Have read all the posts and the guide book (LP) re Vietnam. Just got my passport back from Travel Agent with my Vietnam visa. The visa form which is stapled into passport reads....Port of entry.. Hanoi/Saigon and is hand written (by travel agent) I have a bad feeling that this is not acceptable and that the port of entry should be stamped into the passport. There is a visa stamped in the passport..all in Vietnamese of course but nowhere do I see Hanoi or Saigon. Help!!! Is it acceptable to specify..Hanoi/Saigon? I've just paid Aus$ 95 for this visa. Do I need to get it adjusted? Leave in 8 days. Need advise, fast.
Thanks LP readers,
Annie
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Hi,
This is what your visa in your passport should read:
'Tan Son Nhat' for Saigon and 'Noi Bai' for Ha Noi.
So if that's what it looks like, there is nothing to worry
about.
Have fun, Dik
You mean Tan Son Nhut (Nhut pronounced Nyoot).
Stamped in your passport you should have a big blue stamp, covering almost the entire page.
Somewhere at top, the visa number should be hand written. Also, it should say if it's a single or
multiple "mot lan" (single) or "nhieu lan" (multiple entry).
Check the dates. You are allowed to entry/exit within that period.
As "Dik" says, Tan Son Nhat (btw: it's "Nhat", not "Nhut", and certainly not pronounced "nyoot",
whatever that has do to with this) means the airport in HCMC, Noi Bai is the airport in Hanoi.
You can enter/leave at any of these two ports as you wish.
I'm surpried that your visa stamp doesn't have ANY English in it. Nowadays, they have translated a
few words here and there.
Finally, you should have a red, circular stamp at the bottom of the page.
And don't forget to bring an exact copy with photo of the visa application to present to the
immigration police at the airport when you arrive.
No sweat.
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First of all, as Dani and others have told you, your visa is stamped in the passport. That page stapled to your passport is just the visa application you'll need to give them upon arrival in VN (you may detach it from your passport if you'd like) and what your travel agent wrote on it isn't all that important. Dani - The Vietnamese have a new visa format. It's a printed "label" that is in English and Vietnamese. Really looks professional. They use it here in DC and in some other VN Embassies around the world, but apparently not in Australia. Take a look at one if you haven't seen it already
Regards,
Doug Reese
Vietnamtourism/Washington DC
everything is alright, but I'd ask your travel agent why
you paid AUD95 for a AUD60 visa, unless it is not your
usual one month visa, which in that case I'll shutup.
Doug:
I usually just check the dates, and don't care so much about the other writings in my visas. And I
haven't got my passport where I'm at right now, but yes, I have a recollection that I saw some
English words here and there in my last visa. That's why I was surprised. About time, I think,
because a kid could have figured out that people wanting visas for VN are the ones less likely to
know the language. But I have always comforted myself by thinking it's more important that the
Vnese officials can understand it.
And thanks for now and then keeping an eye on my replies.
-
VR and Doug:
I also noticed the charge. But I think it's a regular handling fee, and that the agency has to pay $60
to the embassy.
BTW: Hasn't the visa cost for VN turned a bit steep lately?
---------------------------------
Dani - While I can only speak for what they do here in DC, the cost of the visa hasn't changed in the 4(?) years they have been here. It has always been $25 for your basic single-entry visa. The difference is what agencies (or VN Embassies) charge for the visa "authorization" or "approval".The DC Embassy charges $40 for that approval, making the total cost $65. We charge less because, well, we can. Ours is just $55 total. Some agencies will get their visas from the VN Embassy and add a service fee on top of the $65. Some agencies, like us, have the capability of doing their own "authorization" and charge a fee that may be higher or lower than the $65 the DC Embassy charges. Of course many Viet-kieu agencies here in the USA include the visa in with the price of the ticket, so you may not know exactly what is being charged for the visa.
By the way Dani, I'll be in SGN/Hue/Danang/Hoi An for a few days May 29-June 4.
Regards,
Doug
Vietnamtourism/Washington DC
Thanks everyone who gave advise,especially Dick and Dani for translating the Vietnamese words for me. It has both names on the stamp so it seems all is cool. Thanks guys, I was having a big stress about it.
Doug, the $95 inc a $35 courier fee as I don't live in a capital city.
All the best,
Annie
Samui Girl:
Glad you're cool. Happy trails.
Doug:
My remembrance may be inexact. But 4-5 years ago, you paid about $20 for a 3 month single
entry tourist visa. Including everything.
Today, it's $25 for a 1 month ditto, plus the extras you refer to. If you consider the ratio duration
time/cost, it's actually something like a 1000 (one thousand) % increase.
I'm looking forward to the day you can get the visa upon arrival, like in i.e. Cambodia, and for a
decent price.
Happy travels to you, too. I'm going there June 4-10, and thought my itinerary was a quick one.
You'll beat me with one day, though. Perhaps we'll run into each other at Tan Son Nhat on the 4th.
I'm flying TG680.
Regards
------------------------------
I'm departing on June 4 - on Thai, but the one that departs at 9pm. Maybe next time!
By the way, I think your rememberance is incorrect about the cost of visas 4-5 yrs ago. Then again, MY memory is what it used to be either :)
Regards,
Doug
Actually, Dik is mostly right. Tan Son Nhut is the southern
Vietnamese spelling and pronounciation, and was the official
name of the airport before 1975. After Vietnam was
'liberated', the name was changed to reflect the more
'correct' northern pronounciation.
.
For some reason, the restaurant there remains to be called
'Nhut'.
.
And it IS pronounced 'nyoot'.
1. You can't claim correct "spelling" at all, none of you, because this site doesn't support their
alphabet (if you even have Vietnamese fonts in YOUR computer).
2. It's absolutely irrelevant what the locals used to call it 25 years ago, or how they spelled it. It's
what's valid TODAY that is vital. But you really had to shine, showing how amazingly well educated
you are, didn't you?
3. "Nhat" pronounced "nyoot"??????? OK, I agree if "Noah" is pronounced "nerd".
4. "Dani" is one of the few guys using this site that possess open eyes (about Vietnam) and provides
useful information for anybody to read. He's got my respect.
The few times YOU have been peeking in here, you've been a patronizing, self-righteous schmuck,
more eager to flash your IQ than to offer any help.
Drop dead, Noah, or get back here when you have something to offer.
.
You were the monitor in school, right? Suck a limb, you moron. Check who wrote what, Farang or
Dik, before you start your telling-off about shit that nobody cares about. I totally agree with
Yussarian.
.
Aloha
Why this clever linguistics? Down south they say "Giet Nam". Does that mean "Viet Nam" is wrong,
too? What's your point? What has this got to do with anything?
"Lighten up"? I wonder if that isn't exactly what you did before you wrote you remark. Perhaps
you even lit up a few too many (hehe).
Take care.
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