Vietnam Expands Electronic Visa To 80 Nationals Effective July 1, 2020

Vietnam has been slowly expanding its electronic visa service that allows many nationals to bypass the time consuming manual process before entering the country.

Vietnam is now, despite its borders being closed for all international arrivals, adding more countries into the program bringing the number to 80 effective July 1, 2020.

Passengers on electronic visas can enter through eight airports, sixteen land borders, and thirteen cruise ports.

Here’s the updated list:

Điều 1. Danh sách các nước có công dân được cấp thị thực điện tử theo quy định tại khoản 10 Điều 1 Luật sửa đổi, bổ sung một số điều của Luật Nhập cảnh, xuất cảnh, quá cảnh, cư trú của người nước ngoài tại Việt Nam ngày 25 tháng 11 năm 2019, bao gồm:

Here’s an excerpt from the Saigoneer (access their piece here):

According to Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Trung Khanh, tourism officials are working on plans to lure back some groups of international visitors, but only from countries that have effectively responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, VnExpress reports. These include places like mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and several ASEAN members.

In one scenario, Khanh told the news site, if key tourism markets can successfully contain coronavirus risks by September, VNAT will devise targeted promotions and suggest relaxing travel restrictions, though some measures to verify the medical status of travelers from both sides will be required.

Conclusion

Vietnam has tried to expand its incoming tourism numbers over the past decade and has made it easier for foreigners to enter by not requiring advance visas or made them electronic.

The country closed its borders early during this Covid-19 pandemic and it is unclear when incoming tourists are welcomed again.