Great Advice for Vietnam Visa for First-Time Visitors.....

[+ azdr0710]

for those US residents (and others?) planning to visit VN and needing to get the required visa, I had some fantastic luck here.....

 

https://www.vietnam-evisa.org/

 

there are other third-party groups that will help, but this is the best, I think......

 

communication was very fast and helpful.....

 

but the BEST part of this is their "airport fast check-in" option......for $25 extra, a guy met me with my name on a card, took my credentials (passport, passport photos, pre-approved visa approval letter that I had printed up before, and the pre-filled-out immigration form) and took them up to the desk himself while I waited, then he got the approved visa after several minutes and walked me over to a "diplomat" desk entirely ahead of everybody else waiting to get admitted in the regular line.....for first-time visitors, I very, very much recommend splurging on the extra $25 fee for this service.....

 

everybody still has to pay for a visa service fee and a visa stamping fee......and I think this service is only good at major airports

 

when I saw people standing at a counter filling out a form, then waiting in line to only wait some more, I thought this is too easy......the guy helping me was running around helping others, too, and was very practiced.....otherwise, the visa/immigation process may seem cumbersome and confusing to first-timers.......

[paulsf]

You don’t need to do visa on arrival anymore. You can do E visa online yourself. Govt sends it via email. You go straight thru immigration. I have a multi entry visa hard copy from Embassy as I go to Hanoi several times a year. The visa on arrival desks up until last year were very busy, but now very few people using that service.

[+ azdr0710]

I think first-time visitors still need to wait for paperwork upon arrival.......and my "fast check-in" suggestion greatly, greatly helps this process.....this is assuming the first-time visitor completed all the application stuff using the above website before arrival - and brought all documentation with them (see my post above)