Online appointment US visa system launched in Vietnam - Vietnam visa news

The US Embassy in Hanoi and the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City have announced a new online appointment system for people applying for nonimmigrant visas, including students, business people and tourists.

Vietnam visa information

"Most visitors to Vietnam, except citizens of Nordic (except Iceland) or ASEAN countries (except Cambodia, East Timor and Myanmar), Russia, South Korea and Japan, require a visa in advance. A single-entry Vietnam visa  for tourist valid for 30 days. Visas are now generally valid for all entry and exit points.

A fairly convoluted Vietnam visa on arrival process has recently been introduced, but this requires a prior application to Hanoi and is generally intended mostly for groups and citizens of countries without Vietnamese embassies. The visa-on-arrival is now available at the Arrival Hall (in front of the Immigration Check-in Section) of the Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

Vietnam has moved away from the old A4 carbon copy arrival forms. Recently, they have started to use arrival/departure cards which are very similar to those found in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Keep the departure portion of this just as safe as your passport, as you will have to produce it when leaving the country to avoid a fine.

Depending on the present level of SARS, avian flu you may be subjected to a so-called health-check. There is no examination, though, but yet another form to fill in and, of course, another fee. If you can get hold of a handful of dong it is only 2000 dong per person, but they charge US$2 for the same "service" if you only have greenbacks" read more