Albanian passport holders need a visa to enter Vietnam, and the eVisa is the route almost all of them take. Here is what is required, what it costs, how long it takes, and the details that matter when you fly out of Tirana with no direct service and no Vietnamese embassy at home.
Yes, you need a visa. Two resolutions carry Vietnam's 45-day exemption: Resolution 44/NQ-CP of 7 March 2025 covers 12 countries and Resolution 229/NQ-CP of 8 August 2025 adds 12 more, 24 in total. Albania is on neither list, and there's no bilateral exemption agreement covering ordinary Albanian passports.
The rule has no length threshold. Tourism, family, a conference, a short business trip: all of them need a visa before you board, and no airline in Tirana will check you through without one.
The visa requirements for Albanian citizens are the ones Vietnam applies to every nationality that isn't exempt, and the eVisa satisfies them in full. Vietnam opened the eVisa to citizens of all countries and territories on 15 August 2023 under Resolution 127/NQ-CP, confirmed by the Embassy of Vietnam in the United States. It runs up to 90 days, single or multiple entry, and arrives as a PDF.
Where you can use it widened at the end of 2025. Resolution 389/NQ-CP of 2 December 2025 added 41 border gates, taking the total to 83 checkpoints made up of 17 airports, 27 land border gates and 39 seaports. Long Thanh and Gia Binh count only once operational, so roughly 15 airports are usable today, and every airport an Albanian traveler would realistically use is included.
One narrow exception is worth knowing. Phu Quoc island waives the visa for 30 days for any nationality arriving directly from abroad by air or sea, provided you hold an onward ticket out within 30 days and stay on the island. Step onto the mainland and the waiver is void.
Albanian travel documents have gained ground fast. The Henley Passport Index published on 13 January 2026 named Albania one of Eastern Europe's strongest 20-year performers, up 36 places to 43rd. Vietnam isn't part of that widening access, which is why plenty of Albanians assume they're covered and find out at check-in that they aren't. Companions on other passports can check our eligibility index by country.
No embassy trip, no visa-on-arrival queue. That first point carries real weight for Albania, because Vietnam keeps no resident embassy in Tirana and a paper application would mean a trip abroad or posting your passport out of the country. You apply online, we review and file it, and the eVisa arrives as a PDF you print and carry.
We don't process visa-on-arrival letters and haven't for some time. That route needs a pre-approval letter, works at only a handful of airports, never at a land or sea border, and leaves you queuing after a long flight. The eVisa covers all 83 checkpoints and is settled before you leave home.
Have these six things ready. Most rejected applications fail on the first two, not on anything exotic.
⚠️ Emergency and temporary passports sit in a gray area, so don't assume yours will work. No Vietnamese government or embassy source states whether they're accepted for an eVisa, and we won't guess on your behalf. Apply on your ordinary Albanian passport where you can. If a temporary document is all you have, call us on +84 832 320 320 before you pay anything.
| Option | Validity | Our fee (per applicant) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Month Single Entry | 30 days from arrival | $54 |
| 1 Month Multiple Entry | 30 days from arrival | $84 |
| 3 Month Single Entry | 90 days from arrival | $94 |
| 3 Month Multiple Entry | 90 days from arrival | $104 |
All prices include the Vietnam Immigration Department's stamp fee. Here is the arithmetic. Vietnam charges $25 for a single-entry eVisa and $50 for a multiple-entry one, a rate set by Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC and unchanged since 1 April 2026. On a $54 single-entry order, $25 goes to Vietnam and $29 is our fee for preparing, checking, filing and chasing the application.
You can skip us entirely and apply yourself at evisa.gov.vn for the stamp fee alone. Some people should. With three weeks, a straightforward passport and patience for the form, that's the cheaper path and we won't pretend otherwise. What you pay us for is the review, the correction, and someone answering when it goes wrong. The full fee breakdown has every add-on and surcharge. Whichever route you pick, the stamp fee is non-refundable if the application is refused.
Three speeds, all priced per applicant:
Those clocks start when your application reaches Vietnam Immigration, typically within 2 business hours of payment. The statutory standard is 3 working days; in practice 3 to 5 is normal, and longer around Vietnamese public holidays, when offices close for several days at Tet.
The timeline belongs to Vietnam Immigration, not to us. We can file quickly, chase and correct, but we can't make an approval land faster than the department issues it. Apply one to two weeks before you fly and the speed question stops mattering. Flying inside 24 hours? Call the hotline before paying so we can confirm we're able to deliver. If we can't, we'll say so and refund you.
Choose by the shape of your trip, not by the name of the visa. One flight in, one flight out, and a single-entry eVisa covers the whole stay.
Multiple entry is the right call the moment your route leaves Vietnam and comes back. Albanians rarely fly 13 hours for one country, and a trip built out of Tirana often picks up Cambodia, Laos or Thailand along the way. Fly Hanoi to Siem Reap and back into Ho Chi Minh City on a single-entry visa and the visa is spent the moment you cross out. The upgrade costs $30 on a one-month visa and $10 on a three-month one, less than most people spend rebooking one flight. When in doubt, choose multiple entry.
The eVisa form asks only for a photograph taken straight on without glasses, but rejected images are a common reason an application stalls. A photo meeting these five points will pass:
A phone photo against a white wall in daylight works. A cropped holiday snap doesn't.
Almost every Albanian traveler lands at one of two airports, and the reason is the route map rather than the rules. Istanbul is the only hub with a nonstop flight from Tirana that also connects onward nonstop to Vietnam, so Noi Bai in Hanoi (HAN) and Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) take the overwhelming majority of arrivals.
Da Nang (DAD) is on the eVisa list and is the gateway to central Vietnam, Hoi An and Hue, but from Tirana it needs a second connection, usually through Bangkok, Singapore, Seoul or Doha. Phu Quoc (PQC) is an eVisa checkpoint in its own right and is also reachable on a domestic hop.
Land and sea gates matter on a regional trip. The eVisa covers 27 land crossings, so returning overland from Cambodia or Laos is fine, and 39 seaports if you arrive by cruise. The port-of-entry field has also been dropped from the issued eVisa, so you're not locked to the checkpoint you nominated.
⚠️ Vietnam now expects a pre-arrival declaration at the airports you will actually use. The Immigration Department's Pre-Arrival Information system at prearrival.immigration.gov.vn went live at Tan Son Nhat on 15 April 2026, Phu Quoc on 1 June, and Noi Bai and Da Nang on 15 June 2026. Submit passport, flight and accommodation details no more than three days before arrival and you get a QR code. Vietnamese state media calls it mandatory while the UK Foreign Office says it isn't currently a legal requirement, so treat it as required at those airports. It isn't a visa and doesn't replace one.
Vietnam raised the price of overstaying sharply at the end of 2025. Decree 282/2025 took effect on 15 December 2025, replacing Decree 144/2021, and doubled the maximum fine from VND 20 million to VND 40 million, roughly USD 1,520.
The scale rises with the length of the overstay. Under 16 days runs VND 500,000 to 2 million, about USD 19 to 76. Between 16 and 30 days it jumps to VND 5 to 10 million, about USD 190 to 380, and from there it climbs in bands to the VND 40 million ceiling. Those conversions date from December 2025, so treat them as approximate.
The money isn't really the problem. An overstay is also grounds for deportation and a future entry ban, and UK Foreign Office guidance notes that Vietnamese authorities can stop you leaving until the fine is paid. Missing a flight home while that is sorted out costs far more than the fine.
⚠️ Your exit date is fixed when the eVisa is issued, not when you land. The PDF carries a set validity window taken from the entry date you supplied, and arriving three days late doesn't push the exit date three days out. Count your days from the printed exit date, not from your arrival stamp.
No, and this is the main reason the eVisa suits Albanians. Vietnam has no resident embassy in Tirana. Consular responsibility sits with the Vietnamese Embassy in Athens, whose ambassador is concurrently accredited to Albania and presented credentials in Tirana on 22 October 2025. A paper visa would mean a trip to Greece. The eVisa is filed entirely online.
Albanian passport access has widened a lot, and the Henley Passport Index ranked Albania 43rd in January 2026 after a 36-place climb over two decades. Most of that gain sits in Europe, Latin America and the Gulf. Vietnam is not part of it: neither exemption resolution lists Albania, so for this destination you still need a visa.
None, and no bank statement is requested. The Vietnamese eVisa form asks for your passport details, a photograph, your travel dates and your entry point. It doesn't ask for proof of funds, an itinerary, hotel bookings or an onward ticket. The one financial condition worth planning for is the Phu Quoc waiver, which does require an onward ticket within 30 days.
Not through us. We don't process visa-on-arrival letters. That route still exists as a pre-approval scheme, but it works at only a handful of airports, never at land borders or seaports, and it still needs paperwork before you fly. Arriving from Tirana with two connections behind you, a counter queue is the last thing you want.
Strictly, no. Phu Quoc waives the visa for 30 days if you arrive directly from abroad by air or sea and stay on the island. No European city flies straight to Phu Quoc, so you would transit airside through Ho Chi Minh City onto a domestic hop, which still qualifies. Many travelers apply anyway, because one mainland night voids it.
Getting there takes a day. There's no nonstop service between Albania and Vietnam. Tirana to Istanbul is roughly 1 hour 40 minutes with about 62 flights a month on the route, and Istanbul is the only hub reachable nonstop from Tirana that also has nonstop service into Vietnam: about 9 hours 20 minutes onward to Hanoi, about 10 hours 20 minutes to Ho Chi Minh City. With a normal connection that's 13 to 16 hours door to door. Milan Malpensa, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Rome and Athens are nonstop from Tirana too, and Hanoi now has nonstop links to eight European cities, so a two-stop routing through Italy or Germany is often the better fare.
Vietnam runs five or six hours ahead, and which one depends on the season. Vietnam sits at UTC+7 and doesn't observe daylight saving. Albania uses Central European Time at UTC+1, moving to UTC+2 between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October. So Vietnam is 5 hours ahead of Tirana in the European summer and 6 hours ahead in winter. Our 08:00 to 21:00 support window is therefore about 03:00 to 16:00 in Tirana during summer and 02:00 to 15:00 in winter. Email overnight and you'll usually have a reply before your morning coffee. Our guide to time in Vietnam has the detail.
Plan around the Albanian calendar, not just the Vietnamese one. August is the traditional holiday month and the hardest time to reach anyone at home if a document needs re-issuing. The Albanian public holiday calendar also stacks Independence Day on 28 November against Liberation Day on 29 November, with the observed day rolling into 30 November in 2026, and pairs Summer Day on 14 March with Nevruz on 22 March. Those are the weeks Albanians book long trips, and the weeks to have your visa already in hand.
Payment is in US dollars. We charge in USD and your card issuer converts from lek at its own rate, so expect a small gap between the price you see and your statement. Vietnam runs on the dong once you land, and card acceptance is good in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City but thin in the countryside.
Ties between the two countries are getting busier. Vietnam and Albania marked 75 years of diplomatic relations in 2025, and negotiators met in Tirana in June 2026 on a double taxation agreement. Before you go, our Vietnam visa guide and our answers to common visa questions cover the rest, and a group that includes a Greek passport should also read the Greek eligibility page.