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Pre approved visa for vietnam
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thegingerbi-
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Hi everyone
This site has helped me so much in planning my trip I wanted to post some info that I couldn’t find but I hope that others find useful. I am flying into HCMC from the UK on 3rd June.
I applied for a prearranged visa for Vietnam from www.guidevietnam.com. I filled out a form with basic personal info and travel dates and submitted it on the website. Within 24hrs I received an email asking me to confirm my details and also giving me information on how to pay.
The site does not except payment directly so it redirected me to www.xoom.com which I had to join. The service is free to join however they charge $3.99 to process the payment. The payment is actually collected by the visa company in Hanoi in person and therefore collector details need to be input onto the xoom site, these details are in the email from the evisa company. You also need to input a secret word. After you have completed the process on xoom you then need to email the visa company with the secret word. All of this is explained step by step on the sites. The actual payment is processed through paypal or credit/debit card.
I received a scanned copy of my visa approval letter within 48hrs. The evisa site explained that I would need to pay a further $25 when collecting my stamp on arrival at the airport.
I noticed that I had been put down as a Mrs and not a Miss and emailed them to query this and they replied that it is a default setting and all females are registered as Mrs.
Costs (based on single entry visa)
$28.99 – came out of my account as £15.24.
+ $25 on arrival (approx £12.50)
For travellers from the UK especially this will save you money.
Consulate supplied visa costs
£38 for the visa
£8 return postage
£? Postage to the consulate
And if you are like me the real dislike of being parted from my passport!! It also takes approx 5 days to process.
However I have not yet put the approval letter to the test so I will hopefully post again from HCMC around 3/4th June if they let me in!!!! to tell you all how it went.
TGB
#1 Posted: 13/5/2008 - 23:16
packtoofull
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Thanks for the report- much appreciated!
#2 Posted: 15/5/2008 - 12:22
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thegingerbi-
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Well i'm here!!!!!!!
I filled out another form at the airport. Showed my approval letter. Paid $25 and hey presto.
Definately cheaper and easier then getting it from the consulate in the UK. Highly recommend it.
TGB
#3 Posted: 3/6/2008 - 21:54
daawgon
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I just wanted to point out that you could have done the Xoom transfer for a bit less too. The credit card payment is $3.99, but a direct debit from your checking account would have cost only $.99.
#4 Posted: 5/6/2008 - 14:07
sunshine87
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Is this definitely the recommended way then? As I just thought you pay $30 in Thailand to get one for Vietnam?
#5 Posted: 11/7/2008 - 19:40
somtam2000
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If you've got the time, I'd just get it in Bangkok -- the difference in cost is nominal and you're not needing to rely on a travel agent to sort everything out correctly for you.
#6 Posted: 12/7/2008 - 06:26
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sunshine87
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Does anyone know for definate if you can get a visa for Vietnam in luang prabang? or can you buy it on arrival in Hanoi airport? Or from chang mail?
I leave for my travels in 10 days, should I just buy the Visa online?? Not sure what is best and easiest...Thanks!!
#7 Posted: 18/7/2008 - 14:12
kennedy0826
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I know this post is a bit old, but does anyone happen to know if the pre-approved visa's into Vietnam allow for "endorsements?" or is that something I would take care of once in Vietnam and paying for the 2nd half of my visa? I want to start and end my 3 month SEA travels in Ho Chi Min, but would rather not pay for 2 separate visas and plan on traveling through other countries. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
#8 Posted: 19/4/2009 - 20:26
DLuek
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Hi,
You can get a 3 month (or 6 month) visa that's good for 2 entries. The cost is more, but not as much as getting 2 separate visas. If you initially get just a single entry visa, you may not "add" another entry on to that visa, but will have to arrange for a completely new one before returning to Vietnam.
I'm in Thailand now and we originally flew into HCMC from Singapore but had planned on returning to Singapore via Bangkok (so only one entry to Vietnam was necessary). Then we changed our plans to go back to Vietnam and we had to spend U$50 on a whole new visa while in Vientiane. So I could have saved $ by springing for the 2 entry visa from the beginning. As for visa on arrival service, I recommend www.guidevietnam.com.
Good luck
#9 Posted: 20/4/2009 - 12:39
MissJanie
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I just back from a trip in Vietnam and I found that it’s really easy if you made a visa online. I went to hotels - in -vietnam.com, filled the form, and get the visa for 12$, add 25$ at the airport and no more. Good one!
Anyways, your topic is helpful!
#10 Posted: 2/7/2009 - 18:52
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smartlyndy
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We arrived in VN this morning with our letter of approval for visas. It worked out fine in the end but we did have a bit of an anxious moment when Immigration in singapore told us that we would not be able to travel because the birth dates on the approval letter did not match our passports. I had not checked all the details! They sorted it out for us and faxed ahead to saigon so we were able to catch our plane after all.
The lesson is that you should read your letter carefully and check it against your passports. It would have been much worse if the passport numbers had not matched!
The process in VN was easy enough but took about an hour and a half as there were a lot of other people there at the same time.
Loving Saigon - epecially after leaving an Adelaide hills winter.
#11 Posted: 3/7/2009 - 20:05