Extend visa validity for US tourists from 3 months to 1 year

Increase visa validity to one year for U.S. citizens

The U.S. has asked the Vietnamese government to extend visas for its citizens as it has done the same for Vietnamese passport holders. 

The Law on Entry, Exit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam were approved in 2014 by the National Assembly, visas for US citizens were limited to only three months without extensions. The US said that this policy is not reciprocal treatment compared with U.S. visa policy for citizens of Vietnam and the bilateral relations. Therefore, the U.S. proposed extending the visa validity for U.S. citizens to one-year, multiple-entry for the purposes of tourism, conferences, private business and the purpose of short-term entry. [Note: U.S. visas issued to Vietnam citizens are routinely valid for one-year, multiple-entry, and up to a six-month period of stay].

In order to respond to the request, on April 9th, 2016, The National Assembly unanimously agreed to allow issuance of visas with a one-year validity to U.S. citizens entering Vietnam.

Effective on August 26, 2016, US citizens may apply for a 1-year multiple entries visa for Vietnam. It does not matter how long you plan to stay in Vietnam. "All Visa applications of US citizens will be issued for 1-year multiple entries Visa."

- For Visa on Arrival (VOA), the stamping fee you will pay at the airport is 135 USD. This forces US tourists to have to pay more for the visa but encourage them to re-visit Vietnam. As the same, Vietnamese have to pay 160 USD to apply visa B1/B2 to temporarily visit the US.

*Note:
- Apply for US citizens only.

- Purpose of Visit is Tourist - You will get Visa type: DL

- For 1 visit, you can stay maximum for 3 months. After 3 months, you must exit and come back again with a new 3 months of staying, until the expiry date of your 1 year Visa.

- 1 month and 3 months Tourist visa for US citizens is not available anymore.

Vietnam also allows nationals of 23 countries to enter Vietnam without a visa for varying time periods, most of the countries being members of the ASEAN (allowed length of stay in days is shown in parentheses).