Asia Travel Expert - Southeast Asia Travel

Vietnam Travel Formalities

ENTRY & CUSTOMS PROCEDURE

As soon as you arrive at the airport in Vietnam, you are required to complete an entry and exit form. This form is also used for Customs declaration. Currently, the Vietnam arrival / departure card CHY2000 is used for this procedure. Fill in and mark (x) in the appropriate box from No.1 to No.16 of the declaration form before submitting it to Customs, Immigration and Public Health authorities.

In cases of re-entry or re-exit without any must-be-declared items, you simply present your declaration form fulfilled earlier or make a new one, if necessary.

PASSPORT & VISA
A passport and a visa are required for entry into Vietnam. A regular tourist visa is valid for up to 30 days. However, some Southeast Asian countries including Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Laos are exempted from visa when entering Vietnam. Vietnam also has a visa exemption for Japanese, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish citizens. Passport holders from these countries can travel to Vietnam up to 15 days without applying for tourist visas.
There are two kinds of tourist visas. The first can be obtained from the Vietnamese Embassy or the Consulate in the travelers' home country. The second can be obtained at the international airports (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Danang) on arrival in Vietnam provided that it has been pre-approved by the Immigration Office. Asia Travel Expert offers visa procurement services for individuals and groups. The procedure is as follows:

REGULAR VISA

• Passport details and arrival and departure dates for each traveler are sent by e-mail or fax to Asia Travel Expert no later than 7-10 days prior to their departure date to Vietnam.
• Asia Travel Expert submits the details to the Immigration Office, which takes between 3 to 5 working days to process.
• The Immigration Office notifies Asia Travel Expert of the visa approval and sends a fax/telex approval code to the Embassy or Consulate in the travelers' home country.
• Asia Travel Expert sends a faxed copy (or email) of the approval letter to the agent or directly to the individual concerned.
• The agent should submit the client's passport, photographs and faxed copy of the approval to the local Vietnamese embassy or consulate of the client's home country. The Vietnam Embassy or Consulate will then stamp / stick a Vietnam visa on the client's passport and collect the VISA STAMPING FEE directly from the applicant. In cases where Vietnam has no diplomatic representative, agents should inform Asia Travel Expert so that an alternative Vietnamese embassy/consulate can be located.

VISA ON ARRIVAL

• Passport details and arrival and departure dates for each individual are sent by e-mail or fax to Asia Travel Expert no later than 4 working days prior to departure date to Vietnam.
• Asia Travel Expert submits the details to the Immigration Office, which takes 3 working days for processing.
• The Immigration Department notifies Asia Travel Expert of the visa approval and returns an approval number to Asia Travel Expert.
• Asia Travel Expert sends a faxed copy (or email) of the approval letter to the agent or directly to the individual concerned.
• The traveler or tour-group operator must show these visa approval codes at the airline check-in counter before flying to Vietnam.
• Upon arrival, the group or individual will need to go to "LANDING VISA" counter where their visa will be processed. They need to fill in a form (photo required) and get the visa stamped by Immigration Officer.
• The visa gets stamped in the passport.

AIRPORT TAX
Airport tax already included in the air ticket effective from 1 November 2006.

DISEMBARKATION IN VIETNAM
On the plane, the passenger will be given the Vietnam Arrival - Departure Card to complete. This form includes customs and health declarations. (See form A2 attached.) Upon arrival, the form will be checked by an immigration officer who will take one copy of the form. The passenger retains the other half. The passenger proceeds to the luggage belt, then to customs. The passenger shows the customs form to the Customs Officer who will stamp and return the form. Passengers must keep this form and keep it for use at departure.

MEET & GREET
After passing through customs, passengers will be welcomed by a Asia Travel Expert tour guide holding a Asia Travel Expert sign board or a sign board with your company logo. Guests will then proceed to a car/bus for the trip to the hotel.

BORDER CROSSING TO CAMBODIA, LAOS AND CHINA

To Cambodia
There are two border crossings to Cambodia: 
MOC BAI:
The main overland border crossing to Cambodia is northwest of Ho Chi Minh City at Moc Bai. The trip from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh take around eight hours. 
VINH XUONG:
A new riverside border crossing is located 30kms north of Chau Doc, in the Mekong Delta at Vinh Xuong. From here you can take boat transfers up the Mekong River to Phnom Penh.

To China
There are three border crossings over to China:
LAO CAI:
The Hekou Bridge overland border to China is at Lao Cai, (the main train station for Sapa) in the northwest. Twice weekly trains also run from Hanoi to Kunming in China; you can also board the train at Lao Cai Train Station.
MONG CAI:
The Mong Cai overland border crossing to China is in the northeast. To get there, you can get hydrofoils direct from Hai Phong or Ha Long.
HUU NGHI:
Huu Nghi is an overland border 18kms north of Lang Son, in the northeast. There are also local trains from Hanoi, which stop at Dong Dang Station, 4kms away from Huu Nghi. The international train for China (Beijing) departs Hanoi's main train station via Dong Dang Station, but you can only join the train at Hanoi.

To Laos
There are two border crossings to Laos:
CAU TREO:
Vehicles can access this border to Vientiane. The border is near Vinh City in Vietnam's Central Provinces.
LAO BAO:
From Hue, this border is a good connection for traveling to Savannakhet. The border is near Dong Ha in the Central Provinces.