VIETNAM RESUMES VISA EXEMPTION FOR 13 COUNTRIES

The government on Tuesday agreed to resume its unilateral visa exemption policy for citizens from 13 countries as Vietnam seeks to reopen inbound tourism after nearly two years of closure.

Citizens from Belarus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K. will be allowed to visit Vietnam for up to 15 days without a visa regardless of passport type and entry purpose.

The government also announced to resume other pre-pandemic immigration procedures for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese.

Before the pandemic, Vietnam offered unilateral visa exemption policy for these 13 countries, the country's major tourism markets. Visitors from most other ASEAN countries do not require a visa for up to 30 days. The waiver was for 21 days for visitors from the Philippines and 14 days for those from Brunei and Myanmar.

The country also granted e-visas to citizens of 80 countries that allowed them to apply for 30-day, single entry.

Vietnam closed inbound tourism and halted granting visas for foreign tourists since March 2020.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism had many times called for the government to revive the visa policy like before the pandemic.

Vietnam has received over 10,000 foreign arrivals since November last year as the country partially reopened international tourism.

The country has announced to lift most of travel restrictions from March 15, when foreign tourists would be allowed to visit the country without booking tour packages.

Source: VN Express