What this is
A 66-page handbook covering the legal and procedural machinery of entering Vietnam: which
visa you need, how to avoid the errors that get e-visas rejected, what customs will confiscate,
how long the immigration queue really takes, and what happens if something goes wrong.
What is inside
- Part 1 — Before you book. The visa decision tree, 23 waiver countries with their
expiry dates, and the six-month passport rule with its four traps. - Part 2 — Getting your visa. The e-visa step by step, the date trap that costs
travellers two months of stay, and the six reasons applications are refused. - Part 3 — Before you fly. The mandatory pre-arrival declaration, the total
prohibition on vaping devices, duty-free allowances, cash and gold thresholds, the 2026 power bank
rules, and a printable pre-flight checklist. - Part 4 — At the airport. Arrival step by step, real waiting times by airport and
hour, the green and red customs channels, and what fast track actually costs. - Part 5 — While you are here. Registering where you stay, ATM limits and fees,
and the full overstay penalty schedule. - Part 6 — The awkward cases. Travelling with children, two passports and
passports reported lost, Chinese E-series passports, and the Phú Quốc island exception.
The part that is not on our blog
Eight chapters carry a briefing called At the desk — what actually happens at a
Vietnamese port of entry, written from working there rather than from reading about it.
Format
A single PDF, sized for a phone screen and formatted to print cleanly. Downloads immediately
after payment. No app, no account, no expiry on the file itself.
Honest limitations
This is a guide, not legal advice — the officer at the port of entry decides. Vietnamese visa
policy runs on government resolutions with fixed expiry dates; every rule in the book carries its
source and its expiry so you can verify it. This edition is current as of 16 August 2026.
