The Vietnam visa exemption list decides whether you need to apply for anything before you fly, and it is not the same for everyone. As of August 2026, around 25 nationalities can enter Vietnam visa-free for up to 45 days, most ASEAN neighbors get 30 days, and a short list of other countries get shorter or longer windows. If your passport is not on the exemption list at all, you will need an e-visa before departure, and that step needs to happen before you finalize a tour date with us, not after.
At a Glance
- 25 countries (mostly Europe, plus Japan and South Korea) get 45 visa-free days as of August 2026.
- 7 ASEAN neighbors get 30 days; the Philippines gets 21; Brunei and Indonesia get 14.
- Chile and Panama get 90 days, the longest unilateral exemption on the list.
- The US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are NOT exempt and need an e-visa (25 to 50 USD, up to 90 days).
- Passport must be valid 6 months beyond your entry date, regardless of exemption status.
Disclaimer: Visa policy changes without much notice, and Vietnam has adjusted this exact list twice since 2023. The information below was verified against Vietnam’s official tourism authority (vietnam.travel), a Vietnamese embassy notice, and the government’s Resolution 229/NQ-CP as of August 2026. It is not a substitute for official guidance. Before you book flights, confirm current requirements for your nationality on the official e-visa portal at evisa.gov.vn or with your nearest Vietnamese embassy or consulate.
Vietnam Visa Exemption List 2026: The Quick Answer
Vietnam’s unilateral visa exemption is not one universal rule. It is a set of five separate duration bands, each covering a different group of countries, and the band your passport falls into determines how much prep you need before a trip. The table below groups every currently exempt nationality by how many days they can stay without applying for anything.
| Country / Region | Exemption Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chile, Panama | 90 days | Longest unilateral exemption on the current list, multiple entry. |
| Germany, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belarus | 45 days | Original 13-country group, in force since 2023, extended through March 14, 2028. |
| Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland | 45 days | Added August 15, 2025 under Resolution 229/NQ-CP, valid through August 14, 2028. |
| Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand | 30 days | Longstanding ASEAN reciprocal exemptions. |
| Philippines | 21 days | Separate ASEAN agreement, shorter than the other 6 members. |
| Brunei, Indonesia | 14 days | Shortest ASEAN exemption band. |
| United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and all other nationalities | Not exempt | E-visa required before travel (see the e-visa section below). |
Source: Vietnam National Tourism Administration (vietnam.travel), Government Resolution 229/NQ-CP (August 2025), and a Vietnamese embassy notice on the 13-country group, cross-checked against Wikipedia’s Visa policy of Vietnam summary. Verified August 2026.
Whichever band applies to you, the count starts on your entry date, not your booking date, and it covers your full stay, not just the days you spend on a tour. A traveler entering on a 45-day exemption who books a 3-night Ha Long Bay cruise with us in the middle of a 3-week Vietnam trip is well inside the limit; someone stacking a long Southeast Asia itinerary onto a 14-day exemption is not.
The 45-Day Visa Exemption Group: Europe, Japan, and South Korea
Most of our international guests fall into this band, the largest exemption group on the list. It splits into two waves. The first wave of 13 countries, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Belarus, has held 45-day visa-free entry since 2023, and the current extension runs to March 14, 2028. A second wave of 12 more countries, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland, was added under Resolution 229/NQ-CP, effective August 15, 2025 through August 14, 2028, as part of a tourism stimulus push.
Two conditions apply across the whole 45-day group, regardless of which wave you fall into. Your passport must have at least 6 months of validity remaining on the day you enter Vietnam, and the exemption applies “regardless of passport type or stated purpose of entry” per the official resolution text, so it covers both leisure and most business travel. Entry has to be through an international checkpoint, meaning a listed international airport, seaport, or land border crossing, not a minor local crossing.
If you are traveling from one of these 25 countries and your trip, door to door, is under 45 days, you do not need to apply for anything before you fly. Just check your passport’s expiry date against your planned return, since that 6-month buffer trips up more travelers than the exemption itself.
ASEAN and Other Shorter Exemption Bands
Outside the 45-day group, Vietnam’s remaining unilateral exemptions are shorter and mostly reciprocal agreements with fellow ASEAN members. Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand get 30 days. The Philippines, despite also being ASEAN, sits on a separate 21-day agreement. Brunei and Indonesia get the shortest window on the list at 14 days. Chile and Panama are the outliers in the other direction, both cleared for 90 visa-free days, the longest duration Vietnam grants unilaterally to any country.
None of these shorter bands typically apply to CVT’s core booking audience, since most of our guests travel from Europe, North America, or Australia, but they matter if you are combining a Vietnam leg with a wider Southeast Asia trip and entering on a regional passport, or if a travel companion on your booking holds a different passport than you do. Each traveler on a shared booking is checked individually against this list, not as a group.
Not on the Exemption List? How the Vietnam E-Visa Works
If your passport is not covered by any of the bands above, including the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, you need an e-visa before you travel. Since August 15, 2023, Vietnam’s e-visa program has been open to all nationalities, issued through the official government portal at evisa.gov.vn. A single-entry e-visa costs 25 USD and a multiple-entry e-visa costs 50 USD, and both are valid for up to 90 days from the date of issue.
Processing typically takes 3 to 5 business days once you submit a passport scan, a photo, and the application fee, though the portal allows extra time during peak season. Apply at least 2 to 3 weeks before your flight if you can, and treat the week before departure as a backup buffer, not your plan. Our tours run on fixed daily departure schedules, so an e-visa delay on your side cannot push back a group cruise departure or a shared pickup slot; sorting the e-visa early keeps that entirely off your plate once you land.
Only use the official evisa.gov.vn portal or a licensed Vietnamese embassy or consulate to apply. Third-party visa sites can charge several times the official fee for the same 90-day e-visa, and some are not affiliated with the Vietnamese government at all.
Practical Rules Every Exempt Traveler Should Know
A few practical rules apply whether you are visa-exempt or traveling on an e-visa, and they are the details that actually cause problems at the airport, not the exemption list itself. First, the 6-month passport validity rule is checked at check-in by your airline, before you even reach Vietnamese immigration, so a passport expiring in 4 months can get you denied boarding regardless of your exemption status. Second, the old rule requiring a 30-day gap between consecutive visa-free entries was removed under Vietnam’s Law No. 51/2019/QH14, so back-to-back visa-exempt entries are legally permitted. Immigration officers can still ask questions if you exit and re-enter on the exemption repeatedly within a short window, so if your itinerary involves several short hops in and out of Vietnam, an e-visa is the more reliable choice.
Third, exemption days are calendar days from your entry stamp, not business days, and overstaying even by one day results in a fine and paperwork before you are allowed to exit, which can affect a return flight or an onward cruise booking with a fixed departure time. Fourth, entry has to be through a recognized international checkpoint; a full list of airports, seaports, and land crossings is published on the official immigration portal, and it is worth checking your specific entry point in advance if you are arriving overland from Cambodia, Laos, or China rather than by air.
How This Affects Booking Your Ha Long Bay Tour With Us
The tour itself does not change, but your prep timeline does. When you book with us, we ask for your arrival date and nationality mainly to plan pickup logistics, such as confirming your hotel pickup window, not to check your visa status, so it is on you to confirm your own entry requirements before the trip, ideally before you pay a deposit on a fixed departure date. If you are visa-exempt, you’ll only need to double-check the passport validity rule above. If you need an e-visa, get it done before you lock in your Ha Long Bay or Lan Ha Bay departure, since our cancellation policy is based on days before departure, not on whether your paperwork came through in time.
Our guide team and pickup drivers deal with mixed-nationality groups on every departure, and the most common last-minute issue we see is not a rejected visa, it is a traveler who assumed their country was exempt when it was not, or who miscounted their remaining passport validity. 10 minutes checking your passport dates against the table above, before you book, avoids that entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Vietnam visa exemption list the same for every nationality?
No. As of August 2026, around 25 nationalities get 45 visa-free days, most ASEAN countries get 30 days, the Philippines gets 21 days, and Brunei and Indonesia get 14 days. The United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are not on the unilateral exemption list, so travelers from those countries need an e-visa or a visa on arrival before flying.
Do UK and EU citizens need a visa for Vietnam in 2026?
Most do not for short stays. The UK plus 23 EU and European countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and 12 more added under Resolution 229/NQ-CP in August 2025, get 45 visa-free days for tourism. Your passport still needs at least 6 months of validity left on the day you enter.
Can I re-enter Vietnam visa-free right after my 45 days end?
The old rule requiring a 30-day gap between visa-exempt entries was dropped under Vietnam’s Law No. 51/2019/QH14, so consecutive visa-free entries are legally allowed. In practice, immigration officers can still question travelers who exit and re-enter on the exemption repeatedly in a short window, so an e-visa is the safer route for a longer or repeat trip.
How much does a Vietnam e-visa cost and how long does it last?
Since August 2023, Vietnam’s e-visa has been open to all nationalities. A single-entry e-visa costs 25 USD and a multiple-entry e-visa costs 50 USD, both valid for up to 90 days, paid directly on the official evisa.gov.vn portal. Processing typically takes 3 to 5 business days, so apply well before your flight, not the week before your Ha Long Bay tour.
Does the visa exemption list affect how I book a Cozy Vietnam Travel tour?
Your booking itself does not change, but your prep does. If your country is not on the exemption list, sort your e-visa before you lock in a departure date, since our tours run on fixed daily schedules and cannot wait on immigration paperwork. If you are visa-exempt, just carry a passport valid 6 months beyond your entry date.
Booking Your Trip Once Your Visa Status Is Confirmed
The Vietnam visa exemption list is the first practical step in planning a trip here, not a formality to skip. Check your nationality against the table above, confirm your passport has 6 months of validity left, and if you are not exempt, get your e-visa sorted through the official evisa.gov.vn portal before you commit to flight dates. Once that is settled, the rest is straightforward. You can see our full fleet of Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay cruises, read more about our team on our about us page, and lock in a departure date on our homepage whenever you are ready.
© 2026 cozyvietnamtravel.com. All rights reserved. Original research by the Cozy Vietnam Travel Editorial Team. First published on cozyvietnamtravel.com. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.