Your tourist or business Vietnam e-visa is valid for a maximum of 90 days. When applying for your visa, you choose the starting date and expiration date yourself. You can only enter and exit Vietnam within these chosen dates.

Different Vietnam visas

There are over 20 different visa types for Vietnam. Tourists and business travellers usually use the electronic visa (e-visa). The advantage of this visa type is that it can be applied for online. Because it is not required to visit an embassy or consulate, the application procedure for the e-visa is quick and easy.

With the tourist or business e-visa you can apply for here, you can stay in Vietnam for up to 90 days.
Apply for your Vietnam e-visa now

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was also possible to obtain a Visa On Arrival (VOA) upon arrival in Vietnam. This is no longer a possibility. All information about the validity of the Vietnam visa on this page is about the electronic variant.

Traditional salt extraction in Vietnam

More information about the validity period of the Vietnam e-visa

The electronic visa for Vietnam is valid for a maximum of 90 days. In the application form, you chose the starting date of this validity period. Because of this, you do not have to wait to apply for your visa until right before your departure to Vietnam. You will only be allowed to arrive in Vietnam on or after the selected starting date of the visa.

In the application form, you must also indicate when you will last leave Vietnam (under ‘Last day in Vietnam‘) This date cannot more than 90 days posterior to the effective date of the visa. You can, however, alsways choose to leave Vietnam prior to the filled in departure date, but never after. This is also the case if your newly preferred departure date falls within the 90 days after the starting date of the visa.

Do you want to arrive in Vietnam prior to the starting date on your visa?
You are not allowed to arrive in Vietnam earlier than the starting date of the validity period of your visa. In addition, you can no longer change this date. If you still want to travel sooner, you have to apply for a new visa. This new application also has to be paid for again.

Do you want to arrive later in Vietnam than you indicated on the form?
You are allowed to enter Vietnam during the entire validity period of the visa, meaning from the starting date until the indicated departure date. Keep in mind, however, that you have to leave Vietnam within before the selected departure date. If you arrive in Vietnam later, you are not allowed to stay in the country for a longer period of time. Of course, you can also choose to apply for a new visa, allowing you to stay in the country for up to 90 full days.
Apply for a new visa here

Change your travel plans

Do you want to change your travel plans after you have submitted your visa application for Vietnam? Keep in mind that you have entered more details in the application form than just your expected arrival date or the starting date of the visa. For example, you have also entered an arrival and departure location, and the address of your first overnight stay. Officially, you are not permitted to deviate from the arrival and departure location. If you choose to do so, this usually does not cause any problems, but it is entirely at your own risk.

Temporarily leaving Vietnam (multiple-entry)

Do you wish to travel to Vietnam multiple times using the same visa? You can do so with the multiple-entry visa. Simply select this visa type in the same application form used for the single-entry visa. When applying for the multiple-entry visa, you must fill in the date of your first arrival as the starting date of the visa. For your ‘Last day in Vietnam‘, you must enter the day of the last time you will leave Vietnam. In the meantime, you will be allowed to enter and leave the country as often as you wish.

Stay in Vietnam for more than 90 days

If you are already in Vietnam and want to stay for more than 90 days, it is possible to extend the validity of the visa. You can only do so after arrival in Vietnam at an office of the Vietnam immigration service. Many travellers find the required procedure quite complicated because some forms have to be completed in Vietnamese, among others. There are Vietnamese visa agencies that can help you with this, but the cost can be quite high.

There is an easier alternative to staying in Vietnam longer. Many tourists who are enjoying their stay in Vietnam and wish to stay longer decide to leave the country for several days to apply for a new e-visa in a neigbouring country, such as Laos or Cambodia. As such, they can stay in Vietnam for another 90 days after a short stay in a neighbouring country.