Promote tourism and other fields to develop
On the afternoon of June 2, continuing the program of the 6th session, the National Assembly discussed in the hall 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.
Notably, the draft Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam (amended) will increase the duration of e-visas from 30 days to 3 months, valid once or multiple times.
The draft Law increases the temporary residence period from 15 days to 45 days for citizens of countries that are unilaterally exempted from visas by Vietnam and are considered for visa issuance and temporary residence extension according to other provisions of the Law.
Speaking, delegate Nguyen Thanh Phuong (Can Tho delegation) supported the need to amend 2 laws on entry and exit of Vietnamese citizens and foreigners in Vietnam.
Regarding visa issuance for foreigners and visa duration. Delegate Thanh Phuong agreed with the increase of visa time for foreigners who are granted EV visa code, ie electronic visa from 30 days to 3 months.
Delegate Phuong also informed that, according to the report of the Ministry of Public Security, when restoring the entry and exit policy as before Covid-19, from March 15, 3 to now, the number of e-visas has increased by 2022 times compared to the same period before the Covid-46,6 epidemic. This shows the need and convenience of adding e-visas for foreigners.
National Assembly member Nguyen Thanh Phuong speaks at the discussion session.
The Government has drafted a resolution on the list of 156 countries and territories granting e-visas and a list of 13 river border gates, 13 land border gates and 13 sea border gates allowing foreigners to enter with e-visas attached to this draft law.
Thus, it shows that we are creating very favorable conditions for foreigners to come to Vietnam in terms of time and value of extended visas, meeting the long-term resort needs of foreign tourists, creating favorable conditions for foreigners who want to enter Vietnam for research, market survey, investment search, promotion or other activities.
"Hopefully it will have a positive impact on the tourism industry and other educational, scientific and economic activities of our country," said delegate Phuong.
The Draft Law also mentions raising the temporary stay period from 15 days to 45 days. However, delegate Phuong also gave a reason to propose to increase the temporary residence time to 60 days.
“This is the right time for tourists who want to stay long enough. At the same time, it is suitable for the activities of tourism enterprises in Vietnam and internationally. Therefore, the temporary residence time should be considered up to 60 days so that Vietnam's policy is similar to that of countries like Thailand or Singapore," said delegate Phuong.
Delegate Le Nhat Thanh (Hanoi delegation) also said that the Government's proposal to increase the duration of e-visas to 3 months, valid for one time or many times, to meet the long-term resort needs of international tourists from far away markets.
At the same time, creating favorable conditions for foreigners who want to enter Vietnam to research, survey the market, seek investment promotion, especially in cases where there is a need to go to many countries in the region and return to Vietnam to assess and compare the possibility of expanding business investment in Vietnam is very suitable with the actual situation.
Confused about the temporary residence time of foreigners
Meanwhile, delegate Nguyen Tam Hung (from Ba Ria - Vung Tau delegation) also wondered about the temporary residence time of foreigners in Vietnam and Vietnam's visa exemption in the draft law. According to delegates, this problem is still not much compared to other countries in the region, there are some unclear regulations.
Specifically, in Clause 3, Article 2 of the draft law amending and supplementing Point c, Clause 4, Article 19a of the Law on allowing foreigners to enter and exit with electronic visas, the delegate requested the Drafting Board to clarify the content. So, for citizens of other countries, how many days will they be granted temporary residence?
On the other hand, through studying Vietnam's visa policy compared to some countries in the region, the delegate said that compared to some countries, the duration of temporary residence in Vietnam is currently lower than that of some countries in the region.
Delegates cited Vietnam's visa policy in tourism compared to other Southeast Asian countries.
Delegates attended the meeting on the afternoon of June 2.
According to the delegate, currently, out of 11 Southeast Asian countries, only Vietnam and Myanmar require a visa prior to arrival for most international tourists to enter 30 days or less; Cambodia, Laos and East Timor have also at least applied a visa-on-arrival policy for international visitors who enter for 30 days or less;
Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia have exempted visas for 30 to 90 days for international tourists from most of these countries' main markets.
Currently, Vietnam only applies visa exemption for tourists for a short time by 15 to 50% compared to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia. The number of countries with visa-free Vietnamese tourists is only 5 to 15% compared to ASEAN countries.
“From the above fact, compared with the revised visa provisions in the draft law, I find that the amendment of the temporary residence time of foreigners in Vietnam and Vietnam's visa exemption has not increased as much as other countries in the region.
Therefore, I suggest that the Drafting Committee consider more on this issue and need to increase visa exemption, extension, and increase the temporary residence deadlines for foreigners in the draft law," said delegate Tam Hung..
