Leaving Vietnam and coming straight back doesn't add a day to the eVisa you already hold, because your permitted stay equals the eVisa's validity however often you cross. A Vietnam visa run only works when you come back in on something new: a fresh eVisa, which Vietnam Immigration has 3 working days to decide, or, if your passport is visa-exempt, a new visa-free entry, with no minimum gap between visits since July 1, 2020.
That's why the two kinds of run look so different on a calendar. One means waiting out an approval on the far side of the border; the other only asks you to cross and come back.
What Resets and What Doesn't: Your Stay Runs With the Visa
Vietnam ties your stay to the document you entered on. With an eVisa, you can stay until the end date on the eVisa, and that date doesn't move when you leave and come back. A multiple-entry eVisa buys you the right to cross out and back inside its window, to Phnom Penh for a weekend or Bangkok for a week. It doesn't buy extra days, and a run on the same eVisa just spends some of them abroad.
A fresh eVisa is different, with a catch. The eVisa form says it's issued to foreigners who are abroad and want to enter Vietnam, not to those temporarily residing there, and UK travel advice says that if you get one while in Vietnam, you must exit and re-enter to start it. Either way, the new eVisa starts at the border, not in your apartment.
Visa-exempt passports reset in a real sense. Citizens of the countries Vietnam exempts on its own get a 45-day stay on each entry. That covers the UK, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea and the rest of a 12-country list for any purpose, plus a second group of European countries, including the Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland, for tourism only. Bilateral agreements with 15 more countries set their own limits per entry, from 14 days for Brunei and 21 for the Philippines to 30 for neighbors such as Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia, and 90 for Chile and Panama. Two of them also cap the total: Belarus at 90 days in a calendar year and Kazakhstan at 90 days in any 180.
The 30-Day Gap: A Rule That Ended in July 2020
You'll still read that visa-free visitors have to stay out of Vietnam for a month before coming back. That rule was real once. The original 2014 immigration law required visa-exempt visitors to have left Vietnam at least 30 days before re-entering, and it applied from January 1, 2015, until June 30, 2020.
Then Law 51/2019/QH14 rewrote Article 20 without the gap. Since July 1, 2020, a visa-exempt traveler needs a passport with at least 6 months of validity left and must not fall into one of the refusal cases. Current Vietnamese law sets no minimum gap between visa-free visits.
The confusion is understandable, because the government's eVisa portal still prints the old line, saying visa-exempt visitors "must have been outside of Viet Nam for at least 30 days since their last departure". The statute is both the higher authority and the later text, so it's the rule.
Three Ways Back In: When a New eVisa Is Simpler
Once you know nothing resets by itself, the choice comes down to three routes. Two involve a border; one keeps you where you are.
| Route | Who It Suits | The Catch |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh eVisa | Any nationality, for up to 90 days | You wait for approval outside Vietnam |
| Visa-free re-entry | Exempt passports, for 45 days on the unilateral list | The officer decides, and Belarus and Kazakhstan have caps |
| Extension inside Vietnam | Anyone with a sponsor willing to file | A company or relative files, and we don't handle it |
The extension route is someone else's paperwork. A sponsor in Vietnam files, and Vietnam Immigration decides within 5 working days, with a $10 government fee to extend your stay. If you have no sponsor, it isn't an option at all.
A new eVisa is usually the simpler route when your passport isn't exempt, when you want longer than the exemption gives (an eVisa can be valid for up to 90 days), or when you'd rather not depend on a sponsor. It's also the way to switch: a visa-free visitor who wants the longer stay has to leave and re-enter on the eVisa to start it. If you're not sure which group your passport is in, check whether your nationality is visa-exempt.
On cost, the Vietnamese part of the bill is the easy one to pin down. A visa-free re-entry costs nothing; Vietnam Immigration's eVisa fee is $25 for single entry or $50 for multiple if you apply yourself at evisa.gov.vn. Vietnam Visa by BDA is a private company, and we're not affiliated with the Vietnamese government. Our eVisa prices with the stamp fee included start at $54 per applicant for a 1-month single-entry eVisa. The rest of the bill is the other country's entry fee, transport and the nights you spend waiting.
Before You Go: Get the Order Right
A run done in the wrong order turns into extra nights in Phnom Penh. Work through it in this sequence.
- Count working days, not calendar days. Vietnam Immigration has 3 working days once it has your complete application and fee, and results come back Monday to Friday, never on Tet or public holidays. The Australian embassy says applicants normally get the eVisa at the end of the fourth working day, with 4 more working days if Immigration asks for a correction. Two government holidays are already fixed: November 24, 2026, for Vietnamese Culture Day, and February 4 through February 10, 2027, for Tet.
- Apply once you're out, then wait. Because the eVisa is issued to people outside Vietnam, not to visitors already in the country, the safe plan is to cross, apply and stay put until the approval arrives. UK advice does describe people getting an eVisa while still in Vietnam, but nothing official promises that an application filed from inside will be accepted, and the fee isn't refunded if it's refused. That makes a fresh-eVisa run a short trip, not a day trip. Here's how to apply for your next eVisa, step by step.
- Name the gate you'll really use. An eVisa only works at border gates on the government's list. Pick the one you'll actually come back through, and check it on the approval before you rely on it.
- Check the passport. Your passport has to stay valid for at least 30 days after your eVisa ends, and Vietnam Immigration's portal doesn't issue eVisas for emergency or temporary passports. UK advice adds that you must enter and exit Vietnam on the same passport.
- Print the eVisa. Vietnam's immigration law describes printing it from the portal, so carry a paper copy and keep one on your phone.
⚠️ Don't head back to the border on a pending application. An application that hasn't been decided isn't permission to enter, and Vietnam Immigration doesn't refund its eVisa fee if the application is refused. Wait for the approval, check every field against your passport, then book the ride back.
The Routes: Moc Bai, the Laos Border and the Airports
Vietnam now accepts eVisa holders at 83 border gates, 27 of them on land, so where you run from mostly depends on where you live. Our guide to land crossings from Cambodia and Laos lists the other gates on both borders.
Moc Bai: Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh and Back
The classic southern run crosses at Moc Bai, on the road between Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh. Moc Bai has been on the eVisa land-gate list since August 2023, along with Xa Mat, Tinh Bien, Vinh Xuong and Ha Tien on the same border.
The bus does most of the work. Giant Ibis runs a daytime Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City service covering 240 kilometers in a scheduled 6 hours. At the border, passengers step off for Cambodian exit stamps, and the crew collects passports again for Vietnamese immigration. The company won't board eVisa holders without a printed eVisa, though its terminals print one free.
Cambodia has its own entry rules. For British travelers, UK advice says a tourist visa is valid for 30 days, the Cambodian e-visa needs applying for at least 4 days ahead, and a visa on arrival at land crossings takes a photo and US dollars. Other passports should check their own government's Cambodia advice before booking.
Hanoi and Da Nang: Lao Bao, Cau Treo or a Short Flight
Overland, the Laos border has gates on the same list. Lao Bao and Cau Treo are both on it, so an eVisa holder can come back through either. Laos sets its own visa rules, and timetables on these routes change, so check your government's Laos advice and the operator's current schedule before you commit.
Flying is the other option from Hanoi and Da Nang. Noi Bai and Da Nang airports are on the list too, which keeps an eVisa return simple. Fares are the airline's to quote and move with the season, so price a run as a return flight, the other country's entry fee, the nights you'll wait for a new eVisa and the Vietnamese fee above.
Two Runs to Skip: The Thai Loop and the Island Shortcut
Older guides send runners overland from Cambodia into Thailand and back. Don't. UK advice, updated March 19, 2026, says land borders and crossings between Cambodia and Thailand continue to be suspended, and it advises against all but essential travel within 20 kilometers of that border. If Thailand is part of the plan, fly.
The other shortcut is Phu Quoc. Foreigners arriving on the island get a 30-day visa-free stay, and some runners treat it as a reset for the mainland. It isn't one.
⚠️ Phu Quoc's exemption stops at the shoreline. Under Decree 282/2025/ND-CP, a foreigner who enters a coastal economic zone visa-free and then travels elsewhere in Vietnam without a visa is fined VND 3,000,000 to 5,000,000. If the mainland is the goal, arrive on an eVisa from the start.
At the Desk and After: Refusals, Stamps and Overstays
No official rule caps how many runs you can make, and none promises the next entry either. If you're applying for a fresh eVisa, the form asks whether you've visited Vietnam in the past year and whether you hold more than one nationality. Answer truthfully: false declarations are grounds for refusing entry, along with a deportation in the past 3 years or a forced exit in the past 6 months. If you fly back into Tan Son Nhat, the Pre-arrival Information form, piloted at that airport, is optional and can speed up immigration, but it isn't a visa, and the ministry warns that fake versions exist.
⚠️ Check the date stamped in your passport before you leave the desk. UK advice says a wrong date could get you accused of overstaying, and that on visa-free entries Immigration won't change it once you've left the airport or land border.
If a run slips past your end date, the bill comes from Decree 282/2025/ND-CP, and it starts on day one. Overstay under 16 days and the fine is VND 500,000 to 2,000,000. From 16 to under 30 days it's VND 5,000,000 to 10,000,000, and the bands climb to VND 30,000,000 to 40,000,000 for a year or more.
At 16 days or more, you can also be deported, which keeps you out of Vietnam for 3 years. The UK also warns that overstayers can be stopped at departure until the fine is paid. Leave a spare day before the end date; a missed bus is cheaper than any of this.
A Few Parting Notes
Keep a note of every entry and exit date. The stamps in your passport are the record an officer reads, and your answer to the past-year question on the next eVisa form should match them.
If runs are turning into a monthly routine, a run may no longer be the right tool. Vietnam has no retirement visa, and longer stays depend on a category you qualify for, such as family ties to a Vietnamese citizen or investment. For everyone else, a run is a bus ticket and some paperwork, done in the right order.