My friend and I aren't going to be able to get visas before we leave for our trip to south-east asia, so we were hoping we could do it on the fly. We're leaving in a week and a half and will be gone for 2 months. We're super excited, but unsure of whether we'll be able to visit Vietnam which we really want to do. How does applying for a visa work? Are they able to do it in one day at an embassy of a nearby country, or is it possible to apply and then come back a few weeks later and pick it up? How long does it normally take? Do they take your passport when they do it?
Reply to this You can apply the visa of Vietnam in International Airport when you arrive Thailand. You just need to bring one passport photo, 20 euro, a flight ticket which shows you will leave in 15 days and complete a application form in English. If you forget to bring cash and photos, do not worry. People in Thailand have already thought about it and you will find machines just beside you.
Everything will be finished in 15 minutes and you can enjoy your trip in Vietnam now.
Reply to this You can also go the Vietnamese embassy in Bangkok (address in Lonely Planet) where they'll do it in 24 hours - you do have to leave your passport but if it's just for a day, it shouldn't really matter.
You can also get a visa for Vietnam in Laos - my travel mates did it through a travel agents in Vientiane (they all offer the service) - think it takes a couple of days as far as I can remember (maybe less). Again, you'll have to leave your passport, but as long as you take copies of your passport before you leave home, you'll be fine. It might be better to wait till you get to Laos to sort your visas, unless you already have firm dates planned, as you have to specify on the form which date you want the visa to start and then you get a month visa from that date (so if you end up going to Vietnam after you've said, you'll eat in to your time - you can still extend the visa once you're in Vietnam, if that's the case, but it takes about 4 days to process).
RE proof of onward journey: I travelled in 2007, and I didn't have to show an onward ticket from Vietnam when I got my visa, as I didn't know my plans, and I got it for 30 days, not 15. And when I had to extend my visa once I was in Vietnam (as I arrived later than I'd planned!) I got another 30 days. You may want to check on this, as regulations change all the time... Trailfinders generally have up to date info, they have a visa section which you can ring.
Reply to this You can also get the Vietnamese visa from various travel agents around Bangkok. They take your passport to the embassy and then go and pick it up for you. It was cheaper than doing it at the embassy when we looked. You can get it done in 24 hours, or its cheaper if you can wait a couple of days. Be aware that the embassy isn't open at the weekends, and I think closes on Friday afternoon, so if you are trying to get it done over a weekend, 24 hours will take you from Thursday to Monday.
I heard that the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh is the cheapest, but I don't know how true that is.
It's quite an expensive visa, compared to the others. We paid 2,500 baht each in the embassy in Bangkok, which works out at about £35 or I guess $70.
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