Not for an ordinary holiday. Indian passport holders need a visa arranged before they fly, and the Embassy of India in Hanoi puts it plainly: Indian nationals "should have a preapproved visa" to enter Vietnam.
For most travelers that means the eVisa, which costs $25 if you apply yourself at evisa.gov.vn, or from $54 per applicant with us, Vietnam Immigration's fee included. Most of what you'll read about a Vietnam visa on arrival for Indians skips the catch. It exists in law, but only in six narrow cases, each with a sponsor in Vietnam behind it. The one visa-free door is Phu Quoc island, for up to 30 days, and India's Embassy still tells travelers to get a visa before going there.
The Short Answer: A Visa Before You Board
Both governments say the same thing. India's side sits on the Embassy of India's page for visitors to Vietnam: get a visa from Vietnam's Embassy or Consulate General in India, or get an eVisa through evisa.gov.vn. Nowhere does it mention a visa you can pick up on landing.
Vietnam's side turns up somewhere less obvious. Vietnam Immigration's pre-arrival information system loads a visa-exemption table to check what passengers declare, and India appears in it only for diplomatic and official passports, at 90 days. Ordinary Indian passports aren't listed. That's the gap behind most of the confusion: the visa-free entry that much of Europe, Japan and South Korea get under Vietnam's current visa rules doesn't extend to Indian tourists.
Indian travel to Vietnam is growing fast all the same. Vietnam received 243,000 Indian tourists in the first quarter of 2026, up 69% year on year, with Phu Quoc, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City among the favorites.
Visa on Arrival: Real, but Not for a Self-Booked Holiday
Visa on arrival hasn't vanished. Vietnam's immigration law still lets an international border gate issue a visa, but only when you're:
- departing from a country with no Vietnamese visa-issuing office
- passing through several countries before reaching Vietnam
- on a tour organized by a Vietnamese international travel company
- foreign crew on a ship anchored at a Vietnamese seaport who must leave through another gate
- attending a relative's funeral or visiting a seriously ill relative
- coming for emergency, rescue or disaster work at the request of Vietnamese authorities
Every case starts before you fly. A sponsor in Vietnam, meaning a company, organization or person, has to get Vietnam Immigration's approval first, and the border officer issues the visa against that approval.
Run a self-booked Indian holiday through that list and the catch shows. Case one doesn't cover a trip from India, where Vietnam has an Embassy and a Consulate General, and the tour and multi-country cases still need that sponsor. There's no counter where you just turn up and buy one.
We don't process visa-on-arrival letters anymore, and we recommend the eVisa to every applicant. It needs no sponsor in Vietnam.
⚠️ Don't board on a forum promise. Vietnam's entry conditions are a valid passport plus a visa, unless you're exempt. Outside Phu Quoc, an ordinary Indian passport with no eVisa and no approved visa-on-arrival request doesn't meet them, and an airline may refuse to board you or a border officer may refuse you entry.
The eVisa: What It Covers for Indian Passports
Vietnam issues the eVisa to citizens of every country and territory, valid for up to 90 days, so India is covered. You choose single or multiple entry, and you can stay until the end date on the eVisa. It's issued to people outside Vietnam, so apply before you travel, not after you land. Our page on the Vietnam eVisa for Indian citizens has the nationality-specific checklist.
Vietnam Immigration makes the decision. By law it has 3 working days to decide once it holds the complete application and the fee, and the eVisa itself is a PDF file. It only works at border gates on the government's list, which runs to 83 crossings: 17 airports, 27 land border gates and 39 seaports. Pick the entry point you'll actually use.
The eVisa covers tourism, family visits, conferences and short-term business. For a job, the Indian Embassy tells workers to secure the agreed job contract, work permit or applicable visa first, and that's outside what we handle.
Cost: $25 on Your Own or From $54 With Us
Applying yourself at evisa.gov.vn costs only the government fee: $25 for single entry or $50 for multiple entry. It's paid through the portal and isn't refunded if the visa is refused.
| Visa | Apply Yourself at evisa.gov.vn | With Vietnam Visa by BDA |
|---|---|---|
| 1-Month Single Entry | $25 | $54 |
| 1-Month Multiple Entry | $50 | $84 |
| 3-Month Single Entry | $25 | $94 |
| 3-Month Multiple Entry | $50 | $104 |
Our eVisa prices for every visa length start at $54 per applicant and include that fee. On the $54 one-month single-entry eVisa, the $25 government fee leaves $29 for us to review, correct, submit and follow up on your application. Multiple entry costs $30 more on a one-month visa and $10 more on a three-month one.
Speed is the other choice. Normal (5 to 10 business days) is included, Urgent is 2 business days for $45 more, and Super Urgent is 1 business day for $85 more. Each tier counts from when your application reaches Vietnam Immigration, which is normally within 2 business hours of payment, not from checkout. Vietnam Immigration sets those times. We file, chase and correct; we can't move an approval up the line.
Applying Online: Four Steps and the Name Field
Our step-by-step eVisa application runs in four steps on screen:
- Applicant Info. Pick 1 or 3 months, single or multiple entry and the speed, set your arrival and exit dates and your port of arrival, then add each traveler's name, gender, date of birth, passport number and nationality, with a face photo and a photo of the passport's bio page. One order covers up to 10 applicants.
- Trip Details. Add your address, hotel and flight details, and any extras such as travel insurance, car pickup or airport fast-track.
- Review. Check every detail. We review the application too and email you if anything needs correcting before it goes to Vietnam Immigration.
- Payment. Pay by card. Once Vietnam Immigration issues the eVisa, we email it to you as a PDF.
The field that trips people up is the name. The eVisa form has two boxes, Surname and Middle and given name, and tells you to "Enter name as on the ICAO line in the passport." That's the machine-readable zone at the foot of your passport's photo page. If your passport carries only one name, the form's rule is simple: "If the passport contains only the Surname or Given names, just enter Given names."
⚠️ Check the PDF against your passport the day it arrives. The Indian Embassy asks travelers to confirm "the correctness of their names on visa, validity of passport and visa" before leaving, and notes that errors can be put right before arrival. Once an eVisa is issued, our fee isn't refundable and any amendment is charged separately.
Before You Fly: Passport, Printout and Arrival Form
Start with the passport. Vietnamese law requires your eVisa to end at least 30 days before your passport expires, while the pre-arrival form's legal notice asks for at least 6 months of validity. The UK government advises 6 months from arrival and at least 2 blank pages, and it notes British travelers have been refused entry and exit over passport damage. Treat 6 months and an undamaged passport as your rule, and enter and leave Vietnam on the same passport.
Print the eVisa. Vietnam's immigration law describes printing the eVisa from the portal, so carry a paper copy and keep one on your phone. Some airline check-in agents on connecting flights ask for paper before they'll board you on the Vietnam-bound leg.
Then there's the arrival form. Vietnam Immigration's Pre-arrival Information (PAI) form began as a pilot at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City on April 15, 2026. It's optional, you submit it within the three days before you land, and the QR code it gives you can speed up immigration on arrival. The Indian Embassy says the system is being extended to more airports on a voluntary basis. It isn't a visa, and fake look-alike sites take card payments, so use only prearrival.immigration.gov.vn.
Phu Quoc: The Visa-Free Exception, With a Catch
Phu Quoc is the one place an ordinary Indian passport gets in without a visa. Foreign visitors of any nationality can stay on the island visa-free for up to 30 days, flying in direct or connecting through another Vietnamese international airport as long as they stay in the transit area.
⚠️ Phu Quoc's exemption stops at the island. Travel on to the mainland without a visa and you can be fined VND 3 to 5 million.
That's why the Indian Embassy urged Indians to get a Vietnamese visa even for a Phu Quoc-only trip: a medical emergency or a flight disruption can force a trip to Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi. Fixing that from the island isn't simple, because the eVisa goes to people outside Vietnam, not to visitors already in the country. If there's any chance you'll need the mainland, get the eVisa before you leave and enter on it, choosing Phu Quoc as your entry point if you'll land there.
When Things Go Wrong: Lost Passports and Overstays
If your passport is lost or stolen, the Embassy of India's advice is to file a police complaint right away, get a stamped police report, then apply to the Embassy in Hanoi or the Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City for an emergency certificate to return to India. Save both emergency lines: Hanoi on +84-913089165 and Ho Chi Minh City on +84-917180776.
The certificate doesn't end the process. The Embassy's emergency certificate checklist asks for copies of your lost passport, the police complaint, your Vietnam visa and an Indian ID such as Aadhaar or PAN. You then take the certificate to the Vietnam Immigration office in Hanoi for a mandatory exit visa, and the Embassy says it "has no say in" how long that takes. Don't book the flight home until you hold it.
⚠️ Keep copies away from your passport. A photo of your passport's data page and the eVisa PDF in your email are two of the items the Embassy's checklist asks for.
Overstaying is the other costly mistake. Stay past your eVisa's end date by under 16 days and the fine is VND 500,000 to 2,000,000. At 16 days or more you can also be deported, and a deportation bars you from Vietnam for three years. Extensions are done from inside Vietnam through a sponsor there; we don't handle extensions.
A Few Parting Notes
Give yourself one to two weeks and the speed tiers stop mattering. Three working days is the statutory standard, and 3 to 5 working days is what usually happens. Tet and public holidays push it further, and the Tet 2027 public-sector holiday runs seven days, Thursday, February 4, to Wednesday, February 10, 2027. Apply well before then if you're flying in early February.
If you're flying within 24 hours, phone us before paying on +84 832 320 320, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Vietnam time (GMT+7), seven days a week, and we'll tell you whether it's doable. Vietnam Visa by BDA is a private company. We aren't affiliated with the Vietnamese government: Vietnam Immigration issues the visa, and we prepare, check and file the application.
Living in the UAE on an Indian passport? Vietnam's rules follow your passport, not where you live, and our guide to the Vietnam visa for UAE residents covers applying from Dubai or Abu Dhabi.