Can I get a tourist visa for Vietnam at the Border?

Question

I am doing a tour of Bangkok, Cambodia and Vietnam in September and I was just wondering can I get a tourist visa for Vietnam at the border, or do I have to apply before I leave? I'll only be staying for about 5 days, and I hold a New Zealand passport.

Cheers

Answer 1

Ong Jon is correct, but let me elaborate.

Vietnam just approved a means to obtain a visa when you arrive in country. Although technically available, the immigration officers will give you a hard time until they see enough greenbacks to satisfy their immediate economic needs. The payoff is about $20 US above the $60 for the tourist visa fees. Although it's a rather small payoff, it doesn't cover cleaning the p**p out of your pants created from the immigration office threats to deport you.

Some friends of mine recently went through that nightmare, and will never do it again. Ong Jon is correct, get your visas before you travel to avoid the headaches.

Answer 2

Ong Jon and Mojave Dan are correct. You can get a visa at the Vietnamese entry point. Why would you want to? A tourist visa cost $40 usd. It takes about two weeks for a travel agent to obtain for you. If you are definitely going, ask your travel agent to get your visa.

enjoy !

Answer 3

Vietnam Embassy will give you all informations you want to know

Answer 4

absolutly yes.but things like that cost you "bribe" money in cambodia.. get it at home....and travel w/ a clear mind.

Answer 5

You can apply for a Vietnamese visa in Bangkok or Pnom Penh but not at the Cambodian/Vietnamese border. But why wait until then? Why not applying for one from the consular section of the Vietnamese Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand between now and this summer? Applications for visas normally take a week or two to process  so it's highly recommended that you begin the procedure  well before your planned departure.

Answer 6

I don't believe you can, I know that you can arrange a visa on arrival at the airports in Hanoi and HCMC, but there are preliminary steps you must take to be able to do that. I live here in Bangkok, and I recently obtained a 30-day tourist visa to Vietnam here at the Vietnamese Embassy. If you go to the embassy before noon, they can have the visa ready for you the next day(as long as you don't go on a Friday), it will cost a little more than the normal four day waiting period, but it's very easy to do. You can go to the Vietnam Embassy website and download the application, you also need two passport sized photos (even though they only required one when I got there), your passport and of course, the fee. It's a very simple process and I probably didn't spend more than five minutes total there when I dropped off and picked up the visa. Look for the Vietnam Embassy website and it gives you all the information you need. Good luck! Your best bet might be to arrange for the visa in New Zealand before you leave.