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1 year Vietnam visa

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 12:33 pm
by Luigi
Has any one actually gotten a 1 yr multiple entry VN visa. There are companies offering this service of course. At a large $. With no guarentees
I stopped at the SKV Vietnam Embassy & was told to buy 3 month multiple entry & apply for 1 year multiple entry while there. Websites I visited suggest I should be able to obtain 1 yr. at SKV embassy.
Top 2 SKV travel agents suggested go to VN embassy.
Does anyone one here have a first hand account? Please share.

Re: RE: 1 year Vietnam visa

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 4:54 pm
by General Mackevili
Luigi wrote: Does anyone here have a first hand account? Please share.
Bumpity bump. I haven't seen an update in the Vietnamese English press, so was kind of assuming it wasn't enacted yet.

Re: 1 year Vietnam visa

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 5:36 pm
by ExPenhMan
I've made inquiries at PP agents over the past 18 months. The answer is always "no." And I was asking for 6-month visas, which I used to be able to get no problem.

Within VN, the costs of backdoor 1-year visas run $500US to $650 from agents, according to consistent reports on the FB expat forums. But most people resort to 3-month single-entry visas and do border runs every quarter.

Re: RE: Re: 1 year Vietnam visa

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 7:54 pm
by General Mackevili
ExPenhMan wrote:I've made inquiries at PP agents over the past 18 months. The answer is always "no." And I was asking for 6-month visas, which I used to be able to get no problem.

Within VN, the costs of backdoor 1-year visas run $500US to $650 from agents, according to consistent reports on the FB expat forums. But most people resort to 3-month single-entry visas and do border runs every quarter.
Are we both talking about the new 1-year visa for Americans for tourists?

It’s Official: Americans to Get 1-Year Vietnam Visas by June

Was supposed to be rolled out by June/July, but no sign of it.

Re: 1 year Vietnam visa

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 4:59 am
by hanno
I have not been able to get a one-year visa for quite some time now (talking the regular one, not the ones for Americans).

Re: 1 year Vietnam visa

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 8:45 am
by PhilipJohn
Luigi wrote:Has any one actually gotten a 1 yr multiple entry VN visa. There are companies offering this service of course. At a large $. With no guarentees
I stopped at the SKV Vietnam Embassy & was told to buy 3 month multiple entry & apply for 1 year multiple entry while there. Websites I visited suggest I should be able to obtain 1 yr. at SKV embassy.
Top 2 SKV travel agents suggested go to VN embassy.
Does anyone one here have a first hand account? Please share.
Hi there,
Depending on your nationality, will have different prices. I am from New Zealand. I did get 1 year multiple entry Vietnam visa for the purpose of working through an agent. Cost total is $750.

Re: 1 year Vietnam visa

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2016 4:31 pm
by sigmoid
The one-year tourist visa for Americans to visit Vietnam was implemented Aug 29, but there are some difficulties, mainly that they eliminated all other visa categories for Americans, so even if you're visiting for 2 weeks, you still have to get the one-year visa. :no:

Anyway, just read the news:

Vietnam tourism watchdog decries new visa fee for US visitors
http://tuoitrenews.vn/business/36900/vi ... s-visitors

Re: RE: Re: 1 year Vietnam visa

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2016 4:51 pm
by General Mackevili
sigmoid wrote:The one-year tourist visa for Americans to visit Vietnam was implemented Aug 29, but there are some difficulties, mainly that they eliminated all other visa categories for Americans, so even if you're visiting for 2 weeks, you still have to get the one-year visa. :no:

Anyway, just read the news:

Vietnam tourism watchdog decries new visa fee for US visitors
http://tuoitrenews.vn/business/36900/vi ... s-visitors
Nice find. That's insane! No more land-crossing backpackers will be entering if this is the case.

Re: 1 year Vietnam visa

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2016 6:30 pm
by ExPenhMan
Vietnam's visa "service" must be one of the worst on the planet. Immigration officers don't even pretend to like you. It's like "get the f*ck out if here so I can make some money on backdoor visas." Or "I gotta piss."

Re: 1 year Vietnam visa

Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2016 9:14 am
by sigmoid
The bottom line is that the VN govt doesn't really care much about tourism or trying to boost tourist numbers by encouraging people to visit. They're definitely not obsessed with it in the way that Thailand is.

For one thing, their international airports can't really handle more visitors.

http://www.thanhniennews.com/travel/hcm ... 65180.html
http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/vi ... 62849.html

More importantly, their focus is on becoming the next South Korea, through industrialisation moving right into IT and electronics, not on relying on tourists to bring in cash. Basically, they have other priorities.

http://tuoitrenews.vn/business/36947/vi ... artup-boom

Currently, they're getting about 8 million visitors a year, mostly from China and Korea, which they're probably satisfied with.

The US govt apparently requested this one-year visa, citing reciprocity, and now it's available. The way it's been implemented may point to some sort of intended slight, although it may just be a case of incompetence. As usual, there's very little clear information available about it. But, eventually, they'll sort it out in some way.

In meantime, if you're American and want to visit VN, be prepared to pay $200 for the privilege. My travel agent in PP quoted $210. There's also some confusion if that cost covers the whole year though. You may have to renew it with more cash?