Vietnam Visa for Indians 2026

Vietnam has quietly become one of the most popular short-haul trips for Indian travellers, and the numbers show it. The country hit a record 21.2 million international arrivals in 2025 — up more than 20% on 2024 — and India was one of its fastest-growing markets, with around 746,000 Indian visitors that year, a jump of nearly 49% helped along by a wave of new direct flights between Indian cities and Vietnam.

The good news for anyone joining that wave is that the visa is one of the most straightforward in the region. If you hold an Indian passport, you do need a visa for Vietnam — there’s no visa-free entry to the mainland — but for almost everyone the whole thing is handled online through the official e-visa in a few days, with no embassy visit and no agent required.

This guide walks through every route open to Indians — the online e-visa, the pre-approved visa on arrival, and the embassy sticker visa — along with the fees in rupees, the documents you actually need, the new digital arrival card that caught a lot of travellers off guard in 2026, and the one island where Indians can skip the visa altogether.

Do Indians Need a Visa for Vietnam?

Yes — Indian passport holders need a visa to enter mainland Vietnam. India is not on Vietnam’s visa-exemption list, so there is no visa-free entry for a normal mainland trip, no matter how short the stay. For the vast majority of Indian travellers, the route that applies is the online e-visa, which you apply for before you fly.

There is one genuine exception, and it trips people up regularly: Phu Quoc Island. Foreign nationals, including Indians, can enter Phu Quoc visa-free for up to 30 days — but only if they arrive directly on an international flight (or sea route) from outside Vietnam and stay on the island for the entire trip. The moment your plan involves the mainland — a connecting domestic flight through Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, or even a short hop across — you need a proper Vietnam visa.

This is worth taking seriously because it is easy to misjudge. The Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City issued an advisory in April 2026 (page last updated July 2026) pointing out that Indian travellers who enter Phu Quoc visa-free and then need to reach the mainland — for a medical situation, a flight disruption, or onward travel — can run into real immigration complications, since the island exemption does not permit mainland entry. If there is any chance your itinerary touches the mainland, it is simpler to apply for the e-visa before you travel.

Types of Vietnam Visa for Indians — Which One Should You Choose

Vietnam offers three practical routes for Indian travellers, but they are not equally useful. For a standard tourist trip or a short business visit, the e-visa is the one that applies to almost everyone — the other two exist for specific situations. Here is how they compare, and when each one actually makes sense.

e-Visa — the standard route for almost everyone

The e-visa is applied for entirely online through the official government portal, evisa.gov.vn. There’s no embassy visit and no paperwork to post. It costs USD 25 for single entry or USD 50 for multiple entry, is valid for up to 90 days, and comes in single- or multiple-entry form.

A Vietnam multiple-entry visa is worth choosing if you plan to leave and re-enter — for instance on a combined trip through Cambodia or Laos.

Since 2023, the programme has been open to citizens of all countries, India included. For a normal holiday or short work trip, this is the route to pick — it’s cheaper, faster, and more flexible than the alternatives.

Visa on Arrival — not a true walk-up visa

This is where a lot of older advice goes wrong. Vietnam’s “visa on arrival” is not a walk-up counter you use without preparation. You must arrange a pre-approval letter online before you fly, carry a printed copy, and then get the visa stamped at the airport on arrival, paying a stamping fee in USD cash. It is available at international airports only, not land or sea borders.

In practice, the visa on arrival is mainly useful for genuinely last-minute travel where you don’t have time for standard e-visa processing. For most people the e-visa is simpler, since it avoids the approval-letter step, the airport queue, and the cash-only stamping fee.

Embassy (Sticker) Visa — the exception, not the norm

You can still apply in person for a traditional sticker visa at the Vietnamese Embassy in New Delhi or the Consulate General in Mumbai. It is slower and more expensive than the e-visa, and for a standard tourist trip there is rarely any reason to use it. This route mainly makes sense if you need a visa type or duration the e-visa doesn’t cover, or your specific case doesn’t fit the online system.

Visa Type	Fee (Govt)	Processing	Validity / Stay	Best for
e-Visa (single entry)	USD 25	~3 working days (up to 5–7 in peak)	Up to 90 days	Almost every Indian tourist or short-business trip
e-Visa (multiple entry)	USD 50	~3 working days (up to 5–7 in peak)	Up to 90 days, multiple entries	Multi-country trips re-entering Vietnam (e.g. via Cambodia/Laos)
Visa on Arrival	USD 25 letter + airport stamping fee (cash)	Letter in 1–3 days, then stamped at airport	Typically 30 days	Genuinely last-minute air travel only
Embassy Sticker Visa	USD 50–150 by type	~5–7 working days	Varies by category	Cases the e-visa doesn’t cover
Phu Quoc (visa-free)	Free	None	30 days, island only	Direct Phu Quoc beach trips, no mainland

Vietnam Visa Requirements — Documents Checklist

The Vietnam e-visa is genuinely light on paperwork — this is one of the reasons it’s such an easy visa to get. For a tourist e-visa, you need just two core documents, plus a few application details.

• A valid Indian passport — at least 6 months’ validity from your date of arrival, with at least 2 blank pages.
  
  
• A digital passport photo — the required photo size is 4x6cm, on a plain white background, taken within the last 6 months, with no glasses or head covering (religious head coverings are allowed).

Alongside those, the online form asks for your travel dates, your intended port of entry and exit, your accommodation address in Vietnam, and your purpose of visit. That’s the full list for a tourist e-visa — there are no bank statements, employment letters, or flight bookings required at the application stage, though it’s sensible to carry your flight and hotel confirmations in case immigration asks at the airport.

Vietnam Visa Fees for Indians

The official government e-visa fee is USD 25 for single entry and USD 50 for multiple entry. It’s paid online during the application (converted to Vietnamese Dong at payment) and is non-refundable, even if the application is rejected — which is why it’s worth double-checking every field before you pay.

In rupees, the single-entry fee works out to roughly ₹2,100–₹2,400, and multiple entry to roughly ₹4,200–₹4,700, depending on the exchange rate applied at payment (correct as of July 2026 — check live rates before you apply, as the figure shifts with the currency). These are the government fees only. If you apply through a visa agent instead of the official portal, expect a service charge on top — sometimes several times the government fee — which we break down in the “Do You Need a Visa Agent” section further down.

e-Visa Type	Government Fee (USD)	Approx. INR (Jul 2026)	Refundable?
Single entry (up to 90 days)	USD 25	~₹2,100–₹2,400	No
Multiple entry (up to 90 days)	USD 50	~₹4,200–₹4,700	No

How to Apply for a Vietnam e-Visa — Step by Step

The whole Vietnam visa procedure runs online on the official website, evisa.gov.vn — there’s no embassy visit and no paperwork to post. The process from India takes most people around 20–30 minutes the first time. Here’s the step-by-step sequence.

1. Go to the official website. Use evisa.gov.vn — this is the only official Vietnam Immigration Department website. Several lookalike sites use similar names and add their own service charges, so check the address carefully before entering anything.
   
   
2. Start the application. Select English, choose “Grant e-Visa for foreigners,” and pick your nationality as India and your entry type (single or multiple).
   
   
3. Fill in your details exactly as they appear in your passport. Full name, date of birth, passport number, issue and expiry dates — even a small mismatch can cause problems, since an issued e-visa cannot be edited afterwards.
   
   
4. Upload your documents. A clear scan of your passport data page (with the machine-readable lines visible) and your passport photo, both in colour.
   
   
5. Enter your travel details. Your intended arrival date, your port of entry and exit, and your accommodation address in Vietnam. Note that the entry port you choose is fixed once the visa is issued.
   
   
6. Pay and save your registration code. Pay the fee by international card. After payment you’ll get a registration code — keep it, as you’ll need it to track your application and download the visa.

Once approved, the e-visa arrives by email as a PDF. Print a copy to carry, and keep a digital version on your phone as backup — airlines and immigration officers will expect to see it.

Vietnam Visa Processing Time

The Vietnam e-visa processing time is typically around 3 working days, though during busy periods it can stretch to 5–7 working days. Vietnam Immigration doesn’t publish a fixed guaranteed turnaround, so treat these as normal ranges rather than a promise. The sensible approach is to apply at least a week to ten days before your travel date so you have a comfortable buffer, and avoid booking non-refundable flights on the assumption the visa will land in exactly three days.

If your trip is genuinely last-minute, some licensed agencies offer express, urgent or emergency Vietnam visa processing — sometimes within 1–2 working days, or even same-day — for an additional fee on top of the government charge. For most travellers planning a week or two ahead, though, standard processing on the official website is all you need.

Vietnam Visa Validity & Duration of Stay

The e-visa is valid for up to 90 days from your granted entry date, in single- or multiple-entry form. One thing worth knowing: your e-visa is only valid up to your passport’s expiry date, even if the 90-day window would otherwise extend beyond it. The actual length of stay permitted is confirmed by the immigration officer at your port of entry, so enter and exit within the dates shown on your approved visa.

Feature	Detail
Validity	Up to 90 days from granted entry date
Entries	Single or multiple
Stay per entry	Up to 90 days
Passport rule	Valid only up to passport expiry, even if within the 90 days

Vietnam Digital Arrival Card — the New Step for 2026

This is the part most older guides miss, and it’s caught a lot of travellers off guard. Since 15 April 2026, Vietnam has required foreign arrivals to complete a free Digital Arrival Card — the online pre-arrival declaration that replaced the old paper arrival/departure declaration card — before reaching immigration. It generates a QR code that officers scan on arrival, and it’s completely separate from your visa: you still need the e-visa; the arrival card sits alongside it.

It started at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat airport and expanded quickly through 2026 — by June it was mandatory at Phu Quoc, Noi Bai (Hanoi), Da Nang and Cam Ranh, along with the Dong Dang land border and a range of seaports. Because the rollout is still expanding, check the current status for your specific entry point before you fly.

• Where to submit: the official portal, prearrival.immigration.gov.vn — it’s free. Ignore any third-party site that charges a fee for this.
  
  
• When: within 72 hours before arrival — the portal won’t let you submit earlier.
  
  
• What you get: a QR code. Save it as a screenshot and keep a printed backup, since terminal WiFi and battery can be unreliable.
  
  
• Phu Quoc travellers: if you’re using the island visa exemption, select “Phu Quoc Visa Exemption” as your visa type on the form — picking the wrong option causes delays at the counter.

(Details correct as of July 2026 — since this system is rolling out nationwide, confirm the current requirement for your airport on the official portal before travelling.)

How to Check Your Vietnam Visa Status

You check your e-visa status on the same official portal you applied through, evisa.gov.vn, using the registration code you saved after payment, along with your email and date of birth. That’s the only place you should enter these details.

Avoid third-party “visa status checker” tools — checking status means handing over passport-linked information, and only the official government portal should ever receive it.

Vietnam Embassy in India — When You’d Need It

For a standard tourist trip, you won’t need the embassy at all — the e-visa replaces it. But if you need a visa type the online system doesn’t cover, a longer or special-category stay, or help with a case that doesn’t fit the e-visa, you can apply in person.

The Embassy of Vietnam is in New Delhi (Kautilya Marg, Chanakyapuri) and there’s a Consulate General in Mumbai. Embassy visas typically take around 5–7 working days and cost more than the e-visa, generally in the USD 50–150 range depending on the category (correct as of July 2026). For the overwhelming majority of Indian travellers, though, this is a route you can safely ignore.

Do You Need a Visa Agent, or Can You DIY?

For a standard Vietnam tourist e-visa, you almost certainly don’t need an agent. The official portal is reasonably straightforward, the document list is short, and the government fee is low. Applying directly means you pay only the USD 25 (single) or USD 50 (multiple) government fee and nothing more.

It’s worth understanding the cost difference, because it’s substantial. The government e-visa fee comes to roughly ₹2,100–₹2,400 for single entry. Applying through a visa agent instead adds a service charge on top — as an illustration, one well-known agent platform’s own pricing for an Indian single-entry Vietnam e-visa totals in the region of ₹9,500 or more once its service fee and taxes are added, which is several times the government fee for the same visa. That’s the trade-off: an agent handles form-filling, photo checks and tracking for you, but you pay a clear premium for the convenience. (Figures as of July 2026; agent pricing changes often, so treat this as an order-of-magnitude comparison rather than a fixed number.)

Where an agent can genuinely earn its fee is in trickier situations — a multiple-entry or business application with extra paperwork, a genuinely last-minute trip needing expedited handling, or a case where you’ve had a prior refusal from any country. For a simple beach-and-cities holiday, the DIY route on the official portal is the cheaper and perfectly manageable option.

Once your visa is sorted, our Vietnam Travel Guide covers everything else you’ll need for the trip.

Common Mistakes & Tips for the Vietnam Visa

• Entering details that don’t match your passport. Name, passport number, date of birth — an issued e-visa can’t be corrected, so a typo means reapplying and paying again. Check every field before you pay.
  
  
• Choosing the wrong entry port. The port you select is locked once the visa is issued. If your flight routing changes, you may need a fresh application.
  
  
• Using a lookalike website. Only evisa.gov.vn is official. Sites with similar names often charge extra without making clear they’re private services.
  
  
• Assuming the arrival card is optional. At participating entry points it’s now mandatory and separate from the visa — complete it within 72 hours of arrival.
  
  
• Relying on the phone copy alone. Carry a printed e-visa and a saved QR code for the arrival card; don’t count on terminal WiFi.
  
  
• Misjudging the Phu Quoc exemption. It’s island-only. If there’s any chance you’ll touch the mainland, get the e-visa instead.

FAQ