No Vietnam eVisa and Flying This Weekend or Monday?

Updated Nov 6, 2026

InTimeVisa is a private agent, not the Vietnamese government, and we sell a weekend eVisa tier: Urgent Vietnam eVisa on Saturday or Sunday. Read on to see whether your flight needs it. This page is for travellers who have not applied yet and fly to Vietnam between Saturday and Monday. If you already applied and the status still says Processing, read Vietnam eVisa stuck in processing.

The short answer

Applying yourself on evisa.gov.vn at the weekend will almost certainly not be in time for a flight between Saturday and Monday. You have 4 options left: a passport that is visa-exempt, an urgent order through an agent, a later flight, or a ticket to Phu Quoc.

Whether the eVisa must arrive at the weekend depends on when check-in closes at your airport, in Vietnam time. Fly from Sydney, Auckland, Taipei or Delhi on Monday morning and you need it before Sunday evening. Fly from Los Angeles or New York on Monday morning and you do not, because it is already Monday evening in Vietnam.

If I apply myself on Saturday, when will I have it?

The middle of the following week at the earliest. Law 51/2019 gives the authority 3 working days from receiving complete information and the fee (Law 51/2019). A portal note says working days exclude weekends and public holidays (portal note). Apply on Saturday and your first working day is Monday, your third is Wednesday. The Embassy of Vietnam in Australia says applicants usually receive the eVisa at the end of the fourth working day if no change is needed, which is Thursday (Embassy of Vietnam in Australia).

Travellers report the same. In a June 2026 thread on Australian Frequent Flyer, one person said they applied on a Sunday the previous August and the visa came through overnight on Friday, in time for a Saturday afternoon flight (Australian Frequent Flyer, June 2026).

If your flight is after Thursday next week, applying yourself today may still work. If it is sooner, read on.

First: do you need a visa at all?

Ordinary passports of the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, China and Taiwan are not on the 45-day list: Vietnam visa-free countries and the 45-day exemption. Someone travelling with you may hold another passport, such as British, German, French, Japanese or Korean, so check the whole list.

If you are only going to Phu Quoc: the Foreign Ministry's list says foreigners entering Phu Quoc from abroad may stay 30 days without a visa, including people who stay in the transit area of a Vietnamese international border gate and then continue to the island (Ministry of Foreign Affairs list). The mainland still needs a visa. If you want to switch your ticket to Phu Quoc, ask the airline first. See Phu Quoc visa rules.

Flying on Monday morning: work it out from your city

Use the time check-in closes, not the departure time. Vietnam Airlines closes check-in for its international flights 50 minutes before departure, and 60 minutes at 5 airports (Vietnam Airlines). Qantas airport counters close 60 minutes before flights QF1 to QF399, and online check-in closes 90 minutes before (Qantas). Singapore Airlines at Changi closes about 40 minutes before. Your airline prints its own figure on the ticket or its site. If you connect, use the closing time at the first airport where you check in, because that is usually where the airline checks the visa for the whole trip.

The eVisa must arrive before that time. In Vietnam time, the weekend tier delivers by 18:00 ICT on Saturday or Sunday. On Monday, the 2-4 hours tier ordered by 08:00 ICT delivers by 12:00 ICT, and the 1 working day tier ordered by 09:15 ICT delivers by 18:00 ICT. The full order times are on Urgent Vietnam eVisa on Saturday or Sunday.

The table assumes an 8 am Monday flight with check-in closing 60 minutes before, and holds until mid-March 2027. If your flight is at another time, shift the numbers to match.

From Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, China or India, no Monday tier can deliver before check-in closes on Monday morning. From the US it is the other way round. In New York, order by 8 pm on Sunday and the eVisa is due before midnight, New York time. In Los Angeles, the 1 working day tier ordered by 6:15 pm on Sunday is due before 3 am on Monday, Los Angeles time.

Ordering early helps. In Sydney, if you order on Friday evening, before 7 pm on Saturday, the eVisa is due before 10 pm on Saturday. That leaves Sunday to check it, or to take a new photo if one is asked for.

Flying on Saturday or Sunday

From Australia, a weekend-tier eVisa arrives on Saturday or Sunday evening, so it only covers flights from Sunday morning on. To fly on Saturday, order the 2-4 hours tier by 6:30 pm on Friday, Sydney time, due before 10 pm on Friday.

From the US, the deadline comes sooner than you expect. A flight leaving Los Angeles at 11 pm on Saturday closes check-in at 1 pm on Sunday, Vietnam time. So the eVisa must arrive by 18:00 ICT on Saturday, and you must order before midnight on Friday night, Los Angeles time.

If you are reading this on Saturday morning in Los Angeles, that deadline has passed. A weekend order placed now is due before 3 am on Sunday, too late for Saturday night. You have two choices: move to a Sunday night flight and order the weekend tier, or move to Monday night and order the 1 working day tier by 6:15 pm on Sunday, which costs less.

What is the weekend tier?

The weekend tier is the same urgent eVisa service we run on working days, with different hours and price. On Saturday and Sunday there is one delivery a day: order and pay by 15:00 ICT and the eVisa is delivered by 18:00 ICT the same day. The price is US$250 per eVisa, government fee included (US$275 for multiple entry). The eVisa comes by email as a PDF, as with every tier.

Every order shows a delivery time before you pay. If you have no eVisa by that time, you choose: 100% of your money back, government fee included, or keep waiting. The conditions are in our Refund Policy. Approval stays with the Vietnamese authorities. We cannot make them decide faster, and we cannot guarantee approval, boarding or entry. To order, see Urgent Vietnam eVisa on Saturday or Sunday.

One thing to check when you compare: some agencies sell a "weekend visa" that is a visa-on-arrival approval letter. With that letter you bring photos and pay cash on arrival, and some airlines refuse it at check-in (Trustpilot review, 23 Jan 2026). Ask what you will get before you pay.

When not to buy the weekend tier

• You fly from the US on Monday morning. A Monday tier is enough and cheaper: 1 working day US$90, 2-4 hours US$150.
• Check-in closes after 12:00 ICT on Monday. The 2-4 hours tier ordered by 08:00 ICT on Monday is enough.
• Your passport is visa-exempt, or you fly straight to Phu Quoc.
• You are in Vietnam. The portal's FAQ says you must leave Vietnam before you apply for an eVisa.
• Moving to a Monday evening flight costs less than the difference between the weekend tier and the 1 working day tier.
• That weekend falls inside a public holiday break. The tier does not run on 6-7 February 2027 (Tet) or 4-5 September 2027 (National Day). See Vietnam public holidays and eVisa cut-offs.

Should I also apply on the portal myself, just in case?

No. An urgent order through an agent is also an application lodged on the portal. The portal says two identical applications are treated as separate ones, the fee is not refunded, and if both are approved both are valid (portal note). A second one only costs another fee.

If you have already applied yourself, read Vietnam eVisa stuck in processing before you order.

Before you go to the airport

Australia's Smartraveller says you may be asked for a printed copy at check-in and on arrival (Smartraveller), so download the PDF and print one copy. Canada warns that errors or missing information on a visa can lead to denied boarding (travel.gc.ca), so compare your name, date of birth and passport number with your passport page. Make sure your flight date falls inside the dates printed on the eVisa. The US State Department says your passport needs 6 months of validity beyond your arrival date (US State Department). A photo that meets the rules the first time saves a correction: Vietnam eVisa photo requirements.