Base on the length of stay and number of entry, Vietnam visa is divided into 1 month, 3 months, 6 months or 1 year visa, single or multiple entry.
Base on the purposes of entry, Vietnam visa is categorized into 20 different visa types:
| Visa categories | Description/ Applicant entitled to | Duration of visa | Duration of Temporary Resident Card |
|---|---|---|---|
| NG1 - NG4 | Diplomatic | Up to 12 months | Up to 5 years |
| LV1 - LV2 | Working with Vietnam authorities or parties | Up to 12 months | Up to 5 years |
| ĐT | Investors/ foreign lawyers | Up to 5 years | Up to 5 years |
| DN | Working with Vietnamese enterprises | Up to 12 months | NA |
| NN1 - NN2 | Chief Representative Office in Vietnam, Head of Project Office of foreign NGO | Up to 12 months | Up to 3 years |
| NN3 | Staffs of NGO, Rep office in Vietnam | Up to 12 months | NA |
| DH | Student/ interns | Up to 12 months | Up to 5 years |
| HN | Attending meeting | Up to 3 months | NA |
| PV1 | Journalists with permanent residence in Vietnam | Up to 12 months | Up to 2 years |
| PV2 | Journalists with short term residence in Vietnam | Up to 12 months | NA |
| LĐ | Foreign workers | Up to 2 years | Up to 2 years |
| DL | Tourists | Up to 3 months | NA |
| TT | Dependents of LV1, LV2, ĐT, NN1, NN2, DH, PV1, LĐ | Up to 12 months | Up to 3 years |
| VR | Visiting relatives, other purposes | Up to 6 months | NA |
| SQ | Related to MOF, Consulate with the purpose of market research, visiting relatives, tourist, medical treatment | Up to 30 days | NA |
From August 30, 2016 all visa categories for United States citizens are converted into 1 year multiple entry automatically and mandatory visa with maximum 90 days duration allowed of each visit. The visa stamping fee is changed correspondingly.
From November 23, 2015 the visa stamping fee has changed under the Circular 157/2015/TT-BTC issued by the Ministry of Finance as follows:
- 1 month or 3 months single entry visa: 25 USD/ visa
- 1 month to 3 month multiple entry visa: 50 USD/ visa
- Upward 3 months to 6 months: 95 USD/ visa
- Upward 6 months to 1 year: 135 USD/ visa
- Upward 1 year to 2 years: 145 USD/ visa
- Upward 2 years to 5 year: 155 USD/ visa
When the United States travelers apply for 1 year multiple entry visa on arrival, they are required to pay 2 kind of service fee:
- The processing fee: which is paid in full in advance to process the visa approval letter and it is 45 USD (normal service), 60 USD (1 day service), 75 USD (4 hours service) or 115 USD (emergency 2 hours service) per 1 year multiple entry tourist visa via www.visumvietnamonline.com
- The stamping fee: is the fee you pay directly to Immigration Officers in cash (at Immigration Counter) at your arrival airport in Vietnam to have visa stamped onto your passport and it is 135 USD per visa.
The stamping fee is collected by Immigration Officers and compulsory for all travellers who use visa on arrival method. It can be paid in USD or VND but USD is highly recommended to avoid any unexpected unbalanced exchange rates applied at the airport. The stamping fee is paid once at the first entry only.
So in total, an United States tourist has to pay at least 180 USD for visa fee and they are entitled to stay in the country maximum 90 days each visit. After 90 days they are bound to fly out and come back with new 90 days visa duration without paying the stamping fee again.