Vietnam Visa

We recently booked a cruise on Princess for March 2017. We will be visiting ports in Vietnam. We travel on Australian passports.

Princess have informed us via the Cruise Personaliser about our Vietnam Visa stating this:

"A Vietnam visa is required for most guests on this voyage, including Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and U.S. passport holders. You may either obtain the visa on your own before your cruise, or a visa will be issued upon arrival in Vietnam. If you choose to have the visa issued on board, a passport-size photo or copy of your passport photo page is required, and a visa fee of USD $56.00 per person (USD $76.00 per person for those participating on an overland package) will be charged to your stateroom account.

Some guests, including UK passport holders, do not require a visa; however, they will be charged $1 per person for a landing card and a $1 per person processing fee.

All guests' passports must be valid for at least six months after departing Vietnam and must contain at least one unused page for entry/exit endorsements."

The visa and the cost are dependent on your nationality, length of stay, whether or not you need re-entry privileges and finally where you plan to enter the country. VISA costs can vary wildly when you use a third party so it pays to shop around. What you pay will be the visa fee plus the third party fee. If you are booking other arrsngements through a Vietnan travel agent the agency will often do this for a much smaller fee.

In our case we arrived by land. We paid $40 Usd each to a travel agency in Cambodia to arrange our one month single entry visa. We had the passports back in 48 hours. The price at that time, this past Feb. had just been reduced for us. We were staying in Vietnam for 29 days so we had to be careful about our requested entry date soas no to go over and face a hassle. Entering by land was a snap. Took us about ten minutes max.

We recently booked a cruise on Princess for March 2017. We will be visiting ports in Vietnam. We travel on Australian passports.

Princess have informed us via the Cruise Personaliser about our Vietnam Visa stating this:

 

"A Vietnam visa is required for most guests on this voyage, including Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and U.S. passport holders. You may either obtain the visa on your own before your cruise, or a visa will be issued upon arrival in Vietnam. If you choose to have the visa issued on board, a passport-size photo or copy of your passport photo page is required, and a visa fee of USD $56.00 per person (USD $76.00 per person for those participating on an overland package) will be charged to your stateroom account.

Some guests, including UK passport holders, do not require a visa; however, they will be charged $1 per person for a landing card and a $1 per person processing fee.

All guests' passports must be valid for at least six months after departing Vietnam and must contain at least one unused page for entry/exit endorsements."

Have you seen this - $U5 fee for cruise passengers

http://vietnamvisaembassy.org/vietnam-visa-fee-cruise-passengers-back-us5-per-pax/

http://www.thanhniennews.com/travel/vietnam-pm-calls-on-bureaucrats-to-ease-up-on-cruise-tourists-37489.html

http://www.vir.com.vn/5-fee-still-applied-to-foreign-travelers-coming-to-vietnam-by-sea.html

I would be querying this with Princess (as I am with RCL currently). There are other posts in here re Princess and 'visa charges' where they no longer apply or have been reduced (eg Indonesia)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1661635

It would be nice if anyone else has any experience / updates on this ?

VOA by airplane for Americans has increased as of the end of Aug/beg of September. Americans are now ONLY offered a one year multiple entry visa and the price has gone up. VOA is now $135. (and the letters vary depending on source) It's $220 if you get a visa from the Consulate ahead of time. http://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/vietnam-visa-fees-granted-to-us-tourists-set-to-skyrocket-from-late-august-3462537.html

 

 

I'm still trying to find out if the cruise ship (single entry/day/group) that has been used in the past will still be valid on our upcoming Nov/Dec cruise, but this is a new change and not a lot of information yet....

I have been searching for the price of getting the visa ahead of time from the embassy. I can't see in the article where the $220 fee is quoted. We have everything else figured out from the VN embassy website, except how much to mail with the money order.

We will be arriving in HCMC just after midnight, after a very long flight so I want to have this taken care of before leaving.

FYI

we are on a Mekong river cruise and needed a "multi" entry visa.

We used GenVisa and the cost for 2 was $390...took just over 3 weeks...we paid extra for insurance if passports were lost......

 

the visas arrived yesterday via Fed Ex and I was able to track the package.

It sounds like you may have gotten in just before the more expensive 1 year multi entry was required, correct?

People on TripAdvisor are reporting that the one month visa for US citizens going to Vietnam is back in place as of October 10. (From the end of August, U.S. citizens could only get the much more expensive one year multi-entry). There is still some question whether the stamping fee has been reduced for those going the Visa on Arrival (VOA)route.

Here is an update posted on Points Guy

http://thepointsguy.com/2016/09/vietnam-changes-visa-requirements/

Have you seen this - $U5 fee for cruise passengers

 

http://vietnamvisaembassy.org/vietnam-visa-fee-cruise-passengers-back-us5-per-pax/

http://www.thanhniennews.com/travel/vietnam-pm-calls-on-bureaucrats-to-ease-up-on-cruise-tourists-37489.html

http://www.vir.com.vn/5-fee-still-applied-to-foreign-travelers-coming-to-vietnam-by-sea.html

 

 

 

I would be querying this with Princess (as I am with RCL currently). There are other posts in here re Princess and 'visa charges' where they no longer apply or have been reduced (eg Indonesia)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1661635

 

 

 

It would be nice if anyone else has any experience / updates on this ?

to 'update' my prev post:

the Visa information provided by Royal Caribbean - onboard - Yoyager of the Seas Oct 2016 re Vietnam :

'As we are entering the territorial waters of Vietnam, all guests who are not in possession of a Vietnamese Visa will be included in the Group Visa program..... all guests who are not holding an electronic / online visa or SPEC card will be charged a $6.00 (US) visa fee.

(this $6 covered the two Vietnam cities we visited - Nha Trang and HCMC (Phu My port)

(note - there are no details regarding THOSE that should be in possession before hand !!

Therefore - it could be taken that those nationals (and we had a wide range - from Australians, Great Britain, Chinese, Singaporeans, US and Canadaian) would be included in the Group Visa program).

What has been put in the recent posts are along the lines of what I had said in # 23 and is current.

Brits are only exempt visas if arriving by plane, so # 26 saying UK passport holders are exempt visas is wrong for UK cruise passengers. The small charge is for individual ports and a full (about £50) visa is required for UK passport holders if staying ashore overnight from a ship.

Just a new update to an older thread.... I am traveling on the Volendam Dec 6, Singapore to Hong Kong... says we need visas for Cambodia and Vietnam ports. I just called HAL and here are the updated pricing... I was a bit shocked after reading through these posts.

Cambodia $63 per person... a bit steep for a few hours ashore.

Vietnam $55 per person... a much better deal given that we have several stops

Does anyone have any idea if this is the best way to go?

Thanks so much.

Has anyone done the online e-visa for Vietnam? It certainly is a better deal at $25 per person.

Here is a link to look through https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/vietnam.html

and then the application process here

https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/en_US/web/guest/khai-thi-thuc-dien-tu/cap-thi-thuc-dien-tu

Has anyone done the online e-visa for Vietnam? It certainly is a better deal at $25 per person.

 

Here is a link to look through https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/vietnam.html

 

and then the application process here

https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/en_US/web/guest/khai-thi-thuc-dien-tu/cap-thi-thuc-dien-tu

It's single entry, so make sure that's all you need. Someone on another thread has been having photo issues trying to do the online application (but I think his issues are technological, not appropriateness of the photo itself) Def seems like a good price if it works for what you need....I also can't find a list of the approved entry points - are ports (and if so which) allowed, not just airports?

(Azamara did ours, we paid $6USD)

Has anyone done the online e-visa for Vietnam? It certainly is a better deal at $25 per person.

 

Here is a link to look through https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/vietnam.html

 

and then the application process here

https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/en_US/web/guest/khai-thi-thuc-dien-tu/cap-thi-thuc-dien-tu

I am sure the e-visa system is only good to arriving by AIR.

Despite what the cruise lines charge, getting the visa on the ship is still the easiest way of dealing with visas issues if visiting Vietnam and Cambodia by ship.

I am sure the e-visa system is only good to arriving by AIR.

 

Despite what the cruise lines charge, getting the visa on the ship is still the easiest way of dealing with visas issues if visiting Vietnam and Cambodia by ship.

I fully agree. HAL/the Volendam will take care of everything. I checked the pricing (The Netherlands) before we left with the Volendam last February and the decision was an easy one.

Vietnam continues to review it's visa policy and charges as tourism increases. Just prior to our winter trip there was a significant decrease in the price of a 30 day single entry visa.

One would hope that they would have a special category for one day cruise ship visitors. We were there for 29 days so we did not find the cost excessive. Same with Cambodia. We were there for 12 days so the visa did not seem overly expensive. We entered Vietnam by road and had no issue. You do need to obtain your Visa prior to arriving at the border-apparently they do not issue them at land crossings.

It's single entry, so make sure that's all you need. Someone on another thread has been having photo issues trying to do the online application (but I think his issues are technological, not appropriateness of the photo itself) Def seems like a good price if it works for what you need....I also can't find a list of the approved entry points - are ports (and if so which) allowed, not just airports?

(Azamara did ours, we paid $6USD)

Thank you. Yea, those are the prices I've been reading about onboard.... then I called HAL yesterday and was a little surprised they are charging $55 per person. $63 per person for Cambodia and we are only there for a couple of hours. At least with the Vietnam price we are stopping in 4 different ports. It's not a bank breaker for sure, just figured if I could do it easily for less money I would.

I am sure the e-visa system is only good to arriving by AIR.

 

Despite what the cruise lines charge, getting the visa on the ship is still the easiest way of dealing with visas issues if visiting Vietnam and Cambodia by ship.

Thank you! I appreciate the response. It's hard to find out the specifics of the e visa program. I'm sure you are right about getting them onboard. I just figured if I could save a bit of money AND it was easy to do on my own I would... but it appears not.

I am sure the e-visa system is only good to arriving by AIR.

E-visa is valid for 8 airports, 13 land crossing points and 7 seaports.

http://e.vnexpress.net/news/travel-life/vietnam-launches-e-visas-for-visitors-from-40-countries-3533738.html

The 7 seaports are:

1- Hon Gai (province of Quang Ninh)

2- Hai Phong

3- Nha Trang

4- Da Nang

5- Quy Nhon (province of Binh Dinh)

6- Ba Ria/Vung Tau (entry point for Ho Chi Minh City)

7- Ho Chi Minh City

We decided to get our Vietnam visa while travelling in Cambodia because it was considerably less expensive that the fee charged by the embassy in Canada. The other plus was that the Visa fee was reduced just prior to our departure.

The cost of getting a visa is two fold, regardless of where you obtain it. There is the visa cost itself. Then the local embassy/consulate where the visa is issued adds a fee. That fee was much lower in Cambodia than it was in Canada. The other plus was the TA agency in Cambodia turned our visa application and passports around in 24 hours. This was only because the application and passports had to be sent to another city. Had we applied in Phnom Phen for instance, we could have applied in the AM and had our visa and passport back by 5PM. We happened to be in Siem Reap and the nearest Vietnamese consulate office was down the road in Batdambang.

We found tripadvisor forums to be a great source of up to date information ...right down to getting a recommendation for an agency in Siem Reap who could process our Vietnamese visa application quickly and at a reasonable service fee. You do need to be aware that the rules and fees very much depend on what passport you are travelling with.

We decided to get our Vietnam visa while travelling in Cambodia because it was considerably less expensive that the fee charged by the embassy in Canada. The other plus was that the Visa fee was reduced just prior to our departure.

 

The cost of getting a visa is two fold, regardless of where you obtain it. There is the visa cost itself. Then the local embassy/consulate where the visa is issued adds a fee. That fee was much lower in Cambodia than it was in Canada. The other plus was the TA agency in Cambodia turned our visa application and passports around in 24 hours. This was only because the application and passports had to be sent to another city. Had we applied in Phnom Phen for instance, we could have applied in the AM and had our visa and passport back by 5PM. We happened to be in Siem Reap and the nearest Vietnamese consulate office was down the road in Batdambang.

 

We found tripadvisor forums to be a great source of up to date information ...right down to getting a recommendation for an agency in Siem Reap who could process our Vietnamese visa application quickly and at a reasonable service fee. You do need to be aware that the rules and fees very much depend on what passport you are travelling with.

What you say is very true but only applicable to people arriving by AIR OR LAND

Almost all contributors or people seeking advice on this forum will be arriving by SHIP, and therefore different rules and fees apply.

You also need to factor in another cost. The value of your time. When you get on the ship the cruise line collects your passport, and then processes with the local agents several thousand visas when you factor in the crew is also processed. Getting your own visa can cause issues, like my passport has 30 plus pages of visas stamps, if you have a visa and they miss it they will do a ship's visa and you end up paying twice.

Another true case happen to my wife and I last year. She travels on a Philippine Passport, I'm on a United States passport. The cruise line saw the cruise under my name and processed two visas, but she does not need a visa as Philippines is visa waved. The issue was trying to get the false visa canceled and a refund to my ships account. It took 3 meetings and about 2 1/2 hours. If they miss your visa in your passport do you really want to waste hours of your trip dealing with guest services?

Yes having the ship do it does cost more but with the limited time we have on the ship, maybe paying a little more is worth it to save possible problems.