Vietnam visa on arrival still works in 2026, but only for air travellers who already hold an approval letter from the Vietnam Immigration Department, arranged online through a licensed agency before the flight. On landing you pay a cash stamping fee, USD 25 for a single entry, at one of eight international airports. For most trips the USD 25 e-visa is simpler; visa on arrival earns its place when you need to fly within days, or within hours. Our airport team sees the difference every week: travellers who land with photos, clean dollar notes and a printed letter are usually through the counter in about fifteen minutes.
The short version
Yes. As of September 2026, Vietnam still issues visas on arrival at its international airports to travellers holding an approval letter. The system did not disappear when the e-visa opened to every nationality on 15 August 2023; it now works as the fast lane for trips booked at short notice and for visitors sponsored by a Vietnamese company.
Two points catch first-time visitors out. First, "on arrival" does not mean you can simply turn up: Vietnam issues no walk-in visas, and without the approval letter the airline will refuse to board you. Second, many travellers need no visa at all. British, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Nordic, Japanese and South Korean passport holders, among others, can stay up to 45 days visa-free, and anyone flying directly to Phu Quoc can stay on the island for 30 days. Check the Vietnam visa exemption list before paying for a letter you do not need.
| Option | Best for | Cost | Processing | Where you can enter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visa exemption | Listed nationalities, short stays | Free | None | All international border gates |
| E-visa | Trips planned a week ahead, stays up to 90 days | USD 25 single, USD 50 multiple, online | About 3 working days | Airports plus many land and sea gates |
| Visa on arrival | Departures within 1 to 5 days, sponsored business trips | Agency fee plus USD 25 or 50 cash | 1 hour to 3 working days | 8 international airports only |
Visa on arrival costs two separate payments: an agency fee for the approval letter, paid online by card, and a government stamping fee, paid in cash at the airport. In September 2026 a standard one-month single-entry letter costs about USD 18 and the stamping fee is USD 25, so the cheapest realistic total is around USD 43 per person.
| Visa type | Approval letter (agency, standard speed) | Stamping fee at the airport | Typical total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 month, single entry | about USD 18 | USD 25 | about USD 43 |
| 3 months, single entry | about USD 28 | USD 25 | about USD 53 |
| 1 month, multiple entry | about USD 21 | USD 50 | about USD 71 |
| 3 months, multiple entry | about USD 43 | USD 50 | about USD 93 |
Agency prices: published price list for 1 to 2 travellers, checked 28 September 2026. Stamping fees: government fee schedule in force since 1 April 2026.
Speed changes the agency part of the bill, never the stamping fee. Next-day processing typically adds USD 9 to 12 per person and same-day USD 19 to 22; emergency letters within a couple of hours, or at weekends, cost several times the standard rate. The fee schedule also lists longer multiple-entry visas (USD 95 for three to six months, USD 135 for up to a year), but those are business visas that need a sponsoring company. A single-entry e-visa costs USD 25 in total, so visa on arrival is worth the extra USD 18 to 30 only when time is the problem.
Sondax tip:
The visa counter takes cash only, in US dollars or Vietnamese dong. Cards are not accepted, and you should not count on finding an ATM before passport control. Bring the exact amount in clean, untorn notes: officers routinely turn away dollar bills with tears, tape, ink marks or heavy creases, and paying in dong at the counter rate costs more.
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You apply online through a licensed Vietnamese travel company, which acts as your sponsor and submits your passport details to the Immigration Department; travellers cannot request the letter directly. Standard processing takes 2 to 3 working days, urgent 4 to 8 hours, and emergency letters in 1 to 2 hours are offered for Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City arrivals.
The letter states the entry window you were approved for. Arriving before the first date or after the last one means applying again, so pick dates with a margin if your flight could move. If your departure is more than a week away, the agency step is unnecessary: our Vietnam e-visa guide walks through the official application, which costs less and lets you go straight to passport control on landing.
To keep processing costs down, many agencies put 10 to 30 travellers on a single approval letter, so the PDF you print shows strangers' full names, birth dates, nationalities and passport numbers, and theirs shows yours. A private letter lists only you and anyone applying with you, usually for a small surcharge on top of the standard agency fee.
A group letter is valid and airlines accept it, so this is a privacy choice, not a legal one. If the agency form has no private option, ask before paying. And do not worry if the letter arrives without a red wet stamp: recent approval letters carry the Immigration Department's digital signature block instead.
Visa on arrival is issued only at international airports, and agencies list eight of them. It is not available at land borders with Cambodia, Laos or China, or at cruise ports, so an approval letter is of no use if you arrive overland or by ship; those travellers need an e-visa or a visa exemption instead.
The visa is stamped at your first point of arrival, not your final destination. Flying Tokyo to Da Nang via Hanoi, you get the visa at Noi Bai, collect your bags and check in again for the domestic flight, so leave at least three hours for the connection. At the smaller airports the counter may only be staffed around scheduled international flights.
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Print the approval letter, fill in the NA1 entry and exit form, and pack two passport photos and the exact stamping fee. Landing at Tan Son Nhat or Noi Bai, also submit the free pre-arrival declaration within 72 hours of arrival: it has been required at Tan Son Nhat since 15 April 2026 and at Noi Bai since June 2026.
The pre-arrival declaration is free on the Immigration Department's portal, and it replaces nothing on this list: travellers on visa on arrival need the declaration, the NA1 form and the approval letter.
After leaving the aircraft, follow the signs for Landing Visa or Visa Counters, which sit before the passport control lines. Hand over your passport, approval letter, NA1 form and photos, wait for your name or photo to be called, pay the stamping fee in cash, then join the immigration queue with the visa sticker in your passport.
On a normal day the counter takes 15 to 30 minutes; when several long-haul flights land together, it can pass an hour, and names are called as passports are processed, not in the order they were handed in. The mistake we see most often at Noi Bai is the traveller who joins the passport control queue first and gets sent back to the visa counter. Before walking away, check the name, passport number and dates on the sticker: a typo is quick to fix at the counter and painful to fix later.
This is the one stage where paid help makes a real difference. With a Hanoi airport fast track, a host meets you before immigration, takes your documents to the visa counter, then walks you through the priority lane. The stamping fee is still paid at the counter, and the service is worth it only if the queue, not the paperwork, is what worries you.
Most visa on arrival problems happen before the counter: boarding without a printed letter, a name that does not match the passport, arriving by land, or paying a copycat website. Each one can cost a missed flight or a second fee, and all of them can be avoided with ten minutes of checking before departure.
Can I pay the visa on arrival stamping fee by card?
No. The counter accepts cash only, in US dollars or Vietnamese dong. The fee is USD 25 for a single-entry visa and USD 50 for a multiple-entry visa of up to 90 days. Bring the exact amount in clean notes, because change is not always available and damaged notes are refused.
Do I still need the pre-arrival form if I have a visa on arrival?
Yes, if you land at Tan Son Nhat or Noi Bai. The free pre-arrival declaration has been mandatory at Tan Son Nhat since 15 April 2026 and at Noi Bai since June 2026, and it must be submitted within 72 hours of arrival. It sits alongside the approval letter and the NA1 form; it replaces neither.
Is visa on arrival faster than an e-visa?
For the approval stage, yes: an urgent letter can arrive in hours, while an e-visa usually takes about three working days. At the airport it is slower, because visa on arrival adds a counter and a queue before passport control. If you have a week, the e-visa is cheaper and quicker overall.
How long can I stay on a Vietnam visa on arrival?
Tourist approval letters are usually issued for one or three months, single or multiple entry, and the stay allowed is printed on the visa sticker. Stays can sometimes be extended from inside Vietnam through a licensed company, but plan for the length on your sticker and check the exit date before you book your flight home.
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Visa rules by passport
Tan Son Nhat, Ho Chi Minh City
A Sondax host meets your group inside the terminal at Tan Son Nhat and walks you straight to the priority immigration lane.
Noi Bai International Airport, Hanoi
A Sondax host meets your group inside Terminal 2 at Noi Bai and walks you past the queue to the priority immigration lane.
Phu Quoc International Airport, Phu Quoc
A Sondax host meets your group inside Terminal 2 at Phu Quoc and walks you to the priority immigration lane, on arrival or departure.
Da Nang International Airport, Da Nang
A Sondax host meets your group inside the international terminal at Da Nang and walks you to the priority immigration lane.
Cam Ranh International Airport, Nha Trang
A Sondax host meets your group inside Terminal 2 at Cam Ranh and takes you to the priority immigration lane, arrival or departure.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Beat the immigration queue at Tan Son Nhat Airport. Our team escorts you through priority lanes, so arrival or departure takes under 30 minutes.
Hanoi, Vietnam
Walk past the immigration queue at Noi Bai Airport. A dedicated Sondax escort guides you through priority lanes — typically done in under 20 minutes.
