Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has instructed immigration agencies to consider waiving visas for visits of six to 12 months for people coming from wealthy countries to drive tourism recovery.

The list of countries whose citizens are unilaterally exempted from visas would be expanded from the current 13, he said in a directive Friday.

The list now has Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Britain, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Belarus.

The PM also instructed the agencies to consider issuing long-term and multiple-entry visas from 12 to 36 months to attract wealthy foreign retirees from Europe, Northeast Asia, North America, India, and some Middle Eastern countries.

VOV.VN - Vietnam will pilot long-term, multiple-entry visas lasting from 12 to 36 months to attract visitors from high-end markets such as Europe, Northeast Asia, North America, India and the Middle East.

It will expand the list of countries whose citizens can enjoy unilateral visa exemption, and pilot visa exemption for short-term periods from 6 to 12 months for visitors from a number of large, high-spending markets.

These are part of a Prime Minister directive on comprehensive, fast and sustainable tourism development which was promulgated recently.

The PM assigned the Ministry of Public Security in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant agencies to study and propose those preferential policies.

He requested that the Ministry of Public Security examine, propose and apply online exit and entry procedures through the facial recognition system (FaceID) and electronic passport (E-Passport) to create convenience for visitors.

stevenjb wrote: ↑Sat Feb 24, 2024 11:14 am Bring back the USA 1-year Visa.

Alex wrote: ↑Sun Feb 25, 2024 1:41 am I'm currently in Vietnam and I'm seeing many tourists having a great time, BUT I think they should really give visa exempt entry to more countries as planned, because the current list of countries is strangely limited.

I think they could attract quite a few snowbirds if they introduce the long-term visas or exemptions mentioned, and as someone whose favorite retirement destination would be Da Nang, I'm quite happy that they are finally at least seriously considering retirement visas.

Vietnamese tourism promotion and visa exemption will be discussed at the ongoing session of the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son will answer questions related to the issue of visa exemption for citizens of certain countries on March 18, according to the government's portal.

In a report submitted to the committee before the question-and-answer session, Son said his ministry will work closely with the Ministry of Public Security to propose the list of eligible countries for unilateral expansion.

He said his ministry has been increasing promotion campaigns about Vietnam's visa policy and guiding foreign citizens to carry out e-visa applications.

Last month, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh ordered the ministries of foreign affairs and public security ministries to expand the list of countries whose citizens are unilaterally exempted from visas from the current 13.