Waiting for the revised date, visa application still takes a lot of time for international visitors

Before the session, the Government sent a report to the National Assembly on receiving and explaining the opinions of the National Assembly Standing Committee related to the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens and the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam.

Accordingly, the Government proposed expanding the list of countries exempted from e-visas; increasing the duration of e-visas to 90 days, valid for single or multiple entries; and increasing the temporary stay period for visitors entering under unilateral visa exemption from 15 days to 45 days.

However, in addition to the above proposed amendments, travel agencies reported that they still spend a lot of time on visa procedures for international visitors.

With the document in hand, still waiting at the airport

The leader of an inbound tourism company in Hanoi shared that a Sri Lankan couple wanted to come to Vietnam for their honeymoon. They flew from Melbourne (Australia). The wife has Australian nationality so it was quite easy to apply for an e-visa. The husband has Sri Lankan nationality, although he had an official document allowing him to get a visa at the border ( visa on arrival ), he thought everything would be easy, but he still had to wait.

Normally, with a visa on arrival, visitors only need to bring a valid passport, go to the airport, get the visa stamped, and pay the fee. However, in Vietnam, visitors must have a Vietnam visa approval letter from the Immigration Department.

Many international visitors still have difficulty applying for visas to enter Vietnam (Illustration photo)

Before coming to Vietnam, the Sri Lankan couple carefully booked services with a travel agency and a visa company in Australia, and had an official dispatch to get a visa at the border gate. However, when arriving at Tan Son Nhat airport, the border gate staff asked the husband to fill in the entry visa application form and wait for his passport photo to be taken.

During this process, the guests had to wait a long time and it was explained that the reason was due to a lack of staff, the staff doing the procedures had to change shifts and were busy. Therefore, the immigration procedures at the airport gate took the guests another 3 hours, so the couple did not return to the hotel until 7:30-8:00 pm," said the travel company leader.

Mr. Pham Ha, Chairman of Lux Group, said that the regulation requiring foreign visitors to have an official document allowing them to get a visa at a Vietnamese border gate is not essentially a visa on arrival.

According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Chi, former Deputy Head of the Travel Department (Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism), correctly understood, visa on arrival is when visitors arrive at the border gate (usually the international airport gate), then they apply for a visa, so at that time it is also a matter of luck. Some countries, like Mongolia, do not have many embassies, almost 100% of visitors flying in are granted visas at the airport. Depending on the destination, some countries charge additional fees, some exempt. For visitors who travel suddenly and do not have time to prepare the procedures to apply for an electronic visa (evisa), they apply for a visa on arrival.

As of 2019, there are more than 40 countries and territories issuing visas on arrival to Vietnamese citizens.

Some countries are very open to this type of visa. For example, visitors only need to present a return ticket to be able to continue to a third country.

Vietnam's visa-on-arrival policy needs to be more flexible (Photo: Hoang Ha)

Or to Thailand, international visitors only need a passport valid for more than 6 months, customs checks that there are no 'special issues requiring restrictions' and proof of a round-trip ticket. Going to Cambodia is also very easy. Visitors do not need to do any procedures in advance, just fill in the entry card issued on the plane. When landing, they bring the card with their passport, pay the fee and get a visa. The risk of being refused is very low.

Need to apply flexibly

Meanwhile, in Vietnam, a travel agency specializing in receiving inbound tourists in Hanoi said that to get this license, foreign tourists cannot apply for it themselves. They must go through a travel agency. Moreover, tourists are also assigned to enter the country at a border gate (usually the starting point of the tour).

To get a visa approval, the travel agency must sponsor the customer, such as creating a tour program, clearly stating the accommodation, hotel name, etc.

Therefore, many companies are not interested in individual customers because of the great responsibility, while after the Covid-19 pandemic, they have had many difficulties and lack of human resources.

Visa on arrival procedures need to be simple and convenient to attract wealthy customers with lots of money and little time. They like to 'pack their bags and go', so applying for a visa must be quick and easy.

Ms. Nghiem Thuy Ha, CEO of Aadasia Group, suggested that in the upcoming visa policy amendments, the most important thing is to expand the list of countries exempted from e-visas, moving towards implementing visa on arrival in Vietnam.

She suggested that the authorities should consider issuing visas on arrival to encourage luxury, wealthy, and time-poor visitors to come to Vietnam, similar to what Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia are doing.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Chi also said that visa on arrival is flexible in application, different from evisa. E-visa is just a change from direct to online, but visa on arrival can have more open procedures if applied properly. Therefore, Vietnam needs to soon apply visa on arrival in a flexible, public, and convenient way for international visitors.

Proposing the National Assembly to have a resolution amending visa policy from May The Ministry of Public Security plans to propose the National Assembly to include the content of changing visa and e-visa policies in a joint resolution of the National Assembly at the nearest session (May 2023). This will be the basis for the Government to direct immediate implementation, avoiding missing the opportunity to welcome international visitors.

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