Proposal to extend e-visa to three months, creating favorable conditions to attract international tourists

Chairman of the National Defense and Security Committee Le Tan Toi chaired the meeting.

On the morning of May 8 at the National Assembly House, under the chairmanship of Lieutenant General Le Tan Toi, member of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the National Defense and Security Committee, the National Defense and Security Committee held the 6th plenary session to examine 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.

Authorized by the Minister of Public Security to present the Government's report on 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, Senior Lieutenant General Luong Tam Quang, member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Minister of Public Security, said: Through research, review and summary of the practical implementation of the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens and the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam, the Government found that there have been some shortcomings, limitations and requirements of the practical situation that need to be amended and supplemented such as: Regulations on the form, order and procedures for implementing requests for issuance of ordinary passports in the electronic environment; on the form, order and procedures for reporting the loss of ordinary passports in the electronic environment; need to be more open in Vietnam's visa policy to contribute to improving competitiveness and attracting international tourists in the coming time...

According to Deputy Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang, the amendments and supplements contribute to simplifying procedures, promoting the implementation of administrative procedures in the electronic environment, continuing to create favorable conditions for Vietnamese citizens in issuing entry and exit documents and foreigners entering, exiting, transiting and residing in Vietnam; contributing to socio-economic development; both protecting national security and ensuring social order and safety. Perfecting the legal basis, ensuring synchronization, unity and improving the effectiveness of state management of entry, exit, transit and residence of foreigners in Vietnam, contributing to making tourism a spearhead economic sector, creating conditions for investors to explore the market and invest.

Deputy Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang presented the Government's report.

Regarding the structure and content of the draft Law, Deputy Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang said that 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 consists of 3 articles with 4 groups of contents: reforming administrative procedures, perfecting regulations on the implementation of administrative procedures in the field of immigration management in the electronic environment; amending to facilitate citizens in applying for visas to enter foreign countries, issuing ordinary passports according to simplified procedures; improving the effectiveness of state management in the field of exit and entry of Vietnamese citizens and synchronization and unity of the legal system; amending the provisions of the Law to continue to create more favorable conditions for foreigners to enter and exit Vietnam and amending to manage the residence of foreigners in Vietnam, contributing to protecting national security and ensuring social order and safety.

In particular, Senior Lieutenant General Luong Tam Quang said that the Government proposed to amend and supplement the provisions in Articles 7 and 9 of the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam 2014 (amended and supplemented in 2019) to increase the validity of e-visas from 30 days to 3 months, valid for single or multiple entries. At the same time, amend and supplement the provisions in Article 19a to expand the issuance of e-visas to citizens of all countries and territories and assign the Government to decide on a specific list of countries and territories on the basis of ensuring national defense, security, social order and safety, in accordance with Vietnam's foreign policy and socio-economic development.

Commenting on this content, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Son La Province Nguyen Huu Dong expressed his agreement with the proposal to increase the duration of e-visa from no more than 30 days to no more than 3 months, which will save time and costs for foreigners to apply for visas to Vietnam, contributing to attracting more tourists and investors to Vietnam, bringing convenience and special favors to passengers and facilitating the implementation of procedures of management agencies.

Agreeing with this view, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Dong Nai Province Quan Minh Cuong said that the scope of electronic visa issuance for citizens of other countries and territories should be expanded to create more favorable conditions for foreigners in entering, exiting, residing and doing business in Vietnam; contributing to the recovery and development of the tourism industry in particular and socio-economic development in general.

Affirming that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs agrees with the policy of extending the e-visa from no more than 30 days to no more than 3 months to create more favorable conditions for foreigners to enter Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Minh Vu, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, suggested excluding those holding foreign diplomatic or official passports to comply with the principle of equality.

At the same time, to further facilitate the exit of Vietnamese citizens, Mr. Nguyen Minh Vu proposed to consider assigning the Government to decide on agreements with foreign countries to issue visas longer than those stipulated in the Law. This will help the Government be more proactive in negotiating and signing international treaties to help Vietnamese citizens more easily apply for visas to other countries.

Overview of the Session

Basically agreeing with 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, Standing Member of the Law Committee Hoang Minh Hieu also said that the draft Law on Identification that the National Defense and Security Committee will comment on in the meeting is intended to issue Identity Cards to people living in Vietnam but whose nationality has not yet been determined, therefore, 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 should also consider including this content appropriately.

Concluding the meeting, Chairman of the National Defense and Security Committee Le Tan Toi acknowledged the enthusiastic and responsible opinions of the delegates. The opinions basically agreed with the necessity of amending and supplementing a number of relevant provisions of the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens and the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam to promptly overcome shortcomings and limitations in the practical implementation of the Law; and to implement the requirements on simplifying administrative procedures in the field of exit and entry.

At the same time, delegates focused on clarifying important contents of the draft Law, contents with different opinions and agreed with many contents of the draft review report of the National Defense and Security Committee; some specific comments on the addition of new types of entry and exit documents...

Chairman of the National Defense and Security Committee Le Tan Toi requested the Drafting Committee and the Standing Committee of the National Defense and Security Committee to study and absorb the opinions of the delegates, have a report explaining and assessing the impact of the contents with different opinions; complete the Draft Law and the Verification Report to submit to the National Assembly Standing Committee for comments at the 23rd session.

According to the scheduled program, the 23rd session of the National Assembly Standing Committee will open on May 9 and close on May 12 at the Tan Trao meeting room, National Assembly House. National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue attended, delivered the opening speech and together with the Vice Chairmen of the National Assembly took turns to direct the content of the session.

At this session, the National Assembly Standing Committee will give opinions on draft laws , including 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 .

NGUYEN HUNG

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