I could not find the passport picture I had in the past so I have sourced this picture from Koevoets Advocaten.
My passport is Dutch, supposedly one of the strongest passports in the world. Unfortunately there are a few countries that I would love to visit (Russia and Mongolia for example) that requires me to apply for an entry visa. It is really the legwork that accompanies in the whole process that annoys me, because let’s be real, this visa thing is just a matter of formality, and a way for the country to earn money as well of course.
Now Vietnam. I never thought with a Dutch passport I would need to apply for an entry visa to enter the country? I was wrong.
My family who are all Philippine passport holders, do not need a visa to enter Vietnam. They benefit from ASEAN, where both countries are members and have a travel policy in place for visiting citizens. So I guess I am the ugly duckling in the basket.
This is moi on Union Square in front of the City Hall.
Here’s what I did for my Vietnam visa.
I made the decision to go for the Visa on Arrival visa because this is much easier and convenient for me.
I applied for my Vietnam visa online via Vietnam-Evisa.org's Visa on Arrival service and I paid $19 for a single entry visa. I chose them because their website looked professional, the pricing was competitive and they offered a quick turn-around time. I was able to get my visa in just a matter of days. But if you are in a rush, they also offer a next day service.
The Vietnam-Evisa.org service was very thorough with their instructions in the email. In order to save time, it is very important to prepare the following prior to arrival in Vietnam:
- Print out of the visa approval letter
- Print out of the visa application form and filled up with your details (They provide the link in the email where you can download the form and if you do this ahead of time, you really save time!)
- $25 visa on arrival stamp payment
- 2 passport size photos (2 x 6 cm) or prepare a $5 if you want your picture to be taken by them
Upon arrival we proceeded to the immigration section and found the visa service window at the left hand side of the immigration control area. I told my family to go ahead and go through immigration while I process my visa.
Luckily, we landed at around 08:30 which means I was at the visa services section just before 09:00. Half an hour later the crowd queueing tripled, and an hour later it was a chaos. I was able to dodge a massive queue of a couple hundred people waiting to process their Vietnam visa on arrival!
Ho Chi Minh City skyline taken from Shri Bar & Restaurant where we had lunch.
The processing is not really that fast. You first go to the window to submit your documents (passport, application form, visa print out, picture) and pay. If you do not have a picture they can take it for you for $5. So no worries for those who forgot to bring photos. After this you wait for your name to be called, and voila, you should have your visa stamp on your passport.
Now it is the waiting game that is unpredictable. Because I was one of the early birds, my visa got processed within an hour period which was quite long, as I discovered later. I guess many of the people arriving after me will have to wait for a few hours? Some may probably have to wait until in the afternoon.
Armed with my Vietnam visa on arrival stamp in my passport I queued up for the final hurdle – the immigration. The guy standing behind me in the queue is Australian. well I can tell from his accent. He let out a chuckle and a sigh of relief whilst shaking his head. He recognized me earlier at the visa services section and I guess he is just happy as I am that we got out of the waiting crowd that has already developed into a mob.
“I guess it’s better to apply for the visa ahead of time huh?” I told him.
He chuckled again squinting his eye, “Umm,... no, not really.”
“I have been coming to Vietnam every now and then, and I always make use of the Vietnam visa on arrival service, it is just easy. But you can never tell how big the crowd is every time.”
He claimed that this was the biggest crowd he has ever seen so far. Most days he experienced had manageable crowd and some days only a few people. It varies and n one can really tell. So I guess, visitors needing a visa to enter Vietnam will just have to keep using the visa on arrival service and hope there is no long queue!
Your typical Saigon street scene.
After I cleared through immigration I went to join my Philippine passport holders family at the airport lobby who have been waiting for me for over an hour. Sorry!
You can find pictures here of our arrival: Vietnam - Arriving Ho Chi Minh City and Plane Views
Come back for more travel stories and pictures of Vietnam.
Travel Period: December 2016
Destination: Ho Chi Minh City (Southeast), Vietnam
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Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)
All pictures were taken by a point and shoot pocket camera or a smartphone.