Visa Exemption for certain countries to VN

MNKT New member

Member since 18 February 2015

MNKTNew member25 June 2015 07:22:20

Quite recently it has been announced that travellers/tourist, of certain nationalities, can now enter Vietnam for 15 days without having to apply for a visa. Does anyone know how this works, does one simply turn up at the border show their relevant passport and have it stamped or does one have to go to a Vietnamese Embassy and get documentation stating no visa required before going tothe border?

JanKrohn Contributor

Member since 10 June 2011

JanKrohnContributor28 June 2015 11:32:10

197

The new rules will be effective as of Wednesday.

Kaylmay777 Member

Member since 28 June 2015

Kaylmay777Member28 June 2015 23:46:53

Well this is what happened to us . We drove up to the border. Being told the same thing , bu when we exiting Cambodia , they told us that we needed visas still. So they then took our passports with an additional 200$ and sent it back to Phnom Penh and back to the border within 6 hours.. Just to open our passport and find no visa. As we need to visit the embassy ourselves. So we had to end up driving to the trat/hat Lek border. It was so easy and much much cheaper. We wished we had taken this route first! It's also a very beautiful route with some waterfalls and so! Worth the 4 hour drive

rarky Contributor

Member since 24 November 2013

rarkyContributor30 July 2015 06:51:38

133

Kaylmay777 wrote:
Well this is what happened to us . We drove up to the border. Being told the same thing , bu when we exiting Cambodia , they told us that we needed visas still. So they then took our passports with an additional 200$ and sent it back to Phnom Penh and back to the border within 6 hours.. Just to open our passport and find no visa. As we need to visit the embassy ourselves. So we had to end up driving to the trat/hat Lek border. It was so easy and much much cheaper. We wished we had taken this route first! It's also a very beautiful route with some waterfalls and so! Worth the 4 hour drive

That's because the new Visa exemptions for UK, German, French, Spanish and Italian citizens did not come into effect until 1st June 2015. Pays to do your research first.

It appears you are Sth African, how did you end up crossing the Trat/Hat Lek border without having obtained a Visa prior to arrival?

brissieguy Member

Member since 13 July 2015

brissieguyMember30 July 2015 21:29:44

What about Australians? I am coming to P in聽 a couple of weeks and was planning on taking a bus to Vietnam. Does this mean I dont have to get a visa to go there now?

rarky Contributor

Member since 24 November 2013

rarkyContributor31 July 2015 04:20:15

133

brissieguy wrote:
What about Australians? I am coming to P in聽 a couple of weeks and was planning on taking a bus to Vietnam. Does this mean I dont have to get a visa to go there now?

If travelling across the border by land you will need to obtain a visa in advance from the Vietnamese Embassy or via a travel agent/guesthouse. If flying in you can also apply for the LOA online in order to obtain your VOA, but it is much quicker and less hassle if you obtain your visa prior to travelling as it can take some time to receive the VOA at the airport.