Quick Answer
The Two-Minute Answer, By Passport
Here’s the part most Vietnam visa guides bury under 1,500 words: whether you need to do anything before you fly comes down to which passport is in your pocket.
If you hold a UK, French, German, Italian or Spanish passport, you can currently walk in for up to 45 days with no visa at all. If you hold a US, Canadian or Australian passport, you don’t get that — you need the e-Visa, and it’s around $25 and ten minutes of typing. And here’s the trap that costs travelers money every single day: a wall of official-looking “Vietnam visa” websites will happily process it for you at two to three times the real price. You never need them. The rest of this guide is how to do it right, for free-of-markup, on the actual government site.
Do You Need a Visa for Vietnam? (By Nationality)
Vietnam changed the game in August 2023: the e-Visa was thrown open to citizens of all countries and territories, and its validity jumped to 90 days. So the honest answer to “do you need a visa for Vietnam” is now “no one is locked out — but some of you can skip the paperwork entirely.” Here’s the picture as of July 2026:
| Your passport | Visa needed in advance? | Allowed stay |
|---|---|---|
| UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain | No — visa-free | Up to 45 days (until 14 Mar 2028) |
| USA, Canada, Australia | Yes — e-Visa | Up to 90 days on the e-Visa |
| Most other nationalities | Yes — e-Visa (open to all) | Up to 90 days on the e-Visa |
The 45-day exemption for the five countries above is a unilateral exemption Vietnam extended through 14 March 2028, and it allows multiple visits within the period. The catch worth repeating: the US, Canada and Australia are not on that list. It’s a common and expensive assumption that “if Europeans get in free, surely we do too” — you don’t, and airlines can deny boarding without a valid e-Visa. Confirm your own nationality’s current allowance on evisa.gov.vn before you book, because exemption lists do get revised.
How to Apply for the Vietnam e-Visa, Step by Step
The official e-Visa is deliberately simple. You do the whole thing yourself:
- Go to the official portal — evisa.gov.vn (also shown as evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn). Bookmark it. Do not click a sponsored search result that looks like it but isn’t.
- Upload two images: a passport-style photo (white background, no glasses) and a scan of your passport bio page.
- Fill in your details, including your intended entry date and port (airport, land or sea) and whether you want single or multiple entry.
- Pay the fee — around $25 single entry or $50 multiple entry — by card.
- Wait about three business days. You’ll get a registration code to check status.
- Download and print the approved e-Visa PDF. Bring a printout and keep a copy on your phone; carry it through immigration on arrival.
That’s it. There’s no interview, no embassy visit, no agent required. If a site asks for more money for “express” or “guaranteed” service, you’re on the wrong site.
Costs & Validity: Watch the Markup (and the Zeros)
The single most useful thing this page can tell you: the real e-Visa fee is around $25 for single entry and around $50 for multiple entry. Anything materially above that is a third-party middleman fee for a document you can get yourself.
| What | Official cost | Validity |
|---|---|---|
| e-Visa, single entry | around $25 | 90 days |
| e-Visa, multiple entry | around $50 | 90 days |
| Processing time | included | around 3 business days |
A quick money note that trips up first-timers on arrival: Vietnam’s currency is the dong (₫), running around ₫26,000 to the US dollar in 2026 (it’s ranged roughly ₫25,890–26,375 this year). Everyday prices come in the tens and hundreds of thousands, so a ₫1,000,000 note is only about $38 — always count the zeros on cash and receipts. If you want to be connected the moment you land to double-check any of this, a Vietnam eSIM starts at around $4; see our Vietnam eSIM options and the broader eSIM guide .
Passport, Blank Pages & The Common Rejection Traps
The e-Visa is easy to get and easy to fumble on a technicality. The usual reasons an application or a border entry goes wrong:
- Passport validity. Keep at least six months’ validity beyond your entry date — the standard airlines and immigration expect. A passport close to expiry is the classic denial.
- Photo/scan quality. A blurry passport scan, a photo with glasses or a busy background, or a name that doesn’t match the passport exactly gets applications kicked back.
- Wrong entry point or date. The e-Visa is tied to the entry port and date you declared. Arriving somewhere or some day other than what you listed can cause problems — pick your real plans.
- Single vs. multiple entry. If you plan to pop over to Cambodia or Laos and come back, you need multiple entry — a single-entry e-Visa is used up the moment you leave.
- Blank pages. Have a couple of blank passport pages for stamps.
While you’re squaring away the paperwork, this is the moment to sort travel insurance. Vietnam doesn’t mandate it for tourists, but motorbike mishaps, street-food stomach days and monsoon-season trip changes make it worth having — see our travel insurance guide for what to look for.
Landing in Hanoi: From Noi Bai to the Old Quarter
Say you’ve flown into Noi Bai (HAN), Hanoi’s airport. Your e-Visa’s checked, your passport’s stamped — now you just need to reach the Old Quarter, about 45 minutes away. Your options, cheapest first:
Once you’ve dropped your bags, the Old Quarter’s tangle of lanes around Hoan Kiem Lake is best explored on foot — a bowl of phở for around ₫40,000–50,000, a bánh mì from a street cart, and an egg-coffee stop at one of Hanoi’s cà phê houses is the classic first evening. For where to base yourself, our Hanoi guide breaks down the neighbourhoods, and you can compare Hanoi hotels once your dates are set.
Getting Around Vietnam Once You’re In
Your 90-day e-Visa (or 45-day exemption) is plenty of runway to travel the length of the country. The main ways down the coast:
- Reunification Express train — the Hanoi–Ho Chi Minh City line. A full-line 4-berth soft sleeper runs around $65–85; the scenic Hue–Da Nang mountain-and-coast leg (~3 hours) is the section worth staying awake for.
- Open-tour buses (hop-on, hop-off) — sample legs like Hanoi→Hue around ₫299,000 (~$11–12) or Da Nang→Hoi An around ₫159,000 (~$6); a full Hanoi↔HCMC pass runs around $50.
- Domestic flights — VietJet and Vietnam Airlines fly Hanoi↔HCMC from around $30 (promo) up to around $100; the fastest way to skip a long overland leg.
- Grab — for city hops and short trips, the same app you used from the airport.
Planning the route itself? Start with the best time to visit Vietnam pillar, then the city hubs for Ho Chi Minh City , Hoi An and Ha Long Bay .
Emergency Numbers & Practical Details
Save these before you fly — they’re free from any mobile or landline in Vietnam:
- 113 — police
- 114 — fire
- 115 — ambulance
- 112 — search-and-rescue / natural disasters
An English-language private ambulance line operates at *9999. English-speaking operators aren’t guaranteed on the public lines outside the biggest cities, so if you’re in a rural area, ask your hotel or a local to help place the call.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a visa to visit Vietnam?
It depends on your passport. Since August 2023 the Vietnam e-Visa is open to citizens of all countries — around $25 for single entry, valid 90 days — so anyone can get one. UK, French, German, Italian and Spanish passport holders don’t need it for short trips: they get 45 days visa-free until 14 March 2028. But US, Canadian and Australian citizens are not on the exemption list and do need the e-Visa. Apply only at the official portal, evisa.gov.vn.
How much does the Vietnam e-Visa cost and where do you apply?
The official Vietnam e-Visa costs around $25 for single entry or around $50 for multiple entry, and it’s valid for 90 days. Apply only at the government portal evisa.gov.vn (also reachable as evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn) — processing takes around three business days. Third-party visa sites charge two to three times the real fee for the same document, so go direct to the official site and ignore lookalike pages that top the search results.
Which nationalities get visa-free entry to Vietnam?
As of July 2026, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain are among the nationalities with a 45-day visa exemption for Vietnam (unilateral, valid 15 March 2025 to 14 March 2028, multiple visits allowed). Several other countries have shorter exemptions. Crucially, the US, Canada and Australia are not on the exemption list and must apply for the e-Visa. Always confirm your own nationality’s current allowance on evisa.gov.vn before you book.
How long is the Vietnam e-Visa valid and how long can you stay?
The Vietnam e-Visa is valid for 90 days from the entry date you specify, and you can choose single or multiple entry when you apply. That 90-day window is far longer than the old 30-day e-visa, so it comfortably covers most Vietnam trips end to end. Your passport should have at least six months’ validity remaining and a couple of blank pages. Print or save your approved e-Visa PDF to show on arrival.
Ready to Plan Your Vietnam Trip?
For most readers the visa question turns out to be a quick job: check your passport against the two lists above, and either enjoy your 45 visa-free days or spend ten minutes and around $25 on the official e-Visa at evisa.gov.vn. Confirm your own nationality’s current allowance there before you book — that’s the one thing worth double-checking — and the fun part is next.
Find cheap flights to Vietnam | Compare Hanoi hotels
Keep planning with our best time to visit Vietnam pillar, the Hanoi city guide , Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Long Bay hubs, our Vietnam eSIM guide so you’re online the moment you land, and browse more hotel deals and flight routes .