Yes, but not the way most old advice describes it. Vietnamese law still lets an officer at an international border gate issue a visa in six listed situations, and only after a sponsor in Vietnam has had it approved by Vietnam Immigration.
So the Vietnam visa on arrival hasn't disappeared. What's gone is the idea that an ordinary tourist can land in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, fill in a form and buy one at a counter. For that traveler, Vietnam's eVisa does the same job with less fuss. Citizens of every country can apply online, the government fee is $25 for single entry or $50 for multiple entry, and it works at 83 border crossings.
Visa on Arrival in Vietnamese Law: Six Cases, One Sponsor
The rule sits in Article 18 of Vietnam's immigration law, Law 47/2014/QH13 in its consolidated text of March 23, 2026. It lets the border gate issue a visa in these situations and no others, and Viet Nam Government News publishes the same list in English:
- You're departing from a country with no Vietnamese office that issues visas.
- You've traveled through several other countries before arriving.
- You're on a tour organized by an international travel company in Vietnam.
- You're foreign crew on a ship anchored at a Vietnamese seaport and need to leave through another border gate.
- You're coming to a relative's funeral or to visit a seriously ill relative.
- You're coming for emergency, rescue, disaster or epidemic work at the request of Vietnamese authorities.
Notice what isn't on the list: being on vacation and preferring to sort the visa out at the airport. Every case also runs through a sponsor. Under the same law, a Vietnamese agency, organization or individual has to get Immigration's approval first, and the border unit checks that notice before it issues anything.
⚠️ There's no visa counter where tourists simply buy one. The officer at the gate issues a visa only against Vietnam Immigration's prior notice. If nobody in Vietnam has applied for you, there's nothing to collect, and the flight you just took doesn't change that.
How It Works Today: Approval First, Stamp Second
Most of the process happens in Vietnam before you leave home. The Ministry of Public Security publishes it as procedure 1.003425 on its public service portal:
- Your sponsor applies. An agency or organization files for the people it's inviting, and an individual can sponsor a relative. The ministry lists no fee and no charge for this step.
- Vietnam Immigration decides. It has 3 working days for the first four cases and 12 working hours for funerals, serious illness and emergencies, counted from a complete file.
- Immigration replies in writing. That reply to your sponsor is what people call the approval letter, and the border gate is notified too.
- You present it at the border. Hand over your passport, the approval letter and a completed visa application form with a photo. A child under 14 who shares a parent's passport goes on the parent's form.
- The officer issues the visa. The government fee follows Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC: $25 for single entry or $50 for multiple entry.
The speed is what catches people out. For the four ordinary cases, Vietnam Immigration's legal clock is the same 3 working days it has for an eVisa, and you still wait in line at the border for the visa itself. Our earlier post covers how the old approval letter and stamping fee worked.
Who Visa on Arrival Suits, and Who It Doesn't
Turn the six cases into people and the list gets short. Visa on arrival makes sense for:
- A family emergency, with a relative in Vietnam to sponsor you. The 12-working-hour clock exists for exactly this, and an individual can sponsor a relative.
- An organized tour. If an international travel company in Vietnam runs your trip, it's the natural sponsor.
- Seafarers on a ship anchored at a Vietnamese seaport who need to leave through a different gate.
- Emergency and rescue teams invited by Vietnamese authorities.
The two travel-route cases (no Vietnamese visa office where you're departing from, or several countries before Vietnam) still need a sponsor, and they answer a problem the eVisa has since removed. You can apply for one from anywhere with a connection.
It doesn't suit an independent traveler with no one in Vietnam to sponsor them, which is most people reading this. Nor does it suit anyone who needs no visa at all. Citizens of 12 countries, including the UK, Germany, France, Japan and South Korea, get 45 days without a visa for any purpose until March 14, 2028. Another 12, including the Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland, get 45 days for tourism until August 14, 2028.
For Indian passport holders, the Embassy of India in Hanoi says Indian nationals need a pre-approved visa, either from a Vietnamese mission in India or as an eVisa. Our page on eVisa options for Indian citizens has the details.
Visa on Arrival vs the eVisa: Side by Side
| Visa on Arrival | eVisa | |
|---|---|---|
| Who applies | A sponsor in Vietnam | You, online, before you travel |
| Who qualifies | The six listed cases | Citizens of every country and territory |
| Immigration's legal deadline | 3 working days, or 12 working hours for funerals, serious illness and emergencies | 3 working days |
| Government fee | $25 single, $50 multiple | $25 single, $50 multiple |
| Where you can enter | An international border gate, against Immigration's notice | 83 listed crossings: 17 airports, 27 land gates, 39 seaports |
| What you carry | Passport, approval letter, form with photo | Passport and the eVisa PDF, printed |
| When you hold the visa | After the border check | Before you fly |
Look hard at the fee row. Vietnam charges the same $25 or $50 either way, under one fee schedule that doesn't separate border visas from eVisas, so any difference you've seen quoted is someone's service charge, ours included.
The pre-arrival form tells the same story. Vietnam Immigration's Pre-arrival Information form is optional and can be filed within the three days before you arrive. Its Visa Type list has ten options, from Electronic Visa (E-Visa) to Permanent Residence Card, and none of them is a visa on arrival. A visa issued at the border doesn't exist yet when you'd fill the form in.
The eVisa: Why Most Tourists Apply Before They Fly
The eVisa took over because it removed the sponsor. Since August 15, 2023, citizens of every country and territory can apply, and an eVisa can be valid for up to 90 days, single or multiple entry. You apply yourself on the government's eVisa site, evisa.gov.vn, and pay the fee there. Vietnam Immigration doesn't refund that fee if the visa is refused.
By law, Vietnam Immigration has 3 working days to decide an eVisa once it has the complete application and the fee. The result is a PDF you download, and the law describes printing it from the portal, so carry a printed copy and keep one on your phone. You land with the visa already in your bag. For the basics in one place, here's what the Vietnam eVisa is.
Since Resolution 389/NQ-CP of December 2, 2025, the eVisa is accepted at 83 border crossings: 17 airports, 27 land border gates and 39 seaports. Two of those airports, Long Thanh near Ho Chi Minh City and Gia Binh, aren't open yet, so check that yours is operating before you name it.
⚠️ Name the entry point you'll actually use. The eVisa only works at border gates on the government's list, and Vietnamese law doesn't say whether you can switch to a different one later. Pick the airport, land crossing or seaport you'll really arrive through, and don't plan on changing it.
Approval Letters and Look-Alike Sites: Where Travelers Overpay
The commonest mistake is paying for an approval letter when an ordinary eVisa fits the trip. Before you pay anyone for one, ask which of the six cases in Article 18 your trip falls under. If the answer is vague, you're a tourist, and the eVisa serves you better. The approval step carries no government fee, so the letter's price is all service charge.
The second mistake is assuming you can fix things after landing. The eVisa is issued to people outside Vietnam, not to visitors already in the country. If you entered visa-free and later want an eVisa, the UK government's advice is that you have to leave Vietnam and re-enter on the eVisa.
The third is the look-alike site. Vietnam's pre-arrival form isn't a visa, and it doesn't process visa applications, so a site offering to sell you a visa that way is selling something that doesn't exist.
⚠️ Fake sites copy Vietnam's arrival form. The Ministry of Public Security says it has found fake websites impersonating the pre-arrival system that may defraud applicants' credit cards, and the only address to use is prearrival.immigration.gov.vn. The government's eVisa site is evisa.gov.vn, also reachable as thithucdientu.gov.vn. Any other site belongs to a private company, ours included.
Where Vietnam Visa by BDA Fits
Our own FAQ says it plainly: "We don't process visa-on-arrival letters anymore." We don't find sponsors either. We prepare, check and file eVisa applications, and Vietnam Immigration issues the visa. Vietnam Visa by BDA is a private company, and we're not affiliated with the Vietnamese government.
Our eVisa prices with the government fee included start at $54 per applicant for 1 month with single entry, then $84 for 1-month multiple entry, $94 for 3-month single entry and $104 for 3-month multiple entry. For tight dates, Urgent adds $45 for 2 business days and Super Urgent adds $85 for 1 business day. Those clocks start when the application reaches Vietnam Immigration, normally within 2 business hours of payment, not at checkout, and Vietnam Immigration sets the pace: we can file, chase and correct, but we can't move an approval up the line.
Set that against a border visa and the government fee is identical, so you're comparing our service charge with whatever a letter costs, plus the line at the border. You can also skip everyone and apply at evisa.gov.vn for the $25 single or $50 multiple fee alone. With us, the difference pays for a second set of eyes on every field before it reaches Vietnam Immigration.
For a family emergency, the sponsor route has one real advantage on paper: when a relative in Vietnam sponsors you for a funeral or a seriously ill family member, Vietnam Immigration's legal deadline is 12 working hours, not the 3 working days it has for an eVisa. If you're traveling within 24 hours, phone +84 832 320 320 before paying so we can tell you whether an eVisa is doable.
A Few Parting Notes
Vietnam Immigration's clocks count Vietnamese working days, and the big pause is Tet. The 2027 public-sector holiday runs from Thursday, February 4 to Wednesday, February 10, 2027, so a request filed the week before can sit through the whole seven-day break. Give yourself one to two weeks and the speed tiers stop mattering.
Check your passport, too. Vietnamese law requires your passport to stay valid for at least 30 days after your eVisa ends, and the UK government advises at least 6 months' validity from arrival, which airlines often apply too. Then check your nationality's options before you spend anything.