Vietnam Visa Exemption

WHAT IS VISA EXEMPTION?

Visa exemption (also known as visa free) is a policy on immigration regulations of the Vietnamese government for other countries in the world, through which, citizens of other countries who are exempted from Vietnam visa will not have to apply for a visa or pay any visa-related fees when entering Vietnam. Depending on policy of each country, the visa exemption period also varies.

👉 Bilateral visa exemption: It is understood that between two countries there is a policy/agreement on allowing citizens of the two countries to enter the country without having to apply for a visa.

For example, Vietnam and Thailand signed a bilateral visa exemption agreement, it means that Vietnamese or Thai citizens can enter and exit between Thailand and Vietnam without having to apply for a visa.

👉 Unilateral visa exemption: The Vietnamese government unilaterally exempts citizens of another country from visas without an agreement on visa exemption between the two countries, whereas Vietnamese citizens still need to apply for a visa to enter such country.

Bilateral visa exemption and unilateral visa exemption both allow foreigners to enter Vietnam without specific purpose without having to apply for a visa or pay any visa-related fees.

The only difference is length of stay allowed, normally citizens of countries on bilateral visa exemption are allowed to stay longer (up to 90 days) than those of countries on unilateral visa exemption (15 days).

Note: This kind of visa exemption is completely different from the VISA EXEMPTION CERTIFICATE (5-YEAR VISA) issued to overseas Vietnamese or those who are Spouses/Children of Overseas Vietnamese.

REQUIREMENTS FOR VISA FREE

For visa-free entry, foreigners need to meet following conditions:

• Citizens holding passports of countries on list of bilateral/unilateral visa exemption with Vietnam.
• Passport valid for at least 6 months from date of arrival
• Passport with at least two (02) blank pages.

LIST OF COUNTRIES UNDER VIETNAM VISA EXEMPTION

Latest regulation on Visa Exemption was issued by the Vietnamese government on March 15, 2022 and has been applied from its issuance until now.

According to this regulation, the Government of Vietnam give bilateral visa exemption for 12 countries/territories and unilateral visa exemption for 13 countries/territories. Details in the table below: