Vietnam Visa Requirements for Indian Citizens: Complete 2026 Guide

Vietnam visa requirements for Indian citizens cover more than a single form: your passport validity, blank-page count, photo specification, and choice of visa type all affect whether your application clears on the first try. India is not on Vietnam's unilateral visa-exemption list, so every Indian passport holder needs an e-visa, a visa on arrival, or an embassy-issued visa sticker before entering the country, with one narrow exception for Phu Quoc island.

This guide lays out every requirement in order: what your passport and documents must satisfy, what each visa type additionally requires, the fees and processing time you should plan for, and the mistakes that most often trip up Indian applicants.

It also covers where to get in-person help in India if your case falls outside the standard e-visa process, plus a few edge cases: children traveling with you, land border entry, and the Phu Quoc exception mentioned above.

Below, start with whether a visa is required at all, then move into the document checklist, the visa type requirements, and the fees you should budget for.

Vietnam visa requirements for Indian citizens, in brief:

Do Indian citizens need a visa for Vietnam?

Yes. Vietnam grants unilateral visa exemption to a short list of countries, mostly in Southeast Asia and parts of Europe, and India is not on that list. This means an Indian passport holder cannot land in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, or Da Nang without a visa arranged in advance.

There is one narrow exception: travelers who arrive in and depart from Phu Quoc island directly, by air or sea, without touching the Vietnamese mainland, can stay up to 30 days without a visa. This exception does not apply if your itinerary includes any other Vietnamese city, so most Indian travelers still need to meet the full set of visa requirements covered in this guide.

Vietnam visa requirements for Indian citizens: passport and document checklist

Before you apply for any Vietnam visa type, your passport and supporting documents need to meet these requirements:

• A passport valid for at least six (06) months from your planned entry date.
• At least two blank pages in your passport, separate from the visa or amendment pages.
• A clear, scanned copy in .jpg format of your passport's bio page, with the ICAO lines at the bottom fully visible and free of glare.
• A passport-sized photo in .jpg format (4x6cm, white background, no glasses), taken within the last 6 months.
• Your Vietnam entry and exit dates and your intended port of entry/exit.
• A valid international credit or debit card, or another accepted online payment method, for the visa fee.

Indian passports are sometimes renewed with a shorter validity window than other nationalities carry, so check your expiry date against your travel dates before you start. A passport that meets the 6-month rule on the day you apply but falls short by your return date will still be rejected.

The photo requirement causes more rejections than any other single item on this list, mostly because applicants reuse an old photo taken for a different document. A passport photo, an Aadhaar photo, or a driving licence photo rarely meets the 4x6cm, white background, no glasses specification, since each of those documents has its own separate photo standard. Take a fresh photo against a plain white wall, remove glasses even if they are prescription lenses, and keep your expression neutral, then crop it to 4x6cm before uploading.

If you hold an emergency certificate or a passport with a recent name change, the requirements above still apply, but you should also carry supporting documentation, such as a marriage certificate or gazette notification, in case the visa on arrival counter or embassy staff ask for it. This is one of the few situations where a guaranteeing agency's form-review step genuinely earns its fee, since a mismatched name is otherwise invisible until the application is already rejected.

What visa types can Indian citizens apply for, and what does each require?

Indian citizens can meet Vietnam's visa requirement through three routes: the e-visa, visa on arrival, or a visa sticker issued directly by a Vietnamese embassy or consulate. Each route has its own additional requirements on top of the passport and document rules above.

E-visa requirements for Indian citizens

The e-visa is an electronic document linked to your passport number, valid for a single entry or multiple entries, for a maximum stay of 90 days, and accepted at all Vietnam air, land, and sea border gates. Beyond the standard document checklist, the e-visa requires only that you complete the official government e-visa portal form, or a licensed service provider's version of it, with details matching your passport exactly, and select your intended port of entry in advance.

Most Indian applicants choose the e-visa because it needs no embassy visit, no physical passport submission, and no interview.

Visa on arrival requirements for Indian citizens

Visa on arrival has an extra requirement the e-visa does not: you must first apply online for an approval letter, a document issued by the Vietnam Immigration Department confirming you are cleared to collect your visa at the airport. You then need two passport photos on hand for the airport counter, along with your passport and a printed copy of the approval letter, and cash for the visa stamping fee.

Note: visa on arrival is applicable to air travel only. If you plan to enter Vietnam by land or sea, the e-visa is the only option that meets your requirements.

Embassy visa requirements for Indian citizens

An embassy-issued visa sticker requires an in-person application at the Vietnamese Embassy in New Delhi or the Consulate General in Mumbai, plus a completed paper application form, proof of your travel itinerary, and sometimes proof of accommodation or sufficient funds. This route takes longer than the e-visa or visa on arrival, and it is generally required only for visa types or durations the online systems do not cover, such as certain long-stay or business categories.

Do Vietnam visa requirements differ by purpose of travel?

The document checklist stays the same whether you are visiting for tourism, business, or transit, but the visa category and supporting paperwork can differ.

Tourism requirements

Tourist travel is the most straightforward case: the standard passport, photo, and payment requirements above are all you need, and the e-visa or visa on arrival covers a single trip or multiple entries within the 90-day validity window.

Business travel requirements

A business trip meets the same base requirements, but you should also carry an invitation letter or sponsorship letter from the host company in Vietnam, since immigration officers occasionally ask for it at the port of entry even when it was not required at the application stage. Some business categories that involve work authorization fall outside the e-visa system entirely and require an embassy visa instead.

Transit requirements

If you are only transiting through a Vietnamese airport without leaving the international zone, and your layover is under 24 hours with a confirmed onward ticket, you may not need a visa at all. Any transit longer than 24 hours, or any plan to exit the airport, brings you back under the full visa requirement. Confirm your specific layover length against the current rule before you book, since the transit exemption is one of the more frequently changed items in Vietnam's visa requirements.

Requirements by length of stay

Both the e-visa and visa on arrival cover stays of up to 90 days, but the entry type you choose changes what you can do with that validity. A single-entry visa lets you enter Vietnam once and must be used before you exit; a multiple-entry visa lets you cross the border more than once within the same validity window, which matters if your trip includes a side visit to Cambodia or Laos. Choosing single entry when your itinerary actually needs multiple crossings is a common planning mistake, since Vietnam does not refund the fee or extend the entry count after issuance.

What are the Vietnam visa fees and processing times for Indian citizens?

Meeting every document requirement does not waive the fee: every Indian applicant pays a government fee, and most also pay a service fee if applying through an agency for form review or urgent processing.

All government fees are payable in US dollars, though most application forms and service providers also accept Indian Rupee equivalents through card payment. The government fee itself is fixed by Vietnam's immigration authority and does not change based on which website or agency you apply through; what varies is the service fee charged for form review, urgent processing, and customer support. Both the government fee and any service fee are non-refundable once submitted, even if your application is later rejected for a document error, which is another reason to double-check every requirement before you pay.

If you are unsure which fee tier meets your travel timeline, applying through vietnamvisa-easy.com lets you compare the e-visa and visa on arrival service tiers side by side and see the exact total before you pay. Start your Vietnam visa application or review the full Vietnam e-visa fee breakdown for every entry type.

How long does it take to meet all the requirements and get approved?

Gathering the documents themselves, the photo, passport scan, and payment method, usually takes under an hour if your passport already meets the validity and blank-page rule. Standard e-visa processing for Indian citizens then takes 3-5 working days once the form is submitted. If your travel date is close, urgent processing is available and can reduce this to as little as 1.5 working hours, depending on the service tier you choose.

What requirements do Indian travelers most often get wrong?

Most rejections for Indian applicants come down to the same handful of requirements, not new or unusual ones:

• A photo that does not meet the 4x6cm, white background, no glasses specification, often because it was cropped from an existing photo rather than taken fresh.
• A passport bio page scan with glare, shadow, or a cropped ICAO line, making the machine-readable zone unreadable.
• A name, date of birth, or passport number entered slightly differently than what is printed on the passport, including extra spaces or a missing middle name.
• A passport that meets the 6-month validity rule on the application date but not on the planned return date.

A less common but costly mistake is applying too close to the travel date and choosing standard processing instead of an urgent tier, which leaves no buffer if the immigration department asks for a resubmission. Building in a few extra working days, or paying for urgent processing when your date is tight, removes most of this risk. Working with a guaranteeing agency for the paperwork stage can also catch a data-entry mistake before it becomes a rejection.

What happens if you do not meet a requirement?

An e-visa application that fails to meet a requirement is typically rejected at the review stage, before payment is finalized in most cases, or with an email notice asking for a corrected document if payment has already gone through. A visa on arrival approval letter can be rejected the same way, and in rare cases a traveler who arrives without meeting a requirement, such as an expired passport, can be denied boarding by the airline before ever reaching Vietnam. None of these outcomes are permanent: correcting the specific requirement and reapplying, ideally with urgent processing if your date is close, resolves nearly every case.

Where can Indian travelers verify or complete their visa requirements?

If your case involves a business visa, a long-stay purpose, or a passport with an irregularity the online systems flag, the Vietnamese Embassy and Consulate General in India can confirm your specific requirements directly.

Vietnamese Embassy and Consulate requirements in India

The Embassy of Vietnam is located at EP-7A, Chandragupta Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021, with its consular section open Monday to Friday, 2:30 PM to 6:00 PM. The Consulate General of Vietnam in Mumbai is at Unit 805, 8th Floor, Powai Plaza, Hiranandani Gardens, Central Avenue, Powai, Mumbai 400076, open Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Both offices can confirm document requirements for cases the e-visa system does not cover, and both can issue a visa sticker directly in your passport when needed.

If you apply in person, bring the original passport, one completed application form per traveler, your photos, and any supporting documents your travel purpose requires, since neither office processes an embassy visa from a scanned copy the way the e-visa system does. Processing at either office typically takes longer than the online routes, so plan your embassy visit several working days ahead of your travel date rather than the week before. For general e-visa eligibility questions, our own Vietnam e-visa information page covers the same requirements in more detail.

Flight connectivity from India to Vietnam

Direct flights connect New Delhi to Hanoi on Vietnam Airlines and IndiGo, Mumbai to Ho Chi Minh City on VietJet Air, and Kolkata to Hanoi on IndiGo. Flight time on these direct routes is approximately 4-5 hours. Travelers from other Indian cities generally connect through Bangkok, Singapore, or Kuala Lumpur, which adds a layover of a few hours but does not change any visa requirement.

Do children and infants have separate visa requirements?

Yes. Every traveler, including infants and children, needs their own Vietnam e-visa or visa on arrival approval letter, applied for with their own passport details. A child cannot travel on a parent's visa, and the same passport validity and photo requirements apply regardless of age.

Can Indian citizens meet Vietnam visa requirements at a land border?

The e-visa is accepted at Vietnam's approved land border gates, air border gates, and seaports, so it meets the requirement for overland entry as well as flying in. If you are combining a trip through Cambodia or Laos with an overland entry into Vietnam, confirm your specific border checkpoint is on the current approved list before you travel, since not every minor land crossing accepts e-visa holders. Visa on arrival does not meet this requirement at all, since it is restricted to air travel only.