In order to enter Vietnam, you will need a valid passport with at least six months validity remaining and a Vietnamese visa, a visa exemption document, or a written approval letter for a visa upon arrival. You may obtain a visa or a visa exemption document from a Vietnamese embassy or consulate prior to traveling to Vietnam. To obtain a written approval letter to enter, you must contact a travel agency prior to departure. U.S. citizens have reported unscrupulous travel agencies taking advantage of travelers and charging extremely high fees upon landing.
The Government of Vietnam treats the use of falsified travel documents very seriously. Travelers attempting to enter Vietnam for any purpose with an altered or otherwise fraudulent travel document are likely to face criminal prosecution and possible imprisonment.
If you arrive without an appropriate Vietnamese visa, exemption document, or written approval for a visa upon arrival, you will not be permitted to enter and will be subject to immediate deportation. Vietnamese visas are usually valid for only one entry, unless the traveler specifically requests a multiple-entry visa, for which there may be an increased fee. If you are planning to leave Vietnam and re-enter from another country, be sure that your visa is multiple entry. If it is only single entry, you will have to obtain another visa prior to returning to Vietnam.
Please be aware that Vietnam has two fees: 1) the visa fee and 2) the visa processing fee. The visa fees are sometimes posted on the Vietnamese Embassy’s website, but U.S. Embassy and Consulate officials have received reports of processing fees varying from one applicant to another and from one issuing entity to another. We have brought this concern to the attention of Vietnamese officials, but the problem persists.
If you plan to travel to Laos by land, you must obtain the type of Vietnamese visa that adheres to the passport. Laos immigration requires proof that travelers have departed Vietnam, something that can only be shown with an adhesive visa. Vietnamese officials remove detachable visas from the passports of travelers when they depart Vietnam, leaving travelers with no proof of their recent Vietnam departure. This situation can result in Lao officials requiring the traveler to return to Vietnam.
Even if you have a valid visa, you may be refused entry to Vietnam. We caution you that Vietnamese immigration regulations require foreigners entering Vietnam to undertake only the activity for which their visas were issued. If you change the purpose of your visit, you must get permission to do so in advance from the appropriate Vietnamese authority. If your U.S. passport is lost or stolen in Vietnam, you must obtain both a replacement passport and a replacement Vietnamese visa. If you have an emergency, the U.S. Embassy and Consulate General can issue you a limited validity replacement passport in as little as one day; however, the Vietnamese government requires three to five working days, in addition to the day of application, to issue a replacement visa. Neither the U.S. Embassy nor the Consulate General can expedite replacement Vietnamese visas.
Visit the Vietnamese Embassy’s website for the most current visa information. The Vietnamese Embassy’s website also releases warnings about websites suspected of being fraudulent and strongly recommends American citizens not make online visa applications to these websites.
Vietnam Embassy
1233 20th Street NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
Phone (202)861-0737
Fax (202)861-0917
Vietnamese Consulate General,
1700 California Street, Suite 430
San Francisco, CA 94109
Phone (415) 922-1707
Fax (415)922-1848
Vietnamese Consulate General
5251 Westheimer Road, Suite 370
Houston, TX 77056
Phone (713) 850-1233
Fax: (713) 840-0159
Consulate General of Vietnam in San Francisco, California
1700 California Street, Suite 430
San Francisco, CA 94109
tel. 415-922-1577, fax 415-922-1848
info@vietnamconsulate-sf.org
http://www.vietnamconsulate-sf.org
Consulate General of Vietnam in Houston, Texas
5251 Westheimer Rd, Suite 1100
Houston, Texas 77056
Tel: 713-850-1233; Fax: 713-810-0159
http://vietnamconsulateinhouston.org/
Permanent Representative Mission to the UN, New York and the Consulate General of Vietnam in New York
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 435
New York, NY 10017
tel. 212-644-0594/212-644-0831/212-644-1564, fax 212-644-5732
vietnamun@aol.com
http://www.un.int/vietnam/
Important: Please take a note that visa on arrival in Vietnam means visa stamped on arrival with visa approval from Vietnam Immigration Office (must be obtained in advance to see more )
Baggage: Airline baggage allowance regulations are based on a weight and measurement system. Combined overall dimensions for checked baggage can not exceed 106 inches. Carry-on luggage cannot exceed 45 inches. For flights within continents baggage is limited to 44 lbs. (20 kilos). One bag not to exceed 106 inches may be taken on escorted programs. For additional bags, there will be an additional charge of approximately $3 per bag per handling.