Obtaining a travel visa for Vietnam
With the exception of travellers from a few neighbouring countries, all non-Vietnamese passport holders are required to have a valid visa to enter Vietnam. Visitors can obtain a tourist visa in one of three ways:

Please note: Options 2 and 3 are only available to people who have booked an itinerary with Haivenu - we cannot process visas for casual visitors.

1) Do it yourself
In countries with a Vietnamese Embassy, prospective travellers to Vietnam can visit the Embassy to collect an application form. Once the form has been completed and returned, the travel visa will be ready for collection about three working days later assuming there are no complications. In some countries, it is possible to have a visa sent by post, but the applicant will have to send his or her passport to the Embassy for validation.

The cost will be about $25 US or $30 US per visa, and the Embassy will levy a service charge on top. To find out how much the Embassy charges, and whether the Embassy will issue a visa by post, intending visitors should ring the Embassy and ask for the Visa Section.

2) We deal with the paperwork
We send customers a form requesting basic information (names, dates, passport numbers and so on) by e-mail. When the completed from is returned, we apply to the Immigration Office in Ha Noi. After about five working days, we will receive an approval paper and fax it to the Vietnam Embassy in the customer's country. The customer can then send his or her passport by post to the embassy with a cheque for the visa fee, or collect it in person. It will be necessary to ring the Embassy to arrange a time for collection.

For this service, we charge $10 US per person to cover our costs - this fee can be added to the cost of the tour or holiday. The visa fee will be about $25 US or $30 US, making a total coat of $35 US to $40 US per person.

3) Visa on arrival
Customers without a Vietnamese Embassy in their country, those booking late, or those preferring to minimise paperwork, can ask us to process a 'visa on arrival'. This involves supplying us with a few details in advance and collecting your visa when you enter Vietnam.

We ask customers to supply us with the basic information needed to apply to the Immigration Office in Ha Noi for a 'visa on arrival'. When the official approval document is issued, we send it to the customer as a fax, or scan it and send it by e-mail. We do this just in case a customer's travel status is queried at the departure airport (a very rare occurrence - although airlines hardly ever ask to see an outbound passenger's visa, we prefer to make sure that no Haivenu customer would be inconvenienced if a check-in clerk were to ask him or her about the missing passport stamp).

The process from our receipt of a customer's information and his or her receipt of the visa approval takes a maximum of three working days. Please note that the Immigration Office is closed at weekends, so no approvals can be issued on those days.

When a customer arrives at Ha Noi airport, a member of our staff will be waiting at the Immigration desk to assist with completing the necessary paperwork. This usually takes about half an hour. Please note that each client must supply a passport photograph in colour.

For this service, we charge $20 US per person for the application procedure and assistance at the airport, which can be added to the cost of the tour or holiday if you wish. The customer has to pay a further $25 US for each visa directly to the Customs Department at the airport.