The
Visa deal: You must have a visa to enter the country and you need it before
you board an aircraft to Vietnam. Though I have heard, that as with
so many laws in Vietnam, there is an exception. It goes like this. If you
have a travel agent at your arrival city, Saigon or Hanoi, they purportedly
can arrange a visa for you at the airport. I haven’t actually tried this,
but supposedly all you need to do is notify your travel agent of your arrival
date, give your name as it is on your passport, passport number and they
will meet you with the paper work for the visa at the airport. The
official way is to apply for a visa through the Vietnamese consulate. In
the USA: Consular Section, Embassy of Vietnam, 1233 20 th Street NW, Suite
400 Washington DC 20036. You have a choice of one month, three month
or six month visa.
The
price of each type of visa depends on this and how many entries you need
into the country. For example, if you were to use Vietnam as your
travel base for Southeast Asia, a multiple entry visa is probably what
you need.
Then, if you
plan is to arrive in Vietnam and stay there until you return home, a single
entry is the deal for you. A one-month, single entry visa is $65.00 for
standard five business day processing, $85.00 for two business day processing
and a multiple entry visa is $130.00 which includes two business day express
processing.
A Three-month,
single entry is $110.00 for standard five day processing, multiple entries
at $150.00 and five days to process. A six-month visa allows multiple entries,
takes five business days to process and goes for $ 200.00. To apply you
need a passport six months away from its expiration date, passport size
photo (2x2), money order or certified check payable to Embassy of Vietnam,
along with your completed application form. (application form on line at
http://www.vietnamembassy-usa.org/consular/visainfo.php3)
Send all this, along with a return envelop with postage attached for either
express mail or FedEx, to the embassy via Express Mail or FedEx.
Note this
very important point:
your visa goes
into effect the day you specify on your application and not before.
Meaning if
you arrive before the visa’s entry date you will be refused entry and arrive
after the date you will have a shorter visa period.
The visa time
clock starts ticking on the entry date you requested not the date you arrive.
Accommodations
in Vietnam range from a few dollars a night for a bunk in dormitory style
accommodations, to a few hundred a night in a five star hotel.
Normally, on
the average you can plan on spending around $ 30.00 a night for a comfortable
room with air-conditioning satellite TV, front desk to assist with your
travel arrangements and a free breakfast tossed in.
If you are
staying more then three days and it is an accepted practice to inquire
about a discount off the original rate.
I always ask
for a discount even if I am only staying for one night and I usually get
one.
I
think the bargaining process in Vietnamese culture is meant more as a lighthearted
social game then a win, loose proposition a social exercise where the desired
result is the transfer of goods and services between individuals where
every one is a winner.
“My Vietnam
visa is just about finished and I am not ready to go home yet” now what?
From Saigon it is easy to head down through the Mekong Delta, cross over
to Cambodia and on to Thailand. If you’re finishing up in the middle around
Dong Ha, it’s pretty easy to head into Lao and again on to Thailand.
I’ll bet you
ten to one that if you decide on a trip to Vietnam, Asia will get in your
blood, as it did with me. Maybe we will see each other in Saigon.
The
Visa deal: You must have a visa to enter the country and you need it before
you board an aircraft to Vietnam. Though I have heard, that as with
so many laws in Vietnam, there is an exception. It goes like this. If you
have a travel agent at your arrival city, Saigon or Hanoi, they purportedly
can arrange a visa for you at the airport. I haven’t actually tried this,
but supposedly all you need to do is notify your travel agent of your arrival
date, give your name as it is on your passport, passport number and they
will meet you with the paper work for the visa at the airport. The
official way is to apply for a visa through the Vietnamese consulate. In
the USA: Consular Section, Embassy of Vietnam, 1233 20 th Street NW, Suite
400 Washington DC 20036. You have a choice of one month, three month
or six month visa.
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