How to get Vietnam visa in Chula Vista,United States

You may not be happy to know the US visitors need a visa to Vietnam but we will cheer you up now with handy guidance on how to get Vietnam visa from Chula Vista.

When you should apply?

Apply anytime you have clear plan for the trip. We do not advise you to apply months prior to the start of visit but don’t make a rush application at last minute. It’s best to start application within 1 month before the travel.

Select appropriate visa type

There are different visa categories but we are going to focus on Vietnam tourist visa and Vietnam business visa in this post. If you have concerns about other kinds of visa, please contact us directly for consultancy. Vietnam visa validity refers to authorized length of your stay in Vietnam, which means you are allowed to stay in the country since visa becomes effective until it expires. It’s possible to travel later, not earlier than the date of entry shown on visa.

Both Vietnam tourist visa and Vietnam business visa is valid for up to one year. It’s important to note that you cannot stay in Vietnam for more than 3 months at one time with tourist visas valid for 6 months or 1 year. Fortunately, this rule is not applied to business visa.

How to apply?

There are 3 ways for you to select:

1. Embassy or consulate

Whenever mention about visa, what comes first in our mind is always embassy/consulate because they are official representative of a country. And the same goes for Vietnam. At present, there is no embassy or consulate opened in Chula Vista, so you are supposed to mail the application to one of the embassy or consulate in Washington, Houston, San Francisco, New York. A prepaid envelope must go with application for the return of passport. One envelope can be used for many people. Documents needed for the application consist of:

• Origin passport valid for at least 6 months
• Application form (available for download on official website of embassy) attached with 01 recent passport photo
• Appropriate visa fee paid in money order (The fee is non-refundable for any reasons)

The consulate needs 3-5 business days to issue visa result but you can request to speed up the processing with extra fee.

Option2.  E-visa

Electronic visa is new in Vietnam but it rapidly gets being known due to low price and simple process. Here is the list of ports allowing e-visa. Check it carefully before reading the steps below:

Step 1. Upload your photo and complete application form online.

Step 2. Pay USD 25 non-refundable visa fee online. You will receive a code after payment to use for checking visa result later.

Step 3. After 3 business days, you enter application code, registration email address and date of birth into search menu to check visa result. If the application is approved, print the visa letter. You are advised to check accuracy of the e-visa before traveling to avoid being denied at port of entry.

Electronic visa is super convenient but it also has some small limitations at the same time. Let's see:

• The extension fee for e-visa is usually high
• Rush service is not available
• Visa validity is short (30 days)

Option 3. Visa on arrival

When you need a long-term visa, or a business visa, or an emergency visa and want it to be as cheap and easy as E-visa, we suggest Visa On arrival to you. However, it is limited to air entry, which means you must fly to Vietnam to be eligible for visa upon arrival facility.

4 steps below describes how Vietnam visa on arrival for U.S passport holders works:

Step 1. Fill out application form online with your personal information and select type of visa from drop-down menu. You are advised to contact us directly for business visa booking. Details on Vietnam business visa can be found here.

Step 2. Pay for application through Onepay or Paypal. The visa fee is various depending on visa type, validity and processing. Applying as a group is cheaper than application as individual. Refer to Vietnam visa fee for more details.

Step 3. Receive approval letter via email after 24 working hours (standard service), 1-8 working hours (rush service). Enter here to read more about the rush service.

Step 4. Get off the plane and head to checkpoint counter to complete stamping procedure. The following documents will be required: origin passport, visa approval, completed entry/exit form, 01 passport-sized photo. Stamping fee at airport is as follows:

• Single entry: USD 25
• Multiple entry, 1 and 3 months visa: USD 50
• Multiple entry, 6 months visa: USD 95
• Multiple entry, 1 year visa: USD 135

Please bear in mind that the officer only accepts cash, USD and VND.

Average waiting time at immigration counter is 15 minutes. The stamping process is very simple and you can finish it easy by yourself  but if you are in a hurry, you can skip waiting time by using our stamping assistance service.

For any inquiries about getting Vietnam visa for US residents in Chula Vista, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us for further assistance.