What is Vietnam visa approval letter for?

Recently, Vietnam has changed its visa policy in order to facilitate both the applying and issuing processes for a visa. With the innovative visa policy, foreigners now can apply for a visa online without having to travel to Embassy of Socialist Republic of Vietnam many times. For this easy and simple application, applicants will get Vietnam visa approval letter sent to their subscribed email address. So what is Vietnam visa approval letter and what is it used for?

Vietnam visa approval letter is crucial to get Vietnam stamped visa

What is Vietnam visa approval letter?

Vietnam visa approval letter is an official document issued by Vietnam Department of Immigration to certify that the applicants will be legally granted to get stamped visa at the international airport in Vietnam. Normally, applicants get this approval letter via email after applying online from a licensed Vietnam visa service company. The company submits the application to the Vietnam Department of Immigration to be issued the legitimate approval letter.

How to get Vietnam visa approval letter?

Vietnam visa approval letter is issued and sent online to applicant’s email. Therefore, to get the visa approval letter, one must apply online in advance for the service to be processed. With online application, there is no need for foreigners to hand in any of their documents but just to fill in all blank space in the application form with relevant and accurate information. The information includes applicant’s full name (as in his passport), date of birth, gender, nationality, passport number, passport expiration date, type of requested visa (business/tourism, single entry/multiple entries, one month validity/three-month validity,...), expected processing time and contacts. All of the information must be truly stated because they will be used to check whether the applicant is eligible to get a visa and to be presented in the actual stamped visa received at the airport.

To process the request, applicant then will be asked to pay for the service online. There are different methods of payment that can be applied such as Mastercard, Visacard, Paypal,... When the payment has been successfully processed, the invoice will be sent to the applicant’s email and his applicant is also automatically delivered to the Vietnam Department of Immigration through internet. There, your application will be checked and scanned carefully and strictly before the approval letter is issued.

After the application and payment, all you need to do now is waiting for the visa approval letter to be transferred to your email. The waiting time depends on the type of service you choose before which means the type of processing time in the application. For normal service, you will receive your approval letter after 1-2 working days while urgent service will take you 4-8 working hours. The length of time can also be as soon as 30 working minutes to 1 working hour with emergent service or at once even in time off and holidays with immediate service.

How will Vietnam visa approval letter be used?

For many countries that apply Vietnam visa on arrival policy, foreigners can get visa stamped in their passport right after arriving the national border without being asked to apply in advance. However, in Vietnam, visa approval letter is the prerequisite for a stamped visa being issued at the Vietnam international airport. A foreigner can not be allowed to enter Vietnam if he has got a visa approval letter in his hand to submit. This policy is to ensure that the foreigners be checked stringently and meet specific requirements from Vietnam Immigration authority. Therefore, visa approval letter is indispensable document that you need to bring with you to pass the Vietnam Immigration desk.

Visa on arrival is issued at landing desk

Since visa approval letter is sent to your email in form of a scan, you must print it out and carry it along with you. When landing at Vietnam international airport, just go directly to Visa on arrival desk to accomplish the procedure for getting visa. Here, you will be asked to complete the entry and exit form. All documents you need to hand in are your original passport (with at least a six-month validity counted from your date of arrival to Vietnam and a blank page for the visa endorsement), visa approval letter, two passport-sized photos (taken no more than six months), fully filled entry and exit form, together with stamping fee. Remember, all information in your visa approval letter must be exactly relevant with that in your passport, otherwise, you will not be accepted to enter Vietnam. Once your have got your visa, the visa approval letter now will no longer necessary or valid. Read more: Visa renewal and visa extension