Vietnam visa made easy for South African citizens: Comprehensive guide
All the citizens of South Africa will need a visa for Vietnam for both tourism or business purposes. Nowadays, the South Africans passport holders can easily apply for Vietnam visa at the Vietnam Embassy or apply online to pickup visa at arrival airport. Each of them has its own advantage however, visa on arrival is one of the easiest and cheapest way for South African passports getting a Vietnam visa.
Vietnam visa is required for all South African citizens;
South African citizens are eligible for maximum 90 days single or multiple entry e-visa;
South African citizens can get visa on arrival with pre-arranged approval letter;
South African citizens can get a rush Vietnam visa in 4 working hours or 1 working day.
1. General information
– Vietnam visa is required for all South Africa passports;
– The South African passport holders can apply for 1 month or 3 months tourist visa. If they enter Vietnam for working with the Vietnamese Enterprises, they will need a business visa;
– The business visa can be 1 month, 3 months or 6 months validity and it can be extended when it’s expired;
– The passport must have at least 6 months validity from the date of arrival with 2 blank pages for visa sticky and stamp;
2. How do South African passport holders apply for Vietnam visa?
2.1. Apply for e-visa for Vietnam
This is new pilot visa system which has just official launched in February 2017. In order to apply for e-visa for Vietnam, the South African citizens will prepare a file of passport copy and recently taken photo (it should show your full face, straight eyes look without glasses, light colored plain or white background). The e-visa fee (including the service fee and stamping fee) is paid once when the South African citizens apply for e-visa, thus no cash is required at arrival airport.
Vietnam e-visa is good for those who travel Vietnam less than 90 days with single or multiple entry. Since the visa fee is paid once when applying for visa, the travelers don’t have to bring cash for stamping fee at immigration counter therefore, the visa process at arrival airport is faster accordingly.
How to apply e-visa for Vietnam?
Step 1: Fill in the visa application form with required information.
Step 2: Pay the visa fee and get e-visa in maximum 3 – 5 working days (2 hours, 4 hours or 1 working day for a rush visa).
Step 3: Receive an email containing e-visa upon successful application. Please print out the e-visa, bring along with your passport to get on the plane.
Step 4: Present your e-visa at the immigration counter to get entry into Vietnam.
Common issues with Vietnam e-visa application for South African citizens
- Lengly processing time: Normally, it takes 3 – 5 working days to complete an e-visa. However, if you filled in the form with the incorrect information or photos, the processing time will be extended. This may affect to your trip to Vietnam as you can not board the plane with an “in processing” e-visa;
- Typos or spelling mistakes: If you complete the form with the data that doesn’t match your passport details, the visa application will be denied and need to be amended. Many United States travellers forget their middle name when filling in the form, thus more 3 – 5 working days is needed for the visa approval;
- Images quality: If you uploaded a poor quality or incorrect images your visa application will be denied. Please prepare the images of passport and portrait at good quality that all the information can be read easily.
- The address in Vietnam: You will need to provide with the specific address of a temporary residence in Vietnam. Please do not fill in the form with the name of hotel only, but write down the hotel address including the street, ward, district and province (or city).
- Apply for e-visa when you are inside of Vietnam: It is not possible to apply for an e-visa when you are still staying in Vietnam. In order to apply for a new visa to stay long in Vietnam, you will need to fly out of the country and make an application from outside of the country.
- Visa fee reimbursement: If your visa is rejected by the Vietnam Immigration Department, your money will not be refunded.
In case you have any problem with your visa on arrival or e-visa application, you please contact us as soon as possible, we can help you expedite an urgent visa, or speed up the e-visa process or even correct your granted e-visa at the last minutes.
2.2. Apply online for a Vietnam visa on arrival
The South African passport holders can apply Vietnam visa on arrival from anywhere outside of Vietnam. The Vietnam visa will be picked up upon arrival at the Vietnam airports by showing up the printed approval letter.
The approval letter will be sent via email within 3 working days (normal processing mode), 8 working hours (rush processing mode), 4 hours (urgent processing mode) or even 2 hours (emergency processing mode) depending on which option the applicant chooses when submitting online application form. Vietnam visa on arrival is especially an advantage to those living far from the Vietnam Embassy or Consulate in South Africa.
By using Vietnam visa on arrival, the South African applicants does not need to wait too long to get the approval letter, an official document issued by Vietnam Immigration Department giving permission to get the visa upon arrival.
In order to get a Vietnam visa on arrival, the applicants have to pay two types of fee: the processing fee and the stamping fee.
Processing fee: It is the fee for expediting a visa approval letter.
Stamping fee: It is the fee paid in cash at the visa counter at the arrival airport for a visa stamp.
Notes:
– Visa on arrival is only applicable for the visitors traveling by air to Vietnam.
2.3. Apply for Vietnam visa directly at the Vietnamese Embassy or Consulates
For those who want to get a Vietnam visa beforehand or want to travel to Vietnam by land or sea, they can go to the Vietnamese Embassy or Consulate nearest their location.
The address of Vietnamese Embassy or Consulate in South Africa for your information:
Embassy of Vietnam in Pretoria, South Africa
Address: 87 Brooks St., Brooklyn, Pretoria, South Africa
Phone: +27 (0)12 362 8119
Fax: +27 (0) 12 342 8441
Email: embassy@vietnam.co.za
