When your e-visa keeps asking for more, and never approves
You filled the form correctly. You uploaded everything. The system keeps coming back for more information, or the answer simply never arrives. There is another route โ and it is the one that still works.
Is this your situation
Two signs this page is for you
Vietnam’s e-visa has been open to every nationality since August 2023. So this is not about who is allowed to apply โ everyone is. It is about what happens after you apply.
- You submitted a complete and accurate e-visa application and it was not approved.
- The system keeps requesting more information โ sometimes questions that make no sense for your case โ and never reaches a decision.
One traveller we helped recently was asked to clarify whether she was already in Vietnam. She had never set foot in the country. There was nothing to clarify, and no way for her to fix it from inside the form.
In practice this affects travellers from some African countries most often, but it is not limited to them, and it is not a rule you will find written anywhere. If the two signs above match your experience, read on.
Our role
What we do โ and what we do not do
EntryVN does not sponsor anyone. We are not a sponsoring body and we do not issue approval letters. What we do is advise you, check your case honestly, and pass your file to a partner who holds the licence to do this work.
The decision belongs to the reviewing authority. Not to the partner, and certainly not to us. Anyone who tells you an approval is guaranteed is telling you something they cannot know.
This is the same position we hold across the site: EntryVN is an independent private service, not affiliated with the Vietnam Immigration Department or any government agency.
How it works
Six steps, and you only pay at step three
Message us with your situation
Your nationality, your travel dates, and what the e-visa system has told you so far.
We check where your application actually stands
If you already have an application code, we look it up and tell you plainly what we see. Sometimes the answer is that your file is fine and you simply need to wait.
Free โ no charge, no obligationIf the sponsored route is the answer, you pay the advisory fee
USD 20, paid before we go further. This covers the case review and connecting your file to the licensed partner.
USD 20 ยท paid upfront ยท non-refundableYou pay the approval letter fee and send your documents
The fee depends on your nationality and is quoted to you before you commit to anything. We submit the file the same working day where possible.
Quoted per caseThe partner processes it โ around 5 working days
Government offices are closed Saturday and Sunday, so weekends do not count. Plan on a full working week, and leave margin before your flight.
You receive the letter, then collect the visa at the airport
Show the letter at the visa-on-arrival counter and pay the stamping fee there in cash.
USD 25 ยท cash at the airportWhat you pay
Three separate payments โ be clear on this before you start
| Payment | Amount | Paid to | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case check | Free | EntryVN | Before anything else |
| Advisory & referral | USD 20 | EntryVN | Upfront ยท non-refundable |
| Approval letter | Quoted per nationality | EntryVN (all-in) | Before the file is submitted |
| Visa stamp | USD 25 | Immigration, at the airport | Cash, on arrival |
Before you ask: this route is not cheap
The approval letter fee runs into the hundreds of US dollars โ several times what a standard e-visa costs. We know that is hard to hear for a short trip, and we would rather you know it now than after you have spent an hour messaging us.
The figure we quote is EntryVN’s all-in price for that nationality. It covers the licensed partner’s processing and our work on your file. It is not a government fee, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. The only government money in this whole process is the USD 25 you hand over at the airport.
Why it costs what it costs
This is the part most agencies will not explain, so here it is plainly.
A sponsored approval letter is not a form someone fills in for you. It is a licensed company putting its name behind you, based on your personal file, and telling the authorities that you are who you say you are and that you will do what you say you will do.
If you then break the law in Vietnam, the consequences do not land only on you. The sponsor is penalised too โ heavily โ and a sponsor who gets it wrong can lose the standing to do this work at all. They are not selling paperwork. They are accepting a risk on a stranger, and the fee reflects what that risk is worth to them.
That is also why they ask for every page of your passport, your employment, your real hotel bookings, and who you are travelling with. It is not bureaucracy for its own sake. Someone has to be confident enough in your file to stand behind it.
We quote per nationality on WhatsApp because the fee genuinely differs case to case, and publishing a table of nationalities and prices is not something we are willing to do.
Documents
What the partner will ask you for
Have these ready before you start. Missing documents are the single biggest cause of delay, and delay is what makes people miss flights.
Travelling with someone? If your companion holds a passport that does not attract the same scrutiny, we usually only need their passport page and flight booking. If you are sharing a hotel room, their booking is covered by yours.
These are not required, but they help. Entry and exit stamps from countries you have already visited, and recent payslips. Anything that shows you travel, you return, and you have a life to come back to.
Straight answers
Things we would want to know in your position
Can you guarantee I will be approved?
No. Nobody can. The decision sits with the reviewing authority and we have no influence over it. What we can tell you is honestly whether your case looks strong before you spend money on it.
I already paid USD 25 for an e-visa. Do I get that back?
No. Government application fees are not refundable once the application has been submitted, whatever the outcome. We know that stings when you are then asked to pay again for a different route.
Is the USD 20 advisory fee refundable if the letter is refused?
No. It pays for the review and the referral, which happen whatever the outcome. We tell you this before you pay, not after.
Why is it so much more expensive than a normal e-visa?
Because an e-visa is a form, and this is a company taking a risk on you. The sponsor vouches for you by name. If you break the law here, they are penalised alongside you and can lose the standing to sponsor anyone again. You are not paying for paperwork โ you are paying someone to accept that exposure.
How long do I really need?
About five working days once the file is submitted, excluding weekends. If your flight is less than two weeks away, tell us immediately โ the timing matters more than anything else on this page.
What if I decide not to go ahead?
Then you have paid nothing, as long as you stop before the advisory fee. The case check costs you nothing and we will tell you plainly if we think the trip is not worth the cost.
One case
How this played out for one traveller
EntryVN did not issue this letter and is not the sponsor named on it. We prepared and submitted the file.
She applied for the e-visa herself and it stalled. The system kept coming back for more information — at one point asking her to clarify whether she was already in Vietnam. She had never set foot in the country.
We checked her file for free and told her honestly that it was unlikely to clear. She moved to the sponsored route instead. The approval letter came through five days later, two days before her flight.
One case is one case. It is not a promise that yours will go the same way — nobody can give you that. We show it because it is what the process looks like when it works.
Start with the free check
Send us your nationality, your travel dates, and your application code if you have one. We will tell you where you actually stand before you spend anything.
๐ฌ Message us on WhatsAppReplies within about 2 hours during Vietnam working hours.