Who should Vietnam exempt visas for?

New era calls for new policy approaches

In his opening speech, journalist Nguyen Ngoc Toan, Editor-in-Chief of Thanh Nien Newspaper, assessed that since the opening after the Covid-19 pandemic, visa and tourism policies have been improved significantly, and Vietnam's tourism has also achieved more positive results. Especially in the first 3 months of 2025, we attracted more than 6 million international visitors to Vietnam, higher than in 2019, before the pandemic broke out. However, compared to countries in the region such as Thailand, Malaysia, etc., Vietnam's visa policy is still modest and cautious.

Việt Nam nên miễn visa cho khách nào?- Ảnh 1. — Workshop organized by *Thanh Nien* Newspaper on the morning of April 24

"More importantly, Vietnam is facing an extremely challenging situation between the goal of high economic growth to bring the country into a new era, on the one hand, and facing reciprocal taxes, which can affect the export turnover of many key economic sectors. In that context, there will have to be industries and fields that need to break through to share the burden with exports. One of them, in our opinion, is tourism. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested that by the end of April, relevant ministries and sectors must submit proposals and recommendations on unilateral visa exemptions, specific visas for specific groups of visitors, solutions to facilitate visa procedures... From the time the document was issued until the deadline for submitting a report to the Government is only about 3 weeks. That shows the Government's determination to improve the current visa policy," said journalist Nguyen Ngoc Toan.

Opening visas for tourism to take off: The golden key to attracting international visitors

Pointing out the modesty and caution of Vietnam's visa policy, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Ky, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietravel Corporation, cited: Vietnam currently only exempts visas for 25 countries, while Thailand has expanded the number of visa-exempt countries from 57 to 93 and increased the number of countries that apply for visas at the border from 19 to 31. Malaysia also exempts visas for 158 countries... The processing time for electronic visa (e-visa) procedures of countries is only about 1-2 days, some countries process it in just 14 hours, but it takes 3-5 days to enter Vietnam. The flexibility of policy adjustments of countries is also greater than Vietnam, typically Thailand, in just 90 days after the pandemic, this country has changed its visa policy 15 times.

Looking back at the opening process of the tourism industry after the pandemic, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Ky expressed regret that Vietnam had lost the golden opportunity to bring tourism to catch up with and surpass other countries in the ASEAN region, the main reason being the slow visa opening policy. In the current context, when Vietnam enters a new era, setting an economic growth target of 8% in 2025 and over 10% in the next period, services are determined to contribute 8 - 8.5% and tourism contributes 3.4 - 3.6% in 2025. The tourism industry also sets an ambitious goal to become an important economic driving force, contributing significantly to the sustainable development of the country. On the other hand, the Party and the State have identified the private economy as the driving force for Vietnam's economic development in the coming years. In particular, tourism is the industry with the largest economic contribution of the private economic sector - over 90%. Thus, tourism must be identified as a key industry that needs to be focused on development.

"If the Government considers tourism to be a truly spearhead economic sector, visas are the first key to open to welcome visitors. Vietnam is entering a new era, visa policy cannot be delayed any longer," Mr. Nguyen Quoc Ky emphasized.

Sharing the view that a new approach to visa policy is needed, Dr. Luong Hoai Nam, General Director of Bamboo Airways, quoted General Secretary To Lam talking about Vietnam's economic growth rate. In recent times, Vietnam's economy has grown strongly compared to the past, but compared to the world, the average income per capita of Vietnamese people has only reached 5,000 USD, while the goal of becoming a developed country is that the average income per capita needs to reach 20,000 USD. This is a fairly large number and there is a long way to go to become a developed, high-income country. Comparing with the tourism industry, Mr. Luong Hoai Nam used the Covid-19 pandemic as a milestone to see that: If compared to Thailand before, we were only half of them, then up to now we have not been able to close the gap. Thailand welcomed 35 million visitors in 2024, while Vietnam welcomed 17.5 million, half of them. Even a country with a much smaller population than Vietnam, Malaysia, has reached 25 million visitors. On average, one Malaysian receives one international visitor, while five Vietnamese receive only one international visitor.

"Vietnam does not lack anything to increase the number of tourists. The important thing is to have a mechanism to fully exploit the existing potential, in which the top bottleneck is visa. If there is still a conflict of views between state management agencies that say it is already very open, while businesses say it is strict, narrow, and difficult to develop... then visa policy cannot be adjusted. Vietnam needs to change its approach to visa from a management tool, adding a side as a tool to compete for international tourist destinations," said Mr. Luong Hoai Nam.

If the Government considers tourism to be a truly spearhead economic sector, visas are the first key to open to welcome visitors. Vietnam is entering a new era, visa policy cannot be delayed any longer.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Ky, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietravel Corporation

Flexible visa opening for many subjects

Speaking at the workshop, Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy, Marketing Director of Vinpearl (Vingroup), proposed prioritizing visa exemption for strategic market groups with potential and real room for growth. It is possible to plan some main groups, which are the market groups with high spending customers, long stay and rapidly changing travel behavior such as Australia and New Zealand. Next is the market group with the trend of customers loving nature, indigenous culture, tending to take long vacations and not afraid to pay for high-end experiences; typically Nordic countries such as Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark; as well as the group of emerging markets with the characteristics of tourists who like long vacations, are willing to spend, and look for warm and sunny destinations to avoid winter, such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Mongolia. Vietnam with its rich island resort ecosystem can completely compete if the visa policy is flexible enough.

Việt Nam nên miễn visa cho khách nào?- Ảnh 2. — Foreign visitors entering Vietnam

At the same time, the market group has many long-term tours, especially in winter, notably Eastern European countries such as Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy commented: "If there is a suitable preferential visa policy, this market group will be an abundant source of customers for the low-season resort segment". Finally, there are particularly potential markets from Gulf countries such as the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Although the number of customers is not large, this is a group with very high spending ability and requires extremely high service standards.

Without "demanding" that Vietnam immediately exempt visas for hundreds of countries, Mr. Nguyen Quang Trung, Head of Development Planning, Vietnam Airlines, said that more important than quantity is attracting high-value customers, those with high spending, long stays and high return rates. In addition to the potential, high-spending markets mentioned by Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy, a representative of Vietnam Airlines suggested that the Government could pilot a short-term visa exemption for 12 months for countries and territories such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and India; extend the visa exemption period to 90 days for visitors from Europe, North America, Australia; and grant long-term visas of up to 24 months to investors and experts.

The implementation of e-visas also needs to be simplified, reducing processing time to less than 24 hours. The national airline wishes to coordinate with government agencies in promoting international visitors to Vietnam through solutions such as: Establishing a working group between agencies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Construction and Vietnam Airlines to synchronize visa policies with flight network and market development plans. This group will periodically evaluate the effectiveness of visa policies and propose adjustments.

According to Mr. Nguyen Quang Trung, international experience shows that leading tourist countries always apply flexible visa policies along with flight network expansion strategies. In Thailand, Japan or the UAE, visa exemption or reduction always goes hand in hand with expanding flight routes, increasing flight frequency and supporting national airlines. Therefore, he recommends increasing the budget for international tourism promotion campaigns, in which Vietnam Airlines plays a central role in introducing visa policies and Vietnamese destinations on flights, at airports and at international events (such as ITB Berlin, WTM London ...).

Simplify procedures, extend stay

Not only opening up the visa-exempt visitors, businesses believe that improving procedures and extending the visa exemption period are also extremely important factors. Citing a survey from the "resort paradise" Phu Quoc (Kien Giang), Ms. Dong Ngoc Anh, Deputy General Director of Sun Group, said: At the end of 2023, there were only about 8 international flights/day to Phu Quoc, but at the peak at the beginning of this year, there were up to 40 international flights/day and it may increase even more in the near future. In particular, there are many tourists who need to stay long-term. There are tourists who stay in Phu Quoc for 2-3 months and have to arrange temporary exit to a neighboring country, then return to extend their visa. "So should we extend the visa to 90 days or longer so as not to make it difficult for tourists?", Ms. Dong Ngoc Anh asked.

Việt Nam nên miễn visa cho khách nào?- Ảnh 3. — According to experts, it is necessary to soon adjust visa policies to increase the attraction of foreign tourists to Vietnam.

According to the Sun Group leader, given the current development in Phu Quoc, there needs to be a policy specifically for this destination to facilitate longer stays for visitors. Specifically, it is possible to pilot visa issuance at the border gate for large groups of visitors, wealthy visitors, visitors from target markets, retirees or tourism investors, technology investors, bringing high economic value without environmental or domestic security risks. In addition, there should be a policy to issue visas right at the border gate for visitors, creating quick procedures at the airport such as creating green lanes.

Mr. Vo Anh Tai, Deputy General Director of SaigonTourist Group, also proposed that with the form of long-term visa, the time should be extended from 5 to 10 years, with the possibility of extending it longer than the current 1 to 2 years; especially for experts working in Vietnam's priority fields such as renewable energy, high technology, finance, healthcare, education; remote workers, global wealthy people, wealthy retirees... along with some benefits in working, shopping, investing such as buying a house.

Next, the investment visa should be for long-term investors with a term of 10 years with some other conditions such as investors, executives, entrepreneurs creating jobs locally..., with a minimum investment of 10 million USD in priority areas such as green energy, high technology, real estate, infrastructure, startups... The benefit is exemption from personal income tax from foreign income sources for the first 3 years. The group of talent visas can be extended to 5 years, with an annual income of 80,000 USD or more, with a simpler process...

"As directed by the Government, for the tourism industry, it is necessary to selectively expand visa policies. Especially for experts, the super-rich, billionaires... Tourism comes first, investment comes later. Based on the expansion and consideration of visa exemption, we should continue to pilot a more open expansion. For example, the three countries where the Government is piloting visa exemption are Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. Currently, in terms of procedures, tourists from these three countries need a letter confirming that they have registered with a Vietnamese travel company, and only when they travel are they exempted from visas. This procedure should be simplified, without needing a letter of confirmation from the travel company. The policy of exemption, reduction and simplification of tax and visa fee procedures is interdisciplinary. The Government needs to quickly complete the steering committee on tourism with the participation of many related ministries and branches. The ministries need to focus on proposing that the Government continue to simplify tax and fee issues for tourists from necessary countries," said Mr. Vo Anh Tai.

Synchronizing many policies to make a breakthrough in tourism

Việt Nam nên miễn visa cho khách nào?- Ảnh 4.

In recent times, Vietnam's entry visa policy has become increasingly open, but compared to other countries in the region, the level of visa competition is still not high. In the immediate future, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will continue to coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security (the leading ministry) to propose a short-term visa exemption policy for citizens of other countries to serve economic development and attract tourists to Vietnam. Synthesize and propose a list of subjects, develop criteria to send to the Ministry of Public Security to synthesize and propose to the Government to consider preferential visa policies, creating favorable conditions for subjects that need to be prioritized in the fields of culture, information, sports and tourism management.

Regarding the long-term roadmap, the Ministry will continue to propose relevant ministries and branches to consider proposing to the Government to expand the list of unilateral and bilateral visa exemptions for key markets, potential markets for Vietnamese tourism, and countries with friendly and traditional relations with Vietnam.

To develop tourism, visa is an important policy but not decisive. We also need unique products, direct flights, professional promotion… It must be done synchronously, not depending on any policy.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh , Director of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism

Proposal to exempt 180-day visa for visitors to Phu Quoc

Việt Nam nên miễn visa cho khách nào?- Ảnh 5.

To stimulate tourism, attract more international tourists to visit and relax, especially towards the APEC event to be held in Phu Quoc in 2027, we propose that the Government issue special and breakthrough visa policies. Specifically, increase the visa exemption period to 180 days for foreigners who directly enter Phu Quoc, or come to Phu Quoc from other international border gates within Vietnam (by air). Visitors staying in the transit area at that border gate, then transferring to Phu Quoc will also enjoy this visa exemption policy. Citizens of countries that are exempt from a 45-day visa, when flying directly to Phu Quoc, can then transfer to other localities in the country without having to go through any other visa-related procedures. At the same time, allow international visitors to visit islands and archipelagos in Kien Giang province for sightseeing, then return to Phu Quoc to exit the country and still enjoy the visa exemption policy.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Quoc , Deputy Director of Kien Giang Provincial Department of Tourism

Granting "golden visas" to experts and investors

Việt Nam nên miễn visa cho khách nào?- Ảnh 6.

In addition to expanding visa exemptions for tourists from countries that often spend a lot of money and stay for a long time, it is possible to consider visa exemptions for groups and customers such as MICE guests and medical examination and treatment. For example, it is possible to issue golden visas for experts, scientists, investors, etc. lasting 3-5 years and with multiple entries. Similarly, consider selecting a number of subjects for visa exemptions such as tourists staying at 4-5 star hotels; visitors entering the country frequently for the purpose of meetings, business, medical tourism, multiple visits to medical examination and treatment, or custom-designed tours to participate in tourism, golf, etc.

In addition to visa policies, Vietnam also needs to facilitate entry for tourists; develop good tourism products to retain visitors; have better promotion...

Another point is to expand e-visa on booking platforms, tour booking, airline ticket booking... to facilitate tourists when planning to travel to Vietnam.

Ms. Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu , Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/viet-nam-nen-mien-visa-cho-khach-nao-185250424231255927.htm