Vietnam Visa for Filipino Citizens

The 21-day allowance comes from the ASEAN agreement the two countries have applied since 2000, and it means that for an ordinary holiday you do not need us. The one condition to remember is the return ticket: the exemption requires one, so book it before you fly and keep it ready to show. If the whole trip fits inside those 21 days, there is nothing to apply for and nothing to pay.

The e-visa is for the trips that do not fit. A month moving between Hanoi, Hoi An and the Mekong Delta, a long visit to relatives in Ho Chi Minh City, or any stay past day 21 needs a visa from the start. The e-visa covers up to 90 days, as a single entry for USD 75 or a multiple entry for USD 100, all-in with us, and it is issued by Vietnam's Immigration Department through the national portal.

Multiple entry is the other case for the e-visa. If you plan to leave Vietnam during the trip — overland through one of the 27 land crossings on the e-visa list, or by air — and then come back in, a multiple-entry e-visa lets you return on the same visa. It also settles matters when an airline insists on seeing a visa for a stay the exemption does not cover, which is easier to sort out at home than at the check-in desk.

If you do apply, the process is short. We need two things: your passport's photo page and a recent portrait on a plain white background, without glasses. Because the 90 days count from the date the visa is issued, file two to three weeks before you fly. Processing is officially three working days and we promise three to five, with extra time around Tet in late January or February. Children under 14 on a parent's passport are added to that parent's e-visa.