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Visas and border crossings forum
| Author | Message |
| tayls longtail driver Posts: 5 |
#1 Posted: 16/4/2009 - 23:09 I have found some sites offering Visa pre-approval. For US$21.95 you get a pre-approval letter and then present this letter and pay US$25 when you get to Vietnam for a Visa on Arrival. It seems much easier and also cheaper to do this than sending off your passport to the Vietnam embassy. Has anyone used such a service and does it work? Any recommendations on a website to use? |
| somtam2000 admin mahout Posts: 5181 Located in: Global Village   |
#2 Posted: 17/4/2009 - 07:38 Do a search of the Travelfish forum -- there's a lot of discussion of this, including some agencies being recommended. ------------------------------ Siem Reap and Angkor Wat on your iPhone |
| tayls longtail driver Posts: 5 |
#3 Posted: 17/4/2009 - 08:39 Hi Somtam, I have looked through the forum and found very little in the way of recent answers for the web based service and no feedback from those who have used it. If you could point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated. |
| ketanviet newbie Posts: 1 |
#4 Posted: 20/5/2009 - 23:19 Hi Everyone, I am also looking for the same question. Which is the best way to get the vietnam visa on arrival. I am planning to come with my mom dad and wife , and I need minimum 3 months multiple visa for vietnam ... If any one can help me on this I would be very very thankful to them. |
| DLuek adventurer Posts: 291 |
#5 Posted: 21/5/2009 - 17:24 Hi, I posted this back in February in the Vietnam forum... The service for our visa was $33 b/c it was a 3 month visa. If you only need one month it will be less. Ketanviet, you will have to pay more for multiple entries, but will still be cheaper (and easier) than getting a whole different visa for your second entry. You can also pay more for a 6 month visa if you need more than 3 months. Not sure, but I think this would be cheaper (again, and easier) than extending your visa. The lady at www.guidevietnam.com seemed really cool. She forwarded me the approval letter before receiving my payment, and answered whatever questions I had in a very timely manner via e-mail. She also offered a phone #. If you use her service, you will need to send the service cost through www.xoom.com or Western Union. Credit cards are not accepted. Once she receives your payment (or in my case before), she'll send you an e-mail with the approval letter as an attachment. You then just have to print out the letter and show up at the airport with it, 2 passport photos and U$25 (they only take American $, try to have exact change) for the stamping fee. After we filled out the application, they processed us within 10 minutes and we had our visas. Note - not sure about Hanoi but if you're flying into Saigon, the visa on arrival counter is on your left as you approach the main customs checkpoint counters. Don't wait in line for the normal counters b/c you'll just be sent back to the visa on arrival counter. Good luck, DL |
| DLuek adventurer Posts: 291 |
#6 Posted: 21/5/2009 - 17:26 Hmm, the part that I copied from my February post didn't "stick". All it said was that we used www.guidevietnam.com, had a good experience with them and had no problems when we arrived in Saigon. The whole process was relatively easy. |
| smkuchta flashpacker Posts: 31 |
#7 Posted: 21/5/2009 - 20:46 I posted this a couple of weeks ago. We got the visa on arrival (1month) from Vietnamstay.com . They had all different types of visas you could apply for. It worked flawlessly didn't have to send our passports anywhere. Took only a couple of days to get the processing letter and no hassles at Hanoi Airport where we landed. It cost $22 to vietnam stay for each of our visas plus $25/pp for the actual stamp in Hanoi. It was cheaper and easier than sending our passports to Washington and would defintely do the VOA again if flying into Vietnam. ------------------------------ Travels Down the Mekong |
| daawgon tuk tuk driver Posts: 221 |
#8 Posted: 24/5/2009 - 12:23 The best deal I have found for VOA (Visa on Arrival Approval Letters) is my friend in Hanoi - Diep of Adventure Indochina Travel. Diep only charges $16. for the service and he let's his customers pay in person when they come to Hanoi. I've used his e-visa service myself and it's great. Diep is a very honest guy who will also give you great tips on his city and all of Vietnam. I also used Aodai Travel in HCMC for e-visa last year - outstanding service, but more expensive and had to pay for Xoom funds transfer. Diep's office is located at 1 Hang Buom St. in the Old Quarter (Hang Buom is the extension of Ma May Street) |
| Indoluso flashpacker Posts: 37 |
#9 Posted: 14/1/2010 - 17:45 Hello, I've been searching for information on this and I've called a Vietnam embassy who told me that they knew nothing about visas through internet. An option is always to send your passport plus form in a registered letter to a Vietnam embassy (this works even if the embassy is in another country). Travel agencies in countries where there aren't Vietnam embassies will do exactly this and obviously charge their part. Now if people say that visas through internet work, it should be fine. The only question here is that going to Vietnam without a visa means that you need to have an invitation (which apparently may be given by a Vietnam tourist agency), then the visa being given on arrival. Hope that it helps! |
| Viet_Horizon longtail driver Posts: 5 |
#10 Posted: 4/2/2010 - 09:48 Visa on arrival: there are 2 fees that you have to pay to do it. 1. Visa approval fee: price ranges from 15 to 25 USD, depending on the agent you require from, for 1 month tourist, single entry visa. You need to provide details of your passport or scan your passport and send it to them. Then, after few days, your tavel agent will send you VISA APPROVAL LETTER. You need to print it out, show the airline poeple so you can get on the plane. Let your email address and I will send you a copy of a visa approval letter for your reference. 2. Visa stapm fee: After arrival in a Vietnam International airports (3 of them: Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang airport in Da Nang City and Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi) you will go to Immigration Office to stick the visa on your passport. Here you need to pay another 25 USD. You also need 2 passport photos or the people there will be helpful enough to take your photo in 5 minutes with a small fee of 1USD per photo. Prepare also USD cash with clean and new note as that's only thing they accept. You will receive change either in USD or Vietnamese Dong whatever you want. It's hard to express myself so if anyone need any more information, just post in here. Hope this helps. |
| Archmichael tuk tuk driver Posts: 152 Located in: Global Village |
#11 Posted: 7/2/2010 - 23:50 We went to Viet Nam in March and April of 2009. A couple of months prior, we arranged a VN visa through a travel agent in Ha Noi (recommended by a friend who lives there; he proved to be both reputable & reliable). He charged us a small fee and obtained a letter from the Vietnamese government for each of us. When we arrived at Noi Bai airport in Ha Noi, we presented the letters, paid a fee and the visa was put into our passports. Though I had a bit of trepidation beforehand, it all worked out very well ... no hitches. ------------------------------ "I stood at the crossroads and fate came to meet me." --- Liz Greene |
| Archmichael tuk tuk driver Posts: 152 Located in: Global Village |
#12 Posted: 7/2/2010 - 23:56 Similar to what DLuek noted at #5 above, if you do get the pre-approved visa and you are coming into Ha Noi, note there is a separate window to go to. As you descend a long staircase from the arrival level, you'll see a lot of immigration windows to your right. For the pre-arranged visa, though, you need to go to a pair of windows that are straight ahead of you at the bottom of the stairs. ------------------------------ "I stood at the crossroads and fate came to meet me." --- Liz Greene |
| Archmichael tuk tuk driver Posts: 152 Located in: Global Village |
#13 Posted: 7/2/2010 - 23:56 Similar to what DLuek noted at #5 above, if you do get the pre-approved visa and you are coming into Ha Noi, note there is a separate window to go to. As you descend a long staircase from the arrival level, you'll see a lot of immigration windows to your right. For the pre-arranged visa, though, you need to go to a pair of windows that are straight ahead of you at the bottom of the stairs. ------------------------------ "I stood at the crossroads and fate came to meet me." --- Liz Greene |
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