How to Get a Vietnam Visa for US Passport Holders 2026

We are a private visa service, not the Vietnamese government or an embassy. The Vietnam Immigration Department decides every visa. You can always apply for an e-visa yourself on the official portal evisa.gov.vn for the government fee only. Facts checked in November 2026.

Do US passport holders need a visa for Vietnam?

Yes. The United States is not on Vietnam’s visa exemption lists, whatever the purpose of your trip. One US-specific point: the APEC Business Travel Card does not help, because the United States takes no part in its pre-clearance and offers card holders no visa-free travel (US Federal Register, 14 June 2019). Phu Quoc, airside transit, the airport steps and customs are in our Vietnam visa requirements for US citizens.

Which Vietnam visa should US passport holders get?

US passports belong to price group 3 on our form, so you can choose any of these:

For a trip of two or three weeks, a 30-day single-entry e-visa is enough. Choose a 90-day multiple-entry e-visa for a longer stay or a tour that also takes in Cambodia, Laos or Thailand. According to the State Department, every Vietnamese visa category except the e-visa needs a sponsor, which makes the e-visa the simplest route for a holiday.

How to apply for the Vietnam e-visa on evisa.gov.vn, step by step

1. Get out the passport book you will fly on, take a portrait to the portal’s size (not the US 2 × 2 inch format) and scan the data page.
2. Enter your details on evisa.gov.vn; Americans most often go wrong on the middle name and the photo shape (see the tips).
3. Pay by card, confirm the one-time code from your bank, and keep the e-Visa app no. you are shown.
4. Wait about 3 Vietnamese working days; weekends and Vietnamese holidays do not count.
5. Download the approved e-visa, compare it with your passport and print it.

Every section of the form and the photo checks with their error messages are set out in our field-by-field guide to the evisa.gov.vn application, and the meaning of each status in our Vietnam e-visa status guide. Here we keep to what is different for a US passport.

Tips for US passport holders

• The card will not do. The State Department says the passport card is not valid for international air travel, so apply with and fly on the passport book.
• Square photo, tall format. A US passport photo is 2 × 2 inches. The portal wants 4 × 6 cm, so crop to the taller shape or have a new photo taken.
• Middle name. It goes with your first name in “Middle and given name”, in the order of the machine-readable lines; the surname field takes your last name only.
• Validity. The Embassy asks for 6 months beyond your entry date; the State Department advises 6 months beyond your stay and a blank visa page. Following the State Department satisfies both, and the e-visa must end at least 30 days before the passport does.
• Children. A US passport issued under age 16 lasts only 5 years, and a child with their own passport needs their own e-visa application.
• Phone. Type 1, a hyphen, then the ten digits, for example 1-2125550123.
• Flying from San Francisco. Vietnam Airlines’ non-stop flight lands at Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City four times a week (checked 12 November 2026). An airport e-visa covers it, and in practice, an e-visa for an airport works at any international airport, but not at a land border or seaport.
• Vietnamese nationality too. The State Department says Vietnam treats Vietnamese citizenship as primary and that you must enter and leave on the same passport. On a US-passport e-visa, answer the multiple-nationality question truthfully; frequent visitors of Vietnamese origin may prefer the 5-year visa exemption certificate.

Checking your status

Look the application up on the portal with your e-Visa app no., email and date of birth, or through our e-visa status page. If it is stuck close to your flight, read our guide to a US e-visa still in processing or have it sped up. Check the approved e-visa carefully: the State Department says the US Embassy and Consulate General cannot change anything on it, and small differences from your passport can cause problems. Report an error through the portal’s Contact us page before you travel.

Common Vietnam e-visa mistakes for US citizens and how to avoid them

• Using the passport card instead of the book.
• Uploading the square passport photo without cropping it to 4 × 6 cm.
• Putting the middle name in the surname field.
• Planning to extend in Vietnam. The State Department notes that an e-visa cannot be renewed or extended there, so book dates that cover the whole trip.
• Listing a child with their own passport in the section for children who share a parent’s passport.

The mistakes every applicant can make are in our field-by-field guide and our guide to Vietnam e-visa mistakes.

Apply through visa-vietnam.hk

If you would rather not deal with the portal, apply through us. With our online form, each traveller gives us the name, sex, date of birth, passport number and expiry date and two images, and the order needs one email address; we fill in the rest of the official application from the passport scan. You upload your portrait and passport scan as they are. Our team adjusts the size, crop and background to the official technical specifications of the government portal. We never change your appearance.

For a US passport we offer every e-visa type (30 or 90 days, one entry or several, tourism or business) from 4 working days down to 4 working hours, the 15-day visa on arrival letter and VIP Arrival Support at the airport. You can pay by PayPal, which accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover, or by Alipay.

Our prices and order-by times in US time

From 1 November 2026 to 13 March 2027, Vietnam is 12 hours ahead of Eastern time and 15 hours ahead of Pacific time, so most cut-offs fall on the evening before in the US. Prices are per person for a 30-day single-entry tourist e-visa, government fee included:

• Central and Mountain: take one or two hours off the Eastern times; the 08:00 Vietnam cut-off is 7:00 pm Central or 6:00 pm Mountain the evening before.
• After 14 March 2027 (US daylight saving time starts on the second Sunday of March, NIST), every US time moves one hour later. Hawaii and most of Arizona do not change their clocks.
• Friday in Vietnam is Thursday evening for you; an order on Friday evening US time is already Saturday in Vietnam and starts on the next working day.
• Weekends and Vietnamese public holidays: email our partner at info@vietnamimmigration.org. Our Vietnam urgent visa service page lists the other options.

Status and support. Applied through us? Email us and we will tell you the status; customer email support is 24/7.

Refund. If Vietnam Immigration refuses your e-visa, we refund 95% of your payment (the 5% PayPal transaction fee is not refundable), under our refund policy. There is no refund when the refusal is due to a past violation of Vietnamese law or an overstay.

Applying at the Vietnamese Embassy or a consulate in the US

You need the Embassy or a consulate for a visa in your passport, for categories the e-visa does not cover, or for the 5-year visa exemption certificate. The Embassy’s visa page (checked 12 November 2026) describes the procedure:

1. Complete the visa application form by hand; you can download it or pick one up at the Embassy.
2. Enclose the original passport for a visa sticker, or a copy of the data page for a loose-leaf visa, valid for at least 6 months beyond your entry date.
3. Add one 2 × 2 inch photo for a sticker, or two photos for a loose-leaf visa.
4. Include the Immigration Department’s approval letter if you have one, and supporting papers such as your sponsor’s invitation.
5. Apply in person, or by mail with a prepaid, self-addressed and preferably tracked return envelope (USPS, UPS or FedEx).
6. Pay by Visa or Mastercard at the counter; by mail, send a money order, cashier’s check or company check made out to “EMBASSY OF VIET NAM”.

Embassy fees, hours and holidays

• Fees: the Embassy publishes no amounts. Circular 163/2026/TT-BTC sets USD 25 for a single-entry visa, USD 50 for multiple entries within 3 months and USD 25 for a child under 14. For urgent processing, ask the embassy or consulate for its official fee.
• Hours (Eastern time): Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm, with a consular counter on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm. The visa line is 202-989-8160; call before you go.
• Closed on 2 September, Vietnam’s National Day, and on all US federal holidays: next come Thanksgiving (26 November 2026), Christmas, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day (18 January 2027) and Washington’s Birthday (15 February 2027), per the Office of Personnel Management.
• Consulates in San Francisco (Consulate General), New York (by email appointment) and Houston (Consulate General) are listed in our US requirements guide; each sets its own procedure and fees, so ask before you send anything.

Visa on arrival approval letter

A visa on arrival is not issued on evisa.gov.vn. It needs an approval letter from the Vietnam Immigration Department, which a sponsor in Vietnam requests; our service arranges it. At the airport, seaport or land border, the officers check your passport against the approval letter and issue the visa.

Our letter gives 15 days, single entry, for tourists; business travel and longer stays need the e-visa. At the counter you hand in the NA1 form with a photo and pay USD 25 in cash. Latest order times in Eastern winter time (one hour later from 14 March 2027):

The counter itself is described in our Vietnam visa on arrival guide.

Before you fly

Carry the e-visa on paper: the State Department says e-visa holders must show the printed e-visa with a valid passport at the port of entry. The pre-arrival declaration is mandatory for foreign travellers at every international airport in Vietnam. Complete it for free on prearrival.immigration.gov.vn before you leave home, up to 3 days before you land, because Wi-Fi and mobile data at the arrival airport can be slow. If you travel on a visa on arrival, you complete it at the airport, after the visa counter.

For arrival, customs and departure, see our Vietnam visa requirements for US citizens and the Vietnam entry procedure guide.

For travel agencies, tour operators and companies

Organising visas for American tour groups or staff? Email us at info@visa-vietnam.hk with your expected number of travellers per month to receive our partner rates.

FAQ: how to get a Vietnam visa for US passport holders

Can I use my US passport card?

No. It is not valid for international air travel, according to the State Department; use the passport book.

Can I upload my US passport photo?

Only after cropping it: the US photo is a 2 × 2 inch square, and the portal wants a 4 × 6 cm portrait.

Where does my middle name go?

In “Middle and given name (First name)” together with your first name, as on the machine-readable lines. The surname field is for your last name.

Can the US Embassy fix a mistake on my e-visa?

No. The State Department says it cannot change e-visa data, so check every field before paying and again when the e-visa arrives.

What time should I order an urgent e-visa from the US?

The evening before. In winter the 1-day service closes at 8:00 pm Eastern or 5:00 pm Pacific on the previous day.

Sources consulted on 12 November 2026: the State Department’s Vietnam page, its passport card page, its page on passports for children under 16, its passport photo page, the Embassy of Vietnam in the US, the Federal Register on the APEC Business Travel Card, NIST on daylight saving time, the Office of Personnel Management, Vietnam Airlines, evisa.gov.vn; Circular 163/2026/TT-BTC; Official Letter 1474/CACK-TSN; our Apply form. Official rules can change, so check them before you travel.