Vietnam visa on arrival at Hanoi airport

Basically, Vietnam visa can be granted on arrival upon condition that the applicants must have a visa approval. So if you are planning to pick up Vietnam visa on arrival at Hanoi airport, don’t skip step of obtaining letter of approval or you may be sent back home right away.

What is visa approval letter?

Visa approval is a travel authorization from Immigration Department that gives applicants permission to travel to Vietnam and pick up visa on arrival. Without the approval, there is no boarding plane or visa on arrival.

Instructions to apply for the approval

All foreign citizens wishing to enter Vietnam via Visa-On-Arrival Program must apply for visa approval and then pay processing fee using following process:

Step 1: Fill out application form online available here. Review information provided in the form carefully for error checking and submit it.

Step 2: Make payment for your application with credit/debit card: MasterCard, VISA, American Express, and Discover (JCB, Diners Club).  Once the payment is verified, you will be informed by email about the success of application submission and issuance date of visa approval.

Generally, it takes 2 business days (excluding weekends and public holidays) for the approval to be issued. For urgent cases, the processing time may be 1 hour or 24 hours. Read more Urgent Vietnam visa on arrival.

Note: Before you start application, make sure your passport has at least 6 months validity from date of travel according to requirements of airlines.

What does the visa approval look like?

Every visa approval uses English and Vietnamese. You will see personal information and visa information of yours (and maybe of other people too) in the letter. Please make sure all information is 100% correct. If you find any errors, quickly report it to the agent for correction. The approval is good to use at every Vietnam’s international airport (Hanoi, HCM, Danang) but useless for overland crossing.

On-arrival stamping process

After landing at Hanoi’s airport, proceed to Visa On Arrival counter (situated opposite the immigration desks) and hand over your original passport, letter of approval, entry-exit form attached with 01 passport sized photo at the right hand side. Then you move to left side and wait to receive the passport back. When the visa is ready, your name will be called and at the same time your passport will be held up to the window. You then pay stamping fee: $45 for single entry visa valid for 01 month or 03 months, $65 for 01 month multiple entry visa or $95 for 03 months multiple entry visa. Be aware that the fee must be paid in cash in USD. If you have a bank card, an immigration officer might escort you to an ATM to withdraw some money but it might take hours before this happens so make sure you bring the correct money for the visa. Once you have paid the fee, the passport (with a visa stamp) will be returned to you a long with a payment receipt. Be sure to check the visa for accuracy before you leave the window. After that, you join foreigner immigration queue to be processed in the normal way.

Procedure of picking up Vietnam visa on arrival at Hanoi airport is clear to you now? For further assistance , please feel free to contact us at +84 966 53 93 63 or support@vietnamvisa-easy.com. Besides, you can chat with us via skype: vietnamvisaeasy

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