Visa on arrival in Vietnam

ben.kerkvliet@anu.edu.au

To: vsg@u.washington.edu

Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2013 20:22:57 +0000

CC:

Subject: [Vsg] visas on arrival at Vietnam airports

17 December 013

Dear VSG folks,

In the past VSG has discussed visas upon arrival at airports in Vietnam. On this matter, I want to share my recent

experience.

As an invited speaker to a conference at Thái Nguyên University (16-18 Dec 2013) I was sent a document from the Immigration

Department of Vietnam [Cúc Quản Lý XNC] dated 15/10/2013 saying that I could get an entry visa upon arrival at any

international airport in Vietnam. In three previous trips in recent years to Vietnam various sponsoring agencies have

arranged and sent me such documents from Vietnam's Immigration Department, which I used without incident to get visas upon

arriving at Hanoi’s international airport.

But this time this type of document didn’t work. As part of the boarding procedures of Cathay Pacific airlines at Metro

Manila’s international airport on Sunday, 15 Dec 2013, I showed the 15/10/2013 letter from the Cúc Quản Lý XNC, the Cathay

Pacific check-in staff, who immediately expressed concern and consulted their superiors. After some considerable time, those

superiors informed me that they didn’t regard this document as sufficient to issue me a boarding pass to travel to Hanoi. I,

of course, objected. In the ensuing debate, the Cathay Pacific staff produced a letter from the Embassy of Vietnam in Manila.

Dated 24/10/2013, the letter instructed Cathay Pacific to disregard any visa approval letters held by passengers; it stressed

that “only Embassies and/or Consulates of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam are authorized to issue legitimate visas to

foreigners abroad.” (I have a copy of this directive.)

Despite my arguments, including my willingness to travel to Hanoi and take my chances of getting a visa upon arrival at

Hanoi’s airport, the Cathay Pacific staff refused to let me fly to Hanoi from Metro Manila.

Consequently, I could not travel and I missed out on participating in the conference and making the presentation I had

prepared. Not only was I extremely upset, so were the conference organizers, who included colleagues in Vietnam, Australia,

and the United States.

Whether my experience is peculiar to Cathay Pacific and/or to a departure from Metro-Manila, I do not know. In any event, I

wanted to tell other VSG folks so that they might take steps to avoid what happened to me. For me the lesson is get a

Vietnamese visa stamped in my passport.

Best wishes,

Ben

Ben Kerkvliet

Emeritus Professor

Australian National University

Canberra

Affiliate Graduate Faculty

University of Hawai'i

Honolulu

I was given to understand by a Vietnamese national who needed ten stamps to valorize a single document that it is expected

that consular staff will use revenues from such stamps and visa fees to augment their very meager salaries.

Hue Tam Ho Tai

Sent from my iPad

On Dec 16, 2013, at 16:05, "Mark Sidel" <sidel@wisc.edu> wrote:

Very, very unfortunate, Ben.... Sympathies from all of us....

Do other VSGers know whether Vietnamese consulates or embassies in other countries have issued similar notices? (Right before

I send this I now see Dominique's confirmation that this involves another major visa-issuing and visa-revenue jurisdiction.)

Ben, does the Manila Embassy 24/10 letter refer to a document issued in Hanoi on this matter as support for/requiring their

position?

In the past I have wondered whether the visa-on-arrival process would eventually be opposed by Vietnamese consulates and

embassies because of the slowing of growth in or fragmentation in consular institutional revenue (and, perhaps even more so

if institutional revenue from visas is commissionable or shared with consulates, embassies and their staff -- I'm being

careful to the point of obtuse here), as the visa-on-arrival process and numbers expanded.

We don't have enough data, as Ben indicated, yet to know whether the consulates and their superiors and staffs are now

pushing back with backing from MFA or others in Hanoi. If visa fees are commissionable/shared at the consulate level and

with consulates and staff, and they as well as MFA or others in Hanoi have a real stake in growing revenues through the

traditional visa processes, then one would expect a confluence of interest between some Hanoi policymakers and

consulates/their staff on such pushback at some point....

Best wishes.... Mark

Mark Sidel

University of Wisconsin-Madison

From: Daniel C. Tsang

Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2013 7:20 AM

To: vsg@u.washington.edu

Subject: Re: [Vsg] RE: visas on arrival at Vietnam airports

Dennis is correct in pointing out that Vietnam has accepted unattached visas (i.e. not stamped in a passport) for those have

them.

For instance, in Little Saigon, California, travel agents typically photocopy the passport information page and send the

particulars to a Vietnam consulate or embassy which issues

the visa on a piece of paper. So the passport never leaves the owner's possession except for the photocopying in the travel

agency. It is not mailed to the consulate. The unattached visa helps those who do not want a stamp in their passport.

One clarification: Vietnam has for a long time allowed nationals of ASEAN countries visa-free entry. What is under

discussion now is whether to allow a single visa to travel among certain ASEAN countries by tourists.

See Dec 9, 2013 news report ("Business group slams Vietnam visa regime") on a Vietnam Business Forum report on the visa on

arrival issue, inter alia:

[http://investvine.com/business-group-slams-vietnam-visa-regime/]

The authorities promised to introduce an online visa system that would enable registration for visa-on-arrival. They also

revealed plans to work with neighbouring countries to hammer out a single-visa policy that would enable tourists to travel

freely across Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. But all these plans have remained “in progress".

The only commitment the Vietnamese government has honored is the continued visa waiver for single-entry visits of up to 15

days for Danish, Finnish, Japanese, Norwegian, Russian, South Korean, and Swedish nationals. ASEAN citizens do not need a

visa to enter Vietnam.

dan

On 12/16/2013 3:08 PM, Dennis wrote:

1. Notice that the date on the warning is Sun, 09/18/2011 - 12:06; over two years old.

2. Here in HCMC, when I arrive from a trip, the visa upon arrival area is almost always full of people (look like tourists to

me).

3. In local media coverage, the visa upon arrival procedure has often been associated with attracting more tourist traffic.

4. Cambodia provides the visa on line in a matter of a couple of days, and there was every indication Vietnam was moving

toward the same process.

5. I believe an agreement is in the works that will allow all passports from ASEAN countries to enter without visas.

6. I had two visitors from Hong Kong two weeks ago, using visa upon arrival and Cathy Pacific and there was no problem.

Having said all of that, while I have used visa upon arrival a couple of times myself, having a visa in hand is always the

best advice.

People have always been able to request an unattached visa:

a. to avoid sending the passport through the mail (you use a good copy of the passport front page instead) and

b. I believe that some people did not want the visa in their passport.

Dennis

Dennis F. Berg, Ph.D.

Foreign Advisor - Facilitator

SEAMEO RETRAC

35 Le Thanh Ton, Quan 1

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

From: Haughton, Dominique

Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2013 4:26 AM

To: 'Susan Hammond' ; 'Benedict Kerkvliet' ; vsg@u.washington.edu

Subject: RE: [Vsg] RE: visas on arrival at Vietnam airports

Greetings again to all, and here is the warning on the Washington DC embassy website:

http://vietnamembassy-usa.org/news/2011/09/warning

This clearly is a recent crackdown. Very best to everyone, Dominique

From: Susan Hammond [mailto:shammond@warlegacies.org]

Sent: Monday, December 16, 2013 4:16 PM

To: Haughton, Dominique; 'Benedict Kerkvliet'; vsg@u.washington.edu

Subject: RE: [Vsg] RE: visas on arrival at Vietnam airports

You should still be able to request a visa on a separate piece of paper from the consulate/embassy issuing your visa if it is

not possible to send your passport back and forth for some reason. The issue then of course is being sure you do not lose

this paper visa, but if I recall it gets stapled to your passport when you get to Vietnam.

Susan

From: vsg-bounces@mailman1.u.washington.edu [mailto:vsg-bounces@mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Haughton, Dominique

Sent: Monday, December 16, 2013 3:39 PM

To: 'Benedict Kerkvliet'; Vietnam Studies Group ‎[vsg@u.washington.edu]‎

Subject: [Vsg] RE: visas on arrival at Vietnam airports

Greetings to all, this is very peculiar: I went to Hanoi, in November, after the date in the letter mentioned by Ben, and

received a visa at the airport, as I have been doing for the past few years. It seems that I was lucky. I went to see the

site of the VN consulate in Paris, and it appears that someone has decided to crack down on visas on arrival (see below). A

real pity since it was convenient and much faster for those of us who don’t live in a city with a consulate but there you

have it. Ben, thanks ever so much for the warning. Back to the old sending the passport to and fro by overnight mail … oh

well … Very best to all, Dominique

http://www.ambassade-vietnam.com/index.php/component/content/article/36-news-ambassade/546-conseils-aux-voyageurs-

avertissement-concernant-le-visa-en-ligne-on-line-visa

www.dominiquehaughton.com

Dominique Haughton

Professor of Mathematical Sciences

Bentley University

175 Forest St., Waltham, MA 02452-4705

USA

e-mail: dhaughton@bentley.edu

https://twitter.com/analyticsdh

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