Vietnam Government has issued the 17/2019/ND-CP decree which changed and added some new policies of the previous decree (about granting electronic visas (e-visa) for entering Vietnam by foreign visitors).

Decree No. 17/2019/ND-CP added 35 more countries and 2 territories to the list as below:

Austria, Iceland, Belgium, Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Qatar, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Croatia, Estonia, Fiji, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Macedonia, Micronesia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, San Marino, Cyprus, Switzerland, Vanuatu, Western Samoa, Serbia, Slovenia, China (including Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR; not applicable to Chinese e-passport holders).
These countries’ citizens can visit Vietnam by electronic visas (e-visa) from February 2019. This decree would be effective until February 1st, 2021.

Notably, Hong Kong and Macau citizens will now be included in the new decree. This is a change from before that China was mentioned but citizens with Hong Kong and Macau passports were not.

The previous decree already granted Vietnam’s e-visa for 46 nations as below:
Azerbaijan, Argentina, Armenia, Ireland, Poland, Belarus, Bulgaria, Brunei, South Korea, Germany, Chile, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Cuba, Denmark, Timor-Leste, the United States, Hungary, Greece, Italy, Kazakhstan, Russia, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Myanmar, Mongolia, Japan, Panama, Peru, Finland, France, the Philippines, Romania, Spain, Sweden, China (not applicable to Chinese e-passport holders), Uruguay, Venezuela, Norway, and Slovakia.

Now, the total of countries which will be granted Vietnam’s e-visa is 80, with China mentioned in both decrees, and 2 territories Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR.

Additionally, there are 5 new points of entry which allow visitors to enter Vietnam by electronic visa:

There are 3 land points of entry:

• Tay Trang (Dien Bien province in the north)
• Na Meo (Thanh Hoa province in the north-central)
• La Lay (Quang Tri province in the north-central)

There are 2 new maritime points of entry:

• Duong Dong (Kien Giang province in the south)
• Chan May (Thua Thien Hue province in the central)

Since the addition of this new decree, Viet Nam now has 8 international airports, 16 land entry points and 9 seaports which allow visitors to enter into Vietnam by e-visa. Visitors who meet the necessary requirements can register to be provided an e-visa. This will be handled within 2 days and is valid for a one-time entry, for a maximum duration of 30 days.

Vietnam has gradually attracted investment and has promoted tourism strongly. The expansion of the e-visa program has made it less of a hassle for visitors to enter the country.