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Vietnam to issue online visa next year

TUOI TRE NEWS
UPDATED : 11/06/2016 10:01 GMT + 7

Foreign visitors to Vietnam can begin applying for visas and have them issued online within three days starting next year, the government site VGP News reported on Friday.

The online application, processing, and issuance of visas for foreign tourists will be piloted for two years since January 1, 2017, according to a recent government resolution.

Payment of visa fees will be made via bank transfer to guarantee transparency and convenience for tourists, as well as minimizing intermediate costs.

No letter of guarantee or invitation is required for online visa application, and visas will be issued within three days of application with the validity period of 30 days.

Nguyen Van Tuan, head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, regarded the move as Vietnam’s breakthrough in the facilitation of visa issue for foreign tourists compared to traditional visas.

In addition to the introduction of online visas, the tourism administration is also looking to expand the country’s visa exemption to include more of the top tourism markets, Tuan said.

Vietnam welcomed over eight million foreign visitors in the first ten months of 2016, whose top countries of origin were China, South Korea, Japan, and the United States, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam.