Nowadays, there are more and more foreigners wanting to enter Vietnam due to numerous reasons. Each purpose would need an according type of visa.
As a result, if you are planning to come to Vietnam, you must get some necessary legal information to get the best preparations. It depends on your nationality and arrival purposes that will have a suitable visa/resident permit/work permit.
In this article, we will help you to explore the common Vietnam visa types and their characteristics.
Classification of the Vietnam Visa according to the entry purposes
According to the new statutes from July 1, 2020, Vietnam Visa has been divided into 21 main types such as DL, DN1, DN2, NG, DT1, DT2, DT3, DT4, LS, DH, LV, LD1, LD2, HN, PV1, TT, SQ, etc.
There is 6 most popular visa:
- Tourism visa (DL)
- Business visa (DN)
- Working visa (LD)
- Study visa (DH)
- Investor Visa (DT)
- Diplomatic visa (NG)
The other Vietnam Visa types include:
| Visa types | Description | Period of validity |
| LV1-LV2 | This type of visa is for foreigners who work in companies or organizations that belong to the central units of Vietnam. | Maximum 12 months |
| NG1-NG4 | This is for the members of the diplomatic organizations. | Maximum 12 months |
| DN | This is for foreigners who work for Vietnam companies or groups. | Maximum 12 months |
| ĐT | This is for foreigners who invest in Vietnam. | Maximum 5 years |
| NN1-NN2 | This is for the leaders of representative offices, projects from international unions or foreigners in Vietnam. | Maximum 12 months |
| NN3 | This visa is for foreigners who work for the International, non-governmental organizations, representative offices, and the alike. in Vietnam. | Maximum 12 months |
| HN | This visa is for people who enter Vietnam for meetings, conferences. | Maximum 3 months |
| DH | This visa is for students and trainees | Maximum 12 months |
| PV1 | This visa is for journalists that are resident in Vietnam. | Maximum 12 months |
| PV2 | This visa is for journalists that work for a short time in Vietnam. | Maximum 12 months |
| DL | This visa is for tourists. | Maximum 3 months |
| LĐ | This visa is for people who enter Vietnam for work. | Maximum 2 years |
| TT | This visa is for foreigners who are husbands/wives, daughters/sons under 18 years old that given one of these visa types LV1, LV2, ĐT, NN1, NN2, DH, PV1, LĐ, or foreigners who are family members (father, mother, husband, wife, daughter, son) of Vietnamese citizen. | Maximum 12 months |
| VR | This visa is for foreigners who enter Vietnam to visit their relatives or with other purposes. | Maximum 6 months |
| SQ | Cases mentioned in Clause 3 Article 17 of Law No. 47/2014/QH13. | Maximum 6 months |
| EV | Vietnam Electronic visa | Maximum 30 days |
The most popular visa types in Vietnam include:
Tourism Visa/Tourist Visa
A tourist visa is given for foreigners who come to Vietnam for traveling only, not for any other reasons.
Depending on the resident period and how many times that person enter Vietnam, it can be divided into 4 different types of visa:
- 1-month single entry visa.
- 1-month multiple entry visa.
- 3-month single entry visa.
- 3-month multiple entry visa.
Otherwise, if American citizens come to Vietnam, they would have an additional option to get a 1-year multiple entry visa.
Nowadays, there are 3 ways to get a Vietnam Tourist visa:
- Visa On Arrival: This is the best way to get a Vietnam Visa at the airport. But it is only eligible in case of coming to Vietnam by air.
- Get Vietnam Visa from the Vietnamese Embassy/Consulates.
- Get the Vietnam e-visa (there is only a 1-month single entry visa for 80 countries’ citizens at the moment).
You can find out the detailed guide to get a Vietnam tourist visa here.
Business Visa
The second common visa type in Vietnam is Business Visa. This kind of visa is for foreigners who enter Vietnam to take part in economic activities including investigation, conferences, meetings, making contracts with Vietnam companies, etc.
As Tourist Visa, the Business visa has 4 types due to the time of resident and enter Vietnam:
- 1-month single entry visa.
- 1-month multiple entry visa.
- 3-month single entry visa.
- 3-month multiple entry visa.
Nowadays, there are 3 ways to get a Vietnam Business visa:
- Visa On Arrival: This is the best way to get a Vietnam Visa at the airport. But it is only eligible in case of coming to Vietnam by air.
- Get Vietnam Visa from the Vietnam Embassies/Consulates.
- Get the Vietnam e-visa (there is only a 1-month single entry visa for 80 countries’ citizens at the moment).
You can find out the detailed guide to get a Vietnam Business Visa here.
Student Visa/Studying Visa
This visa is used for foreigners who get to Vietnam for studying.
You can come to Vietnam by Tourist Visa and then change the status of a resident by sending a form to the Ministry of Public Security/Immigration Department after registering for a course. The easiest way is getting a student visa from a company that is authorized to make the visa.
Working Visa
Vietnam Work Visa is for foreigners who work in Vietnam and has the sign “LĐ”. The maximum period of validity for this permit is 12 months. After a year, you need to ask for a resident card with the maximum validity of 2 years if you want to stay in Vietnam longer.
How to get a Vietnam Work Visa?
- You must ask your Vietnam company for permission at the Immigration Department.
- After that, depending on the content of the approval letter, you need to go to the Vietnam Embassy in your country or to Vietnam airport to get the visa stamp.
Note:
- The most important paper to get a work visa is the work permit or paper confirming the exemption of work permit. In case you do not have any of the above types of papers, you can ask your Vietnam company to get a business visa first. After entering Vietnam, you can ask for a work permit and then get a Vietnam work visa.
- Normally, you do not need to send your legal curriculum votes or health certificate to get this visa.
- When getting a Vietnam Work Visa, you must pay 2 kinds of fees that are the fee of getting an approval letter and the fee of getting a visa stamp.
Diplomatic Visa
The diplomatic visa is given for:
- The guests of General Secretary of other leaders of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Vietnamese President.
- The guests of the Vietnamese Communist Party’s leaders such as Vice General Secretary, President, and Vice President, the leaders of Vietnam Fatherland Front, etc.
- The members belong to international organizations such as the United Nations, intergovernmental organizations, embassies, consulates, and their husbands, wives, daughters, and sons beyond 18 years old, even with housemaids, etc.
- The people who work in the representative offices, embassies, representative offices for the United Nations, etc.
The people who are given this visa do not need to do any payment, except for the Embassy or their country has different regulations.
To apply for this visa, you have to get the approval letter from the government, Vietnam Embassy or Consulate in your country.
The maximum period of validity for this visa is 12 months.
Visa types according to the period of validity and the number of entries in Vietnam
According to this criteria, Vietnam Visa is divided into 6 types:
- 1-month single entry visa.
- 1-month multiple entry visa.
- 3-month single entry visa.
- 3-month multiple entry visa.
- 6-month multiple entry visa.
- 1-year multiple entry visa.
The difference between the Single entry visa and the Multiple entry visa is the number of entries in Vietnam. The Single entry visa just allowed foreigners to enter Vietnam for 1 time only. If you leave Vietnam, you will not be able to come back and you must get the Vietnam Visa again if you want to return. However, the Multiple entry visa allowed foreigners to enter or exit Vietnam several times within the period of validity.