a work permit is not necessary to apply for.

See Vietnam tourist visa cost and Vietnam business visa cost.

Application

Vietnamese tourist visa and Vietnam business visa can be obtained directly at embassy or on arrival. The visa procedure at embassies/consulate is as follows:

Step 1: Check your passport’s validity. Vietnam requires passports to be valid for at least 1 month after the exit date. In other words, your passport needs at least 30 days validity after the expiration date of the visa. However, if you’re traveling by air, you should have a minimum 6 months passport validity to meet requirements of the airlines.

Step 2: Download the application form on official site of embassy and fill it out. A passport photo must be attached to the form.

Step 3: Get a money order, cashier’s check or certified check payable to “the Embassy of Vietnam”.

Step 4: Put the passport, payment and application form to an envelope and send to the embassy address. If you would like the visa to be returned by mail, please enclose a self-addressed return envelope. One envelope can be used for a group of applicants.

Note: The embassy may request more documents according to the visa type you are asking for.  Contact with the consular section in advance to check what papers you are expected to supply with.

Step 5: Wait for your passport to be returned. The standard processing time is 3-5 working days. If using the fast track service, it will take 2 working days only.

If you expect your tourist/business visa to be available on arrival, please do the following steps:

Step 1: Fill out the application form online at http://www.vietnamvisa-easy.com/apply. Review the application carefully before you proceed to the next step. To request the business visa, you simply send passport scan to support@vietnamvisa-easy.com and let us know expected date of arrival.

Step 2: Use credit/debit card to pay application fee. The more people you apply for, the lower fee you will enjoy.

Step 3: Wait for the visa approval to be sent in your email. The standard processing time is 2 working days and the rush service ranges from 1 hour to 24 hours. Read more at Rush Visa Service.

Step 4: Bring the passport, visa approval, entry-exit form attached with a passport photo with you to the airport. Show them all to Immigration Counter and pay stamping fee in USD dollar to receive visa stamp.

Note: the Visa On Arrival facility is not applicable for long-term business visa (6months and 1 year).  After receive the visa approval from our side, you go to Embassy of Vietnam, show the same required documents and receive the visa stamp there. For detailed information about process of long-term business visa, please refer to this page.

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