On the 15th of August, 2023, the tourist visa rules and prices are going to change dramatically. They will be returning to 90-day visas as an option for travelers and nations that qualified for visa exemption, which is dependent upon the diplomatic relationship between your country and Vietnam, are being revised to 30 days for residents of those nations.
Literally nothing else has been established at this point in any sort of official capacity.
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The reason why I am writing this is because there is a lot of bad information being spread locally and abroad about other aspects of this, such as how much it is going to cost, and in the worst scenarios agents are already charging people $75 to get their visas ready for them post 15th of August.
This is upsetting to me but I suppose a fool and his money are soon parted. All it takes is a little bit of a look online to find out that the decision hasn't actually been made or at least it hasn't been announced how much it is going to cost and you really shouldn't be lining up to pay an agent some sort of magical prediction on the cost when they are guaranteeing you a space closer to the front of the line.
These sorts of preferential treatment systems do exist in this country of course. They exist everywhere. But the idea that if you get your orders in now that it will be filled earlier than others is absolutely nonsense. Sure, you agent might create a queue of some sort based on when their customers submit, but seeing as how none of these applications can actually be made until the 15th of August (more likely the 16th) there is absolutely zero reason to scramble to get your application in first. All of these applications are going to be submitted at once and I really don't think that other than the few of us that live here that there is going to be any noticeable increase in the amount of paperwork that Vietnam Immigration is dealing with on those days.
This also isn't a system that they are unfamiliar with because up until 2022, the tourist visas to Vietnam had been 3-month (90 day) visas for many years. There really isn't anything for them to change about the process other than where the wheel on the stamp at the immigration booth is positioned as far as the date is concerned. I would guess that they keep multiple stamps on hand since a vast majority of the people that come through Immigration are on either a 30-day or a 90-day visa.
I have an agent and I think he is one of the only somewhat honest ones in the city of Da Nang. He has told me in no uncertain terms that there is NO REASON to submit your paperwork early because nobody is even going to look at it until the 16th anyway. He has advised me to not even bother coming by his office until the 15th. There is no reason.
The next part he might have been joking about but he was laughing at all the people that are submitting their applications early because from what he has seen inside the Immigration office, there is just a giant stack of applications so the ones that come in LATER are actually the ones that end up on the top of the pile for that day. Therefore, the people who are being promised express delivery are perhaps ensuring that they are going to be one of the last people to get their visas back. I have no idea if this last part is true but my agent has never done me wrong in the 5 years I have been using him so I have no reason to doubt him.
My agent also said that he suspects that the visa fee for 90 days is going to revert to what it was a year ago and that is $25 to $30. Wild speculation is happening online right now with people that have no idea what they are talking about or are intentionally trying to mislead the public in order to make more money.
There is one avenue that you can explore for "express" if you have access to a trustworthy agent and that is paying an extra $25 which likely goes into the pocket of the person who is reviewing the paperwork. Apparently if you pay this extra you jump to the front of the line and can in many instances get your visa paperwork back on the same day you submit it.
Don't believe the rumors and speculation that is going on right now. Nobody actually knows what is going to happen and for god's sake done hand over extra money for bogus services that don't even exist.