Vietnam legislators okay 90-day multiple entry visas

Vietnam’s National Assembly approved Saturday a government proposal to extend the validity of tourist e-visas to 90 days with multiple entry, starting August 15.

Since the country reopened to tourism after a prolonged hiatus courtesy of the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam has only been granting 30-day, single entry visas.

Under the new policy, foreigners with valid visas will be able to enter and exit Vietnam multiple times without having to apply for new visas each time.

The National Assembly also agreed to extend the stay of visitors from countries that are unilaterally exempt from visas from 15 to 45 days.

This adjustment will also take effect on August 15.

As of now, citizens of 25 countries can travel to Vietnam without a visa, and they are allowed to stay in the country for 14 to 30 days on average.

Tourism industry insiders and others have said this policy was less generous than that of neighboring countries.

Vietnam welcomed 4.6 million foreign arrivals in the first five months of this year, equal to 57.5% of the year's target of eight million, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

South Korea was Vietnam's top source market in the first five months with 1.3 million arrivals, followed by China and the U.S. with 399,000 and 307,000 arrivals, respectively.