Arriving in Vietnam
A tourist visa is required. Please contact the Vietnam Embassy in Washington, DC (202-861-0737) or the Vietnamese consulate in San Francisco, and allow at least one week for processing. You may also download the information that you will need for your visa from the Embassy webpage at www.vietnamembassy-usa.org. Generally, you will need to provide the Embassy/Consulate with a completed application form, two passport photos, a check for the visa fee, your passport, and a return express mail envelope. Visas are normally good for 30 days from the date you specify that you will enter the country. You must also decide your port of entry because this will be written on your visa and cannot be changed later. If you indicate that you will be traveling for tourist purposes and arriving by air, your visa will usually permit you to enter and exit by both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Because you will be in Vietnam for a short visit, even if you extend for a few days to visit local institutions, please apply for a tourist visa. List the hotel where you will be staying as your contact. It is not appropriate to list IIE because as a foreign organization, we have no authority over you and are unable to sponsor visas. If you list the Ministry of Education and Training or a university, you will be required to have them sponsor your visa, delaying your application.
When you arrive in Vietnam, you will first go through immigration where your passport and entry-exit card are carefully checked. Next you will pick up your luggage and clear it through customs. Do not bring videos, or lots of bulk materials for fair distribution as this may cause delays. If something is held at customs for review, ask for a receipt and pick up the materials later (most often it is more trouble for the customs officer to issue the receipt than it is to clear the materials). Also, make sure to keep your entry-exit card and customs form together with your passport as they will be checked when you leave Vietnam.
After clearing customs, follow the flow of passengers out of the airport. Both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have done a good job of clearing the immediate area outside the airport of independent taxi drivers and hotel agents so you can get into the city hassle-free.
In Hanoi, if you do not have a hotel car waiting for you, cross to the transit island directly across from the exit and take either a Vietnam airlines or Noi Bai Transport taxi desk. The standard fare into the city is $10. They will assign a car and driver to you.
Leaving Vietnam
Vietnamese visas specify from which point(s) you are permitted to leave the country - usually Hanoi Noi Bai Airport or Ho Chi Minh City Tan Son Nhat Airport. If you indicated that you will arrive and depart by air, then your visa should automatically reflect your ability to depart from either airport. If you intend to exit from a place not specified on your visa, make sure to have the immigration office adjust your visa accordingly. It is essential to reconfirm your departing flight as soon as you arrive in Vietnam. The hotels can assist you. Departure tax is $14 payable in US dollars or Vietnamese dong.
Traveling inside Vietnam
If you have already booked in-country flights, it is essential that you reconfirm them upon arrival. Vietnam Airlines, the main carrier, has been known to delay, reroute or even cancel local flights with little or no warning. It is recommended that early morning flights be used if at all possible. Departure tax at domestic airports has now been folded into the price of the ticket.
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