At the embassy, you will have to fill up the Visa application form in English. You will have to mention the place of collection and submission of the Visa as Vietnam in your form. Along with the form, you will have to submit one recent passport sized photograph, one self-addressed envelope and your original passport. To apply for Visa from the embassy, you must hold a valid and original passport. Your passport must have validity of six months and a few spare pages for stamping purposes. You will also have to pay the Visa fees. The fees can be paid in favor of the Embassy of Vietnam by way of money order or cashier’s check. 

The embassy will take at least five working days to process your documents. Once the documents are processed, you will be issued a fully stamped Visa. The major benefit of applying for Visa through the embassy is that you can get hold of a fully stamped Visa before leaving for Vietnam. However, this process is expensive and time consuming. 

In case you decide to apply for Visa through correspondence, you will have to send in all your documents to the embassy through postal mail. This is highly risky as you could lose your valuable documents, including your original passport, if your package is misplaced or lost in transit. 

The easier alternative to this is to apply for Visa on Arrival. In order to apply for Visa on Arrival, you will have to get in touch with a travel agent based in Vietnam. You will be required to fill an online application form on the agent’s website with details such as your name, occupation, purpose of visit, duration of stay etc. When filling up the purpose of visit section, you will have to choose from options such as business, tourist and transit. A business Visa comes with a validity of one month, three months or six months. A tourist Visa comes with a validity of one month and transit Visa comes with a validity of less than five days. 

Once you have filled in all details, your form will be sent for processing. Usually, online forms are processed in two or three days. Once your form is processed, you will be issued a letter of approval. This letter of approval will have to be submitted at the Visa on Arrival counter of the airport you arrive in. 

It is to be noted that the Visa on Arrival facility is extended only to those travelers who arrive in Vietnam by air.