Short answer: Citizens of 39 countries can enter Vietnam without a visa, but not on the same terms. Stays run from 14 to 90 days. One group of 12 countries may come only as tourists. Two countries have caps on how many days you can spend in a year or half-year. And anyone arriving directly on Phu Quoc island gets 30 days regardless of passport. Everyone else needs a visa, which every nationality can get online.
Ask online, we answer right awayType your question on this page. No app to install, no number to save.Ask onlineMost lists online flatten this into “45 days visa-free”. That is right for 24 countries and wrong for the other 15. This page groups the countries by the terms that actually apply to them.
The groups at a glance
| Group | Countries | Stay per entry | Limits | Passport | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 days, any purpose Resolution 44/NQ-CP | Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom | 45 days | No cap on entries, no required gap | Any type, valid 6+ months | Any (work still needs a work permit) |
| 45 days, tourism only Resolution 229/NQ-CP | Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland | 45 days | No cap on entries, no required gap | Any type, valid 6+ months | Tourism only |
| 90 days bilateral | Chile, Panama | 90 days | Confirm with the embassy | Ordinary | No paid work |
| 30 days, 90 in 180 bilateral | Kazakhstan | 30 days | Max 90 days in any 180 | Ordinary | โ |
| 30 days, 90 a year bilateral | Belarus | 30 days | Max 90 days per year | Ordinary | Confirm |
| 30 days bilateral | Mongolia | 30 days | Confirm | Ordinary | No paid work |
| ASEAN bilateral | Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand (30 days); Philippines (21); Brunei (14) | 14โ30 days | Confirm | Confirm | โ |
| Phu Quoc | Any nationality arriving directly on the island | 30 days | Island only | Valid passport | โ |
“Confirm” means we could not find the condition stated on an official Vietnamese page. It does not mean there is a problem โ only that you should check with the Vietnamese embassy before relying on it.
Group by group
Resolution 44: 45 days, any purpose
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. In force from 15 March 2025 to 14 March 2028. The resolution applies “regardless of passport type and purpose of entry”, so a business meeting is covered as well as a holiday.
- Passport valid for at least six months.
- No waiting period between visits. The old rule that you had to be out of Vietnam for 30 days before a new visa-free entry was abolished on 1 July 2020. Each entry starts a fresh 45 days โ though a long run of back-to-back entries can still draw questions at the border.
- “Any purpose” is not a work permit. Working in Vietnam still requires one, whatever passport you hold.
Country guides: United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea.
Resolution 229: 45 days, tourism only
Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. In force from 15 August 2025 to 14 August 2028 โ five months longer than Resolution 44, so the two groups do not expire together.
The difference that matters: Resolution 229 grants the exemption “for tourism purposes”. A Dutch or Polish traveller coming for a conference, client meetings or a trade fair is outside it, and should enter on an e-visa issued for that purpose. The passport rule is the same as for Resolution 44: any type, valid six months.
For which EU countries are and are not on either list, see which EU citizens need a Vietnam visa.
Kazakhstan, Belarus and Mongolia: 30 days
These come from bilateral agreements, which cover ordinary passports (diplomatic and official passports have separate arrangements).
- Kazakhstan โ 30 days per entry, and no more than 90 days in any 180-day period.
- Belarus โ 30 days per entry, and no more than 90 days per year. In force since 30 January 2025. Belarus is often still listed with the 45-day countries; it is not in Resolution 44.
- Mongolia โ 30 days, not for paid work.
Chile and Panama: 90 days
Both agreements allow 90 days from the date of entry on an ordinary passport, not for paid work. Some summaries add a “90 days in 180” limit for Chile; the agreement text published by Vietnam’s embassy does not show one, so confirm before planning back-to-back stays.
ASEAN countries
Under ASEAN and bilateral arrangements, per the Foreign Ministry’s list updated in March 2025: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand 30 days; the Philippines 21 days; Brunei 14 days. Older pages still give Myanmar 14 days. Entry caps and passport conditions for these agreements are not spelled out on the official list, so confirm them with the embassy if you plan repeated visits.
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan appears on Vietnam’s list of bilateral exemptions, but no official page we could find states the length of stay. Check with the embassy before travelling.
Phu Quoc: 30 days for everyone
Any nationality flying or sailing directly into Phu Quoc from abroad can stay on the island for up to 30 days without a visa. It does not cover the rest of Vietnam: leaving the island for the mainland means you need a visa. The details, and what happens if your plans change mid-trip, are on the Phu Quoc page.
Two special cases
- Five-year visa exemption certificate โ for people of Vietnamese origin, and for foreign spouses and children of Vietnamese citizens or of overseas Vietnamese. Up to six months per entry, multiple entries, certificate valid up to five years. This is the one exemption you must apply for before you travel, and your passport needs at least a year of validity.
- Airport transit โ no visa needed if you stay inside the international transit area and hold an onward ticket.
Forms and notifications
None of the country exemptions above requires pre-approval, registration or a form before you fly. What does apply:
- Accommodation declaration. Every foreigner’s stay is declared to the local police by the place you stay โ the hotel does this automatically. If you rent privately or stay with friends, the host is responsible; it is worth asking them.
- Pre-arrival information (PAI). An online form at prearrival.immigration.gov.vn, piloted at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City since 15 April 2026. Officially it is not yet mandatory, though some press reports say otherwise. See the digital arrival card.
Staying longer than your visa-free period
This is where the groups really diverge, and where most travel plans go wrong.
| If you areโฆ | Longest visa-free stretch | To stay longer |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution 44 or 229 (45 days) | 45 days per entry | E-visa before you travel (up to 90 days), or leave and re-enter |
| Kazakhstan | 30 days, 90 in any 180 | E-visa once you would pass 90 days in 180 |
| Belarus | 30 days, 90 per year | E-visa once the yearly 90 days are used |
| Chile or Panama | 90 days | The e-visa is also 90 days, so it does not add time โ longer stays need a sponsored visa |
| Mongolia or ASEAN | 14โ30 days | E-visa before you travel |
| Phu Quoc only | 30 days, island only | E-visa for longer or for the mainland |
The clean route: an e-visa before you fly
Being on an exemption list does not stop you applying for an e-visa. Every nationality can, at evisa.gov.vn:
- Up to 90 days, single or multiple entry
- USD 25 single entry, USD 50 multiple entry
- Up to 3 working days once paid, counted on Hanoi’s calendar
If you already know the trip is longer than your exemption, this is the only route that involves no border runs and no sponsor.
If you are already in Vietnam
- You cannot apply for an e-visa yourself from inside the country. The online procedure is for foreigners who are abroad.
- Leave and come back. There is no minimum gap, and a new visa-free entry starts a new period โ subject to the Kazakhstan and Belarus caps. Or re-enter on an e-visa approved while you were away.
- Extension or a new visa through a sponsor. Vietnamese law allows a stay to be extended, or a visa issued inside the country, when a Vietnamese company, organisation or relative files it with immigration. The state fee for an extension is USD 10 and it takes about five working days. It is not something a tourist can file alone, approval is not automatic, and agencies charge on top. See emergency extension options.
Do not overstay
Overstay fines under Decree 282/2025, in force since 15 December 2025, run from VND 500,000โ2,000,000 for under 16 days to VND 30โ40 million for a year or more. Deportation can be added, and a deportation brings a three-year ban on re-entry. Full table: Vietnam visa overstay fines.
Not on any of these lists?
Then you need a visa, and since 15 August 2023 citizens of every country can get the e-visa described above. That includes nine EU member states that many people assume are exempt โ Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Portugal.
If you have three weeks, apply yourself at the official portal. If you fly within days, the timing on the government’s calendar is what decides whether you board.
Before you rely on this page
Both unilateral resolutions are time-limited and have been renewed and widened before; bilateral agreements change less often but do change. We checked every condition above against Vietnamese government sources on 15 September 2026, and marked what we could not confirm. If your trip depends on a detail marked “confirm”, the Vietnamese embassy is the authority, not a travel page โ including this one.
Sources
- Resolution 44/NQ-CP (7 March 2025) and Resolution 229/NQ-CP (August 2025) on unilateral visa exemption
- Law 47/2014/QH13 on entry, exit, transit and residence of foreigners, as amended by Law 51/2019/QH14 and Law 23/2023/QH15
- Resolution 127/NQ-CP (14 August 2023) on e-visas for citizens of all countries
- Bilateral visa exemption agreements with Kazakhstan, Belarus, Mongolia, Chile and Panama, as published by the Government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Decree 282/2025/Nฤ-CP on administrative penalties (in force 15 December 2025)
- Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC on immigration fees (in force 1 April 2026)
- Ministry of Public Security public-service procedures and Immigration Department notices on pre-arrival information
The short version
- 45 days, any purpose: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, UK โ to 14 March 2028
- 45 days, tourism only: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland โ to 14 August 2028
- 90 days: Chile, Panama ยท 30 days: Kazakhstan (90 in 180), Belarus (90 a year), Mongolia, seven ASEAN states ยท 21: Philippines ยท 14: Brunei
- Phu Quoc: 30 days for anyone arriving directly, island only
- No exemption needs a form in advance except the five-year certificate
- Staying longer: get the 90-day e-visa before you fly; from inside Vietnam it takes a sponsor or a trip out