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Old 02-16-2017, 07:20 AM
 
Location: Seattle
8,171 posts, read 8,301,458 times
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Hi all,

Taking my wife and 12 year old daughter to North Vietnam (Sapa, Ba Be Lake, Hanoi, Bai tu Long Bay) for a couple weeks later this spring. I thought there was a Vietnamese Embassy in Seattle to get visas but it doesn't appear so. I've been to Asia many times but never Vietnam, was surprised to learn they don't have "visa on arrival". For those of you who have traveled there (we are traveling solo, no travel agency or tour), is there a place in Seattle where one can quickly get a visa? My wife is hesitant to give up her passport to send somewhere in the mail, she doesn't want to part with it "during these times".

We may just go up to Vancouver BC for the day, there is an embassy on Robson and we used to have a home up there so still have a Nexus pass to get through the border. If anyone knows any quick Seattle option, please let me know.
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Old 02-16-2017, 07:32 AM
 
Location: Seattle
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Doh! Thanks Tobester, that looks easy. As a self professed "remote world traveler", you'ld think I could have found that. Real estate has been busy and my wifey actually did the visa research, now I think she had ulterior motives for an overnight in Vancouver, never a bad thing
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Old 02-16-2017, 07:33 AM
 
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It looks like the only US Vietnam embassies are in San Francisco and Washington DC, so the Vancouver option might be the way to go.
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Old 02-16-2017, 07:58 AM
 
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**That website is not the official VN goverment website. There are a lot of websites that masquerade as VN govt to offer evisa and visa on arrival.**


If you do visa on arrival with these companies, once you get to VN, you will be charged 200usd "stamp fee" for a 6 month visa and 240usd for 1 year visa. These are the only options for US citizen. You used to be able to do single entry one month visa on arrival but that went away last year. Some of those service websites did not update this info.

Luckily, you can now got evisa directly online. Single entry one month visa for $25, I think. This was just launched in Feb 1 so the website is quite slow. This is directly from the government. If the first one not working, try the second one:

https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn
https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/we...trang-chu-ttdt
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Old 02-16-2017, 08:10 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nn2036 View Post
**That website is not the official VN goverment website. There are a lot of websites that masquerade as VN govt to offer evisa and visa on arrival.**


If you do visa on arrival with these companies, once you get to VN, you will be charged 200usd "stamp fee" for a 6 month visa and 240usd for 1 year visa. These are the only options for US citizen. You used to be able to do single entry one month visa on arrival but that went away last year. Some of those service websites did not update this info.

Luckily, you can now got evisa directly online. Single entry one month visa for $25, I think. This was just launched in Feb 1 so the website is quite slow. This is directly from the government. If the first one not working, try the second one:

https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn
https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/we...trang-chu-ttdt
thanks for correcting my post .... after posting, I was starting to think I may have erred
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Old 02-16-2017, 08:40 AM
 
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I did visa on arrival a few years ago with a company and it was fine. I think I paid $40 for a one time visa. The gov had that ridiculous policy change last year to only 1 year visa for US citizen ( I think they actually lower the stamping fee to $135 or something).

Luckily I found out that there is now single entry 1 month evisa online.

Last edited by Nn2036; 02-16-2017 at 08:56 AM..
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Old 02-17-2017, 01:36 PM
 
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The first time we went in 2011 (the south) we went through the embassy in SF. We filled out and printed the online applications, attached two passport photos with the applications, and sent the applications to the embassy in SF along with our passports via certified mail. They returned the passports with visas in a timely manner. You need to get going on that if you plan on traveling this spring.

We went to the north (Hanoi etc) last year and got our visa through one of the online agencies that handle visas on arrival. Basically you pay them a fee along with some information. They send you a letter that you bring with you, and you meet their representative on arrival before going through immigration. They take your passport (and collect fees, you can pay in USD), disappear for 15-20 min., and come back with your visa. We went straight through immigration after that, and didn't have to wait in line. There are numerous posts and info about these agencies on TripAdvisor. Read up on TripAdvisor and pick one you like.
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Old 02-17-2017, 02:47 PM
 
Location: Seattle
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Thanks hellopity!
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Old 02-17-2017, 05:02 PM
 
2,611 posts, read 2,882,545 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hellopity View Post
The first time we went in 2011 (the south) we went through the embassy in SF. We filled out and printed the online applications, attached two passport photos with the applications, and sent the applications to the embassy in SF along with our passports via certified mail. They returned the passports with visas in a timely manner. You need to get going on that if you plan on traveling this spring.

We went to the north (Hanoi etc) last year and got our visa through one of the online agencies that handle visas on arrival. Basically you pay them a fee along with some information. They send you a letter that you bring with you, and you meet their representative on arrival before going through immigration. They take your passport (and collect fees, you can pay in USD), disappear for 15-20 min., and come back with your visa. We went straight through immigration after that, and didn't have to wait in line. There are numerous posts and info about these agencies on TripAdvisor. Read up on TripAdvisor and pick one you like.
As I said on the other post, beware of the visa arrival due to policy change last year.
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Old 02-18-2017, 12:58 AM
 
3,306 posts, read 1,346,947 times
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The policy change lasted only a month and was reversed in October 2016 apparently. One month single entry visas are available through online agencies (per usual) and directly through the Vietnamese govt with eVisa (new).

One month single entry for US citizens reinstated: https://www.travelcodex.com/2016/11/...r-us-citizens/

If you are interested in the new eVisa mentioned by the above poster (one month single entry, this is a pilot program so do not be surprised if there are glitches):
https://www.travelcodex.com/2017/02/...-u-s-citizens/

Good luck and have fun!

PS. If you have the time, would just go through the embassy in SF. Might be a bit more expensive but you'll have your visa in hand before leaving.

Last edited by hellopity; 02-18-2017 at 01:26 AM..
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