Vietnam Visa UK

I have been told that I can arrange my visa for Vietnam the following way: Send my travel agent in Vn a copy of my passport and flight ticket and they send this information off to customs. I will then receive an application letter which I present to customs on arrival in Vn and they will give me the visa sticker (1 month tourist) for my passport.

Can anyone confirm whether or not they have done it this way (Australian passport) and if it was problematic or hassle free??? The cost for doing it this way is cheaper than sending my passport directly to the Vietnam consulate in Australia.

Thanks!(http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?messageID=15320557)

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Best answers chosen

I’d suggest getting it at the airport. Just google Vietnam Visa - you’ll find a number of sites saying “get your visa online” and go from there. You pay the $us20 fee by credit card when you apply when you submit basic passport info. Some sites have a US$25 fee and some you need to pay with Western Union (along with a fee of about twenty bucks for having the pleasure of sending it with them!!!) Just keep clicking until you get one with a Visa/Mastercard sign.

I got a confirmation reply very shortly after - within a few hours - and within 2 days an email with 2 attachments - the official letters from the Vietnamese Visa department. Printed them out, and when i got to the airport presented these at the special office before customs, along with 2 passport photos. Filled out a one page application with a little more passsport info and then coughed up $us25.

Total cost of $us45, and 2 passport photos. Timewise - it adds 10 minutes to the time spent in the airport. That’s a minor problem as taxis aren’t going anywhere. It really is TOO easy - i’d recommend it to anyone. There’s an entry on the 4th Feb at 09:52 with the same question and there’s heaps of entries with different replies. I have an Aussie passport - works with all passports and is the same price accross the board.
It REALLY is too easy - no sending passports with registered post and in Australia it is cheaper.
Hope this is of some help.

Hi all,

I am running out of time on my two weeks visa and wondering what happens at the boarder/airportwhen you leave Vietnam after overstaying? I assume there is a fine but how much is it? Is there any other consequences?

Many thanks
Yegane

Source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?messageID=15393788

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Best Answer chosen:

The Immigration Police will deny your departure and requests you to get a new visa in Hanoi or Saigon. If your visa is type D it can be a big problem and take 5-7 working days to obtain a new one and the fine for overstaying is not cheap (about 40$US) so you end up paying more or less than 100$US.

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So you need to get a new visa and most travel agencies can handle it for about 60$US to 100$US depending on number of days it take. You can’t leave Vietnam with an overstayed visa, this is a confirmed info from at least three of my clients.

Hi,

Has anyone got a 30 day Vietnam visa at Hanoi airport recently? I asked the Vietnam Embassy and they said that there “has been fraud and many problems at the airport”.

I’m kind of running out of time to send my passport of to the embassy in London and get it back in time.

Thanks
Dave (Original question on ThornTree)

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Answers by Mark

The statement you got from the embassy is wrong, visa on arrrival is issued by Vietnam Government, Immigration Dept, so far, there are no scam report found over the net and among travelers who used this visa for entering Vietnam.

The open travel policy has made the procedure at airport easier and hassle free, there has been no problem reported. So, the statement is wrong and lacks of responsibility.

Hope that helps.