How to get Vietnam visa in Santa Ana,United States

It’s not always easy to work with Vietnam Embassy. In order to avoid possible painful experience when applying for visa from embassy, it’s best to read instructions before you start application. The following is necessary information on getting Vietnam visa in Santa Ana.

Who requires Vietnam visa?

Except for transit purpose, the US citizens need obtain a visa well before entering Vietnam. For other countries, please check visa requirement here.

When should you apply for visa?

Apply as soon as possible to avoid last-minute problem. You are not advised to book flight and make hotel reservation at time of application. The visa starts valid from the intended travel date provided in the application form.

Step-by-step guide

There are 2 options to get Vietnam visa for US nationals in Santa Ana:

1.  Submit paper application by post to the nearest embassy or consulate of Vietnam in USA.

2.   Apply online for approval letter through travel agent to be granted visa on arrival at airport.

Visa On Arrival is certainly more convenient and cheaper as well but it’s only helpful when you travel by air. For overland crossing, you have to obtain full visa stamp at embassy or consulate.

How to get Vietnam visa at embassy/consulate:

Prepare documents:

• Original passport or passport copy: if you supply the passport copy, a loose leaf visa will be issued.
• Application form: get the form from webpage of embassy or consulate. Completing the form online and offline are both accepted.
• 01 color passport photo: to be attached to application form.
• Prepaid return envelope: must be included so that embassy can return your passport and visa by post.
• Evidence of payment: must be cashier’s check, money order, or certified check. For details about quotation, please contact directly with consular section.

Send application and wait for the visa within 3-5 business days (standard processing) or 1-2 business days (expedited processing) not excluding shipping time.

How to get Vietnam visa upon arrival?

Get visa approval:

Refer to http://www.vietnamvisa-easy.com/apply to select appropriate visa type and fill out your personal information, such as full name, passport number, date of birth…

Tip: Every visitor can apply tourist and business visa without proving travel purpose. For this reason, some visitors select tourist visa for their short journey to save some money.  This doesn’t cause any problem, but if you are a careful person and want to obey the laws, you should obtain tourist visa for personal purpose and Vietnam business visa for business trip. 

Submit the application online after you complete it and proceed with payment step. Both credit/debit payment and money transfer are accepted. The visa fee cost around SD 16 and more depending on length of stay and number of entries. The extra fee is required when you use expedited service. Read more at Vietnam visa fee.

Within 1 hour to 48 business hours, the visa approval is delivered to your email address along with an entry-exit form.  In order to save time getting visa stamp at airport, you should complete the form and attach it with 01 passport-sized photo. One more thing, don’t forget to double check the approval letter to make sure all information indicated on it is correct.

Get visa stamp on arrival:

 No worries when you have to change arrival airport at last minute as visa approval is valid at all Vietnam’s airports with the same procedure. Once you leave the plane, seek the Immigration counter and join the line in front of the counter, ready to submit your passport, print copy of visa approval, and completed entry-exit form. The waiting time to get visa stamped depends on length of queue at airport. Before receiving the passport back (with a visa stamp inside), you must pay stamping fee by cash (USD or VND), USD 25 for single visa and USD 50 for multiple visa valid no longer than 3 months. It’s very important to carry cash with you because you cannot find an ATM or money changer at airport to withdraw money.