Vietnam eVisa experience: what the portal shows, and where people get stuck

Updated Nov 4, 2026

On 4 November 2026 we read the instruction screens and interface text of evisa.gov.vn, then every applicant report we could open on Expat.com, OzBargain, Australian Frequent Flyer and independent blogs. We did not file a test application. In those reports the photo check and the name fields come up most often, and the issued PDF can still contain errors, so read it line by line. The steps below follow the order of the form, and the last section lists what we could not confirm.

Before you start

The portal runs at evisa.gov.vn and thithucdientu.gov.vn. All times on it are Vietnam time, UTC+7. It takes the form in English and asks for complete, true answers. Its FAQ says you can apply up to a year before you enter, that the visa must end at least 30 days before your passport expires, and that you cannot apply from inside Vietnam. (portal FAQ, read 4 Nov 2026)

The first thing it shows is a note box with tick boxes. We stopped there. Everything below about the fields comes from the portal's instructions and from the labels in its public script, not from filling the form in.

Step 1: two uploads and a face score

You upload a portrait and the passport data page, and the system reads the passport and fills in the fields. The instructions ask for a portrait that is recent, 4x6 cm, JPG or JPEG, under 2 MB, front-on, with no hat and no glasses, in formal clothes on a white background. Then a panel called Face compare appears with a Match percentage. The portal's own examples show 98.83% with Image quality: Pass, and 0% with a red bar saying the photos are not eligible.

We found no published pass mark. Applicants report getting through at about 80%, (travelclub.blog, Oct 2026) at 79% and at 66%. (vocus, 2025) The portal does warn, in its interface text, that a low match may lead to rejection. It also has this prompt: Image being uploaded does not match or has insufficient image quality. The profile may be rejected. Do you still want to continue? So some warnings let you carry on and take the risk. The instructions add that if the passport image is invalid you cannot submit at all.

Step 2: names, the field most reports are about

The fields are First name (Middle and given name) and Last name (Surname). The help text says to enter the name as on the ICAO line of the passport, which means the two machine-readable lines at the bottom, and in capitals. If the passport has only a surname or only given names, it says to enter them as Given names. Anything other than letters and spaces gets the message Only Latin characters allowed, no special characters.

Leaving out a middle name comes up again and again. On Australian Frequent Flyer, one poster says applications with only first and last names were rejected until the middle names went in. (Australian Frequent Flyer, 2022) On OzBargain, an applicant who added a middle name was approved. (OzBargain, Jan 2024) Several Expat.com users got an Incorrect full name notice, (Expat.com thread) and some were approved after sending the same details again. (Expat.com thread) So this notice often means sent back for edits, not refused outright.

Hyphens are the next one. The passport line shows a chevron where the hyphen is, the form will not accept a hyphen, and forum advice is to type a space. Posters from the US and Australia describe this, though none posted the final result. (Expat.com thread) Taiwan passports have a hyphen in most given names, so we wrote a separate page: Filling in the form on a Taiwan passport.

One to ignore. An OzBargain poster got approved only after typing AUS, the country code on the line, as part of the surname. Another poster with the same line received an eVisa with the plain surname and traveled without trouble. Nobody reports flying on the AUS version, so we do not advise it. The issued eVisa has to match your passport.

Step 3: dates, including the flight that leaves a day early

The form has Intended date of entry, Intended length of stay in Viet Nam, and the two fields that decide what you get: Grant e-Visa valid from and Grant e-Visa valid to. Applicants report these dates moving after they edit other fields, and one Taiwanese applicant who asked for 8 to 15 October was granted a visa running to 23 October. (vocus) So look at the two Grant fields again just before you submit.

Set valid from by your landing date in Vietnam, or earlier. Every date label on the form is about entry, none about departure. An overnight flight from Delhi lands the next day, and a flight from Los Angeles or Vancouver can land two calendar days after it leaves. We found no airline or government wording on this, so it is our reading. Forum replies say the same, and no poster we read was refused boarding for it. The safe move costs nothing unless you need the full stay: make valid from a day or two before you leave home. The 90-day limit runs from valid from, so if you need nearly all 90 days, do not move it back. Posters report no problem entering after the start date, (Expat.com thread) and one quotes the portal as saying you need a new application if you enter before it. (Expat.com thread)

Set valid to a few days past your flight home. Arrival day counts as day one, and a flight pushed past midnight on your last day becomes an overstay: see Vietnam visa overstay fines.

Step 4: address, trips and money

Intended temporary residence address wants a full address, and the portal's example is Daewoo Hotel, 360 Kim Ma, Ba Dinh, Ha Noi. If you are moving around, the FAQ says to declare the first place you will stay. Applicants report a hotel's ward missing from the list, and a hotel name on its own being sent back.

Other labels include Purpose of trip, Who cover trip, and Intended expenses (in USD). The FAQ refers to a section 6.9 on trips in the past year, with each trip counted from entry to exit. The FAQ also says to declare past violations, because hiding one can get the eVisa denied.

Leaving fields blank can get a file sent back. On Australian Frequent Flyer, one applicant was returned about 7 times, at 3 to 4 working days a round, (Australian Frequent Flyer, from Nov 2024) and another poster blamed pasted text that the form did not register. So type your answers, and do not paste them. Writing N/A in optional fields worked for one forum poster and not for others.

If a section asks about a Vietnamese company or agency, leave it alone unless one really is sponsoring you. An Expat.com poster was asked for a tourist company's details the form had no field for, (Expat.com thread) and we have no answer for that one.

Step 5: pay

The review page asks for a verification code. The gateway then shows the fee in Vietnamese dong, and your bank sends a one-time code. US$25 for single entry, US$50 for multiple, not refunded if the visa is refused. A failure here is common enough that it has its own page: Vietnam eVisa payment failed or Unpaid.

Step 6: wait, then look it up yourself

The portal lists 3 working days. Plan on 3 to 5, because weekends and Vietnamese holidays do not count and one 2026 traveler waited about 6 days. (Intentional Travelers) Taiwan's consular office says 3 to 7 working days. (BOCA, updated 15 Sep 2026) A file returned for amendment can add days each round.

Do not wait for the email. The portal promises one, but applicants report it arriving late or not at all, and one found the download on the status page without any message. (vocus, 2025) Look up your file with the e-Visa code, email and date of birth, and use Don't remember registration code if you lost it. Statuses in the interface include Processing, Amendment required, Approved and Not paid. If you are past the usual time, see Vietnam eVisa stuck in processing.

Step 7: read the PDF line by line

Approval is not the end of it. On OzBargain in August 2024, one applicant reported the wrong birth month on the eVisa after entering it correctly, another paid again over the same fault, and a third fixed a passport number through an update link. Someone on a tour said 4 of 11 people in the group had errors. A fourth poster said their husband was refused boarding by Singapore Airlines over a visa error, without saying which. (OzBargain, Aug 2024)

Canada's travel advice says an eVisa cannot be edited after submission, and that errors can mean denied boarding or refused entry. (travel.gc.ca, updated 19 Oct 2026) The exception is a file sent back with the status Amendment required, which applicants correct through the status page before it is issued. Once it is issued, it stands. Check name, date of birth, passport number, dates and entry type against the passport on the day it arrives, while you still have time to file again. See Name and form mistakes on the Vietnam eVisa if something is wrong.

Step 8: the airport

Carry the PDF on paper and offline, and file the pre-arrival form first: Vietnam pre-arrival form. At the desk, hand over the eVisa with the passport and read the stamp before you leave. Sources differ on the port you named. Canada says entry only through the port in your approval notice, while one applicant who mis-entered a seaport says it made no difference. Follow Canada's wording, and if your plans change, ask before you fly. You do not have to leave through the gate you came in by, according to the portal's FAQ.

Mainland Chinese passports follow a different routine at the airport: see Chinese passports and the paper visa.

What we could not confirm

We did not open the live form, so we have not seen the country list. Reddit, Backpackers, PTT, Mobile01 and TripAdvisor threads were closed to our tools, so reports there are left out or known only from search excerpts. We found no official pass mark for the face score, no official waiting time after a failed payment, and no official list of accepted cards beyond the screenshot. Many of the forum posts are years old, and one poster dates a rebuild of the portal to November 2024.

We are a private agent, so we have a reason to say the form is hard. Check what you read here against the portal. If you have the time and clean documents, you can file it yourself for US$25. If you would rather hand it over, or the flight is close, our prices are at Compare urgent eVisa tiers and ICT cut-offs, and how to check our work is at How to check a Vietnam eVisa is real.