Expediting Vietnam Visa for Hong Kong: HKSAR and BN(O) Passports Need Different Routes

Hong Kong travellers often plan Vietnam at short notice: a long weekend in Da Nang, a Friday-night flight to Ho Chi Minh City, a business trip to a factory near Hanoi. Expediting a Vietnam visa from Hong Kong is quick, because Hong Kong is only 1 hour ahead of Vietnam. However, the right route depends on one thing many people only discover at the airport: which passport you hold. HKSAR and BN(O) passports follow completely different rules.

This guide explains the fastest option for each passport, the order times in Hong Kong time, and what to do if your trip is this weekend.

We are a private visa service, not the Vietnamese, Hong Kong or UK government. Vietnam Immigration decides every visa, so no service can guarantee approval.

Expediting a Vietnam visa from Hong Kong: HKSAR or BN(O) passport?

BN(O) holders: you are neither visa-exempt nor eligible for the e-visa. Instead, the route is a visa on arrival: we obtain the approval letter, and you collect the visa at the airport’s landing visa counter and pay a USD 25 stamping fee in cash. The visa is valid for 15 days, single entry.

HKSAR passport holders: you can choose between two services:

Where are you right now?

People expediting a Vietnam visa from Hong Kong, or travelling on a Hong Kong passport elsewhere, are usually in one of these situations:

• Flying out on Friday evening or Saturday morning. Flights from Hong Kong to Vietnam take about 1.5 to 2.5 hours, so your deadline is often the same day. Order by Friday morning, or use the weekend service.
• A business traveller with a sudden meeting. A multiple-entry business e-visa saves you a new application for each trip.
• Travelling with family. However, each person needs their own visa, including children on their own passports.
• Already in mainland China or Southeast Asia, and adding Vietnam. You are in the same time zone as Hong Kong, or one hour behind it.
• At the airport, and the airline will not board you. Even so, on a Vietnamese working day, the 2-working-hour option may still save the flight. Also, at the weekend or on a Vietnamese public holiday, a new application can still be processed (see the weekend section below).
• Only visiting Phu Quoc. Foreign visitors who fly directly to Phu Quoc and stay on the island can usually enter visa-free for up to 30 days. Any trip to the mainland needs a visa.

Expediting a Vietnam visa from Hong Kong: order times

Hong Kong is 1 hour ahead of Vietnam. Vietnam Immigration works Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 18:00, Vietnam time:

These cut-offs are the key to expediting a Vietnam visa from Hong Kong without losing a day. In practice: order by 09:00 on a weekday for the 8-working-hour option, and the result arrives by 19:30 the same evening, in time for a late flight.

Prices and time slots for an urgent new e-visa

These are the prices for expediting a Vietnam visa from Hong Kong with a new application. As a rule, these slots run Monday to Friday, Vietnam time. Prices are per person in US dollars and include the government fee.

Weekends and Vietnamese public holidays: yes, urgent visas are possible on those days too. See the next section.

Urgent Vietnam visa on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays

Vietnam’s government offices are closed at weekends and on public holidays. Even so, expediting a Vietnam visa from Hong Kong is still possible on those days with a new e-visa application, through our weekend and holiday service:

For Hong Kong travellers, that means ordering by mid-afternoon and receiving the result the same evening. This applies to HKSAR passports; BN(O) holders use visa on arrival. Prices include the government fee.

Who can use the weekend service?

The weekend and holiday service is available for citizens of 92 countries and territories, and Hong Kong is one of them.

Which days are covered?

Every Saturday and Sunday, and these Vietnamese holidays: New Year’s Day (1 January), Tet (Lunar New Year, dates change each year), Hung Kings’ Commemoration Day (10th day of the third lunar month), Reunification Day (30 April), Labour Day (1 May), the Public Security Traditional Day (19 August, when the Immigration Department is closed) and National Day (2 September).

How the weekend service works

1. First, send us your passport scan, portrait photo, home address, address in Vietnam and email, either through the weekend and holiday form or by email to info@vietnamimmigration.org.
2. Then we check your details and confirm the slot by email, with a PayPal payment link (cards accepted).
3. Next, pay before 14:30 Vietnam time.
4. Finally, your e-visa arrives by email by 18:30 Vietnam time the same day.

Good to know before you order

• New applications only. On these days, a speed-up of an application already in processing waits until the next Vietnamese working day. So if you cannot wait, a new weekend application is the way to get your visa the same day.
• Left Vietnam only a few days ago? Send a photo of the exit stamp in your passport as well. New exit records sometimes take a few days to appear in the system, and the stamp helps avoid a delay.
• Weekend and holiday orders go through our partner site, vietnamimmigration.org. The booking form runs on a third-party form tool that does not load well in every browser. For the fastest reply, email your request directly to info@vietnamimmigration.org. Our team watches this inbox 24/7, including weekends and public holidays, and replies as soon as an urgent visa request arrives.

If the button does not open your email app, copy the address info@vietnamimmigration.org and send your request from Gmail, Outlook or any email account you use. Write “Urgent weekend e-visa request” in the subject line.

Prices for speeding up an application in processing

In this case, you keep the application and government fee you already paid. Speed-ups run Monday to Friday only:

For this, we need your registration code, the email you used, your date of birth, entry date and entry port. Our guide for a Hong Kong passport with an e-visa still in processing covers the status in detail.

Expediting a Vietnam visa from Hong Kong yourself: why it is risky

Of course, if your trip is weeks away, applying yourself on the official portal is fine. When time is short, it is risky:

• There is no paid express option on the government portal. Instead, the official target is 3 working days, counted only from a complete, error-free application. In our experience, many applications take 5 to 7 working days, and longer before holidays.
• There is no hotline that speeds up your file. Hong Kong government hotlines cannot speed up a Vietnamese e-visa either.
• Also, small errors restart the process. A name that does not match the passport, a photo with glasses or glare on the passport scan can mean a new application and a new fee.
• The BN(O) trap. Applying for an e-visa on a BN(O) passport wastes time, because BN(O) holders cannot get one. Use visa on arrival instead.

In contrast, we have handled urgent Vietnam visas for more than 10 years. We check every detail before submission, follow the application through each Vietnamese working session and show the expected result time before you pay. If we miss that time, or the visa is refused, we refund the amount we received. PayPal keeps its transaction fee (about 5%). See our refund policy.

Details that delay Hong Kong applications

• English name order. Enter your name exactly as on the two lines of letters at the bottom of your passport photo page, surname first. Do not add an English name that is not printed in the passport.
• Passport, not identity card. The e-visa needs your passport. Your Hong Kong identity card cannot be used to apply.
• Entry port. Enter Vietnam through the airport, seaport or land border you chose in the application.
• Photo. Also, use a plain light background, no glasses, and a recent, clear face photo.

Other routes, and when they make sense

When you are expediting a Vietnam visa from Hong Kong, the e-visa is usually the fastest route for HKSAR passports. The alternatives below fit only some trips:

• Visa on arrival approval letter: the only route for BN(O) holders, and an option for HKSAR holders on a short stay (up to 15 days, single entry).
• Vietnamese consulate in Hong Kong: suitable for some special visa types, but slower than an urgent e-visa.
• Phu Quoc only: visa-free for up to 30 days on a direct international flight, island only.

How to order: expediting your Vietnam visa from Hong Kong

1. First, choose the service: urgent new e-visa or speed-up of an existing application. At weekends and on holidays, email info@vietnamimmigration.org.
2. Next, choose the time option. The form shows the expected result time and the total before you pay.
3. Then upload your passport scan and photo, or enter your registration code.
4. Finally, pay by card through PayPal or Alipay. We email the result as soon as Vietnam Immigration releases it.

Before you land, read our Vietnam entry procedure guide (step by step from the aircraft to the arrivals hall) and our Vietnam customs rules guide (duty-free allowance, cash limits and banned items).

FAQ: expediting a Vietnam visa from Hong Kong

What is the fastest way to get a Vietnam visa in Hong Kong?

For expediting a Vietnam visa from Hong Kong on an HKSAR passport, choose an urgent new e-visa with the 2-working-hour option, ordered before 09:00, 11:00, 15:00 or 16:00 Hong Kong time on a Vietnamese working day.

I hold a BN(O) passport. Can I get an e-visa?

No. BN(O) holders cannot apply for the Vietnam e-visa and are not visa-exempt. Use our visa on arrival service instead.

Can I get a Vietnam visa on a Saturday?

Yes, also on Vietnamese public holidays, as a new application. Email info@vietnamimmigration.org for the fastest reply, or use our weekend and holiday form. Order before 15:30 Hong Kong time for a result by 19:30 the same day.

Do Hong Kong public holidays delay my visa?

No. In fact, only Vietnamese working days and public holidays count.

Can I pay with Alipay?

Yes. We accept Alipay and cards through PayPal.

Is your service available in Chinese?

Yes. Our Traditional Chinese guide covers the same services.

Facts checked on 7 November 2026 against evisa.gov.vn and our price list. The BN(O) rule as confirmed by our operations team.