Once you have submitted all documents and paid the mandatory fees, your documents will be submitted for further processing. The embassy will take at least five working days to process your documents, after which you will be issued a fully stamped Visa.
One of the major benefits of applying through the embassy is that you will have a fully stamped Visa with you before you depart for Vietnam. However, there are a number of drawbacks in this system. You will have to incur major travelling costs. If you applying for Visa through correspondence, you will have to submit your documents through postal mail, where you stand to lose your valuable documents in transit. An easier alternative to this procedure is the Visa on Arrival process. You do not need to send in your documents through postal mail and you can save a lot of money, which would otherwise be wasted on travel and stay in a foreign country.
In order to apply for Visa on Arrival, you will have to get in touch with a travel agent based in Vietnam. You will have to fill up an online application form with all your details such as name, occupation, purpose of visit, duration of stay etc. While filling the purpose of visit section, you will have to choose from option such as business, tourist and transit. Business Visa comes with a validity of one month, three months and six months. A tourist visa comes with a validity of one month and a transit visa comes with a validity of less than five days.
The online application form is processed in about two to three days and you will be issued a letter of approval. Your travel agent can collect this letter of approval on your behalf and have it sent to you. You can travel with this document. On reaching Vietnam, you will have to submit this letter of approval along with the Visa stamping fees at the Visa on Arrival counter in the airport.
It is to be noted that the Visa on Arrival facility is available only to those travelers who travel to Vietnam via air. For those taking land routes, it is mandatory that they travel with all their documents on them. In case of a cruise ship, the cruise authorities can provide necessary information on Visa on Arrival.
