NA approves extending e-visa validity from 30 to 90 days
HCMC – With this approval, foreigners will be entitled to multiple entries to Vietnam within 90 days without
Before the session, the Government sent a report to the National Assembly on receiving and explaining the opinions of the National Assembly Standing Committee related to the draft Law amending and supplementing many articles of the Law on the exit and entry of Vietnamese citizens and the Law on entry, exit, transit and residence of foreigners in Vietnam.
Accordingly, the Government proposes to expand the list of countries exempted from electronic visas; extend the duration of the e-visa up to 90 days, valid for one or more visits; increase the temporary stay period for visitors entering unilateral visa exemption from 15 days to 45 days.
However, tour operators still take a long time with visa procedures for international visitors.
Have the official document in hand, still waiting at the airport
The leader of an inbound tourism business in Hanoi shared that a Sri Lankan couple wanted to go to Vietnam for their honeymoon. They flew from Melbourne (Australia). The wife has Australian citizenship, so applying for an e-visa is quite convenient. The husband, a Sri Lankan citizen, had an official letter allowing him to get a visa on arrival and thought everything would be easy, but he still had to wait.
Normally, with a visa on arrival, guests must hold a valid passport, go to the airport, paste the visa, and pay the fee. However, in Vietnam, guests must have a letter of approval for a Vietnam visa from the Immigration Department for approval.
Before coming to Vietnam, the Sri Lankan couple carefully booked services with a travel agency, a visa company in Australia, which had an official letter to get a visa at the border. However, when arriving at Tan Son Nhat airport, the border guard asked the husband to fill in the entry visa application form, waiting for a photo of the card.
Also read: What foreign tourists expect from Vietnam visa policy?
In this process, customers have to wait for a long time, and it is explained that due to a lack of people, the check-in staff still "have to change shifts, are busy". Therefore, the immigration procedure at the airport border gate takes another 3 hours, so the couple will not arrive at the hotel until 7:30-8 pm, "the leader of the travel company said.
Mr. Pham Ha, Chairman of Lux Group, said that the regulation that foreign guests must have written permission to get a visa at the border of Vietnam, in essence, is not a visa on arrival.
According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Chi, former deputy head of the Travel Department (Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism), correctly understood that visa on arrival is when guests arrive at the border gate (usually the international airport border gate) to apply for a visa, but the good bargain. Some countries, like Mongolia, only have a few embassies, and almost 100% of arrivals get visas at the airport. Depending on the destination, there are countries with additional fees, and there are exempt countries. Guests who go unexpectedly and need more time to prepare an electronic visa (evisa) can apply for a visa on arrival.
Read more: Here’s how to get e-Visa to enter Vietnam as a foreigner
As of 2019, more than 40 countries and territories are issuing visas on arrival for Vietnamese citizens.
Some countries are very open to this type of visa. For example, visitors entering the country must present their return air ticket to be allowed to go to a third country. Or to Thailand, international visitors only need a passport valid for more than 6 months; the customs do not find 'special problems to be restricted' and prove that they have a two-way air ticket. Getting to Cambodia is also very easy. Guests do not need to do any pre-procedure; they fill in the entry card issued on the plane. When landing, they bring the card with the passport and pay the fee to get the visa stamped. The risk of rejection is minimal.
Need to use flexibly
Meanwhile, in Vietnam, a travel company specializing in welcoming inbound tourists in Hanoi said that to get this permit, foreign tourists need help to apply for it. They have to go through the travel agency. Moreover, guests are assigned to enter at a border gate (usually the tour's starting point).
To get visa approval, the travel company must guarantee for guests, such as making a tour program, clearly stating where to stay, and the name of the hotel, ...
Therefore, many companies are not interested in retail customers because the liability is too great, while after the Covid-19 epidemic, they were very difficult, and the staff needed to be improved.
Visa on-arrival procedures must be simple and convenient to attract rich customers, with a lot of money and less time. They like to 'pack their bags and go', so visa application should be quick and easy.
Also read: Why Vietnam need to relax visa policy to attract international tourist?
Nghiem Thuy Ha, CEO of Aadasia Group, suggested that, in the upcoming amendments related to visa policy, the most important thing is to expand the number of countries exempted from electronic visas, moving towards implementing visas on arrival in Vietnam.
She suggested that authorities should consider issuing visas on arrival to encourage luxury guests, with more money, less time, etc., to come to Vietnam, similar to what Thailand, Laos and Cambodia are doing.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Chi also said that visa on arrival is flexible to apply, unlike evisa. An e-visa is just a change of form from face-to-face to online, but a visa on arrival can have easier procedures if you know how to use it. Therefore, Vietnam needs to soon apply for visa on arrival in the direction of flexibility, publicity and convenience for international visitors.
