For all administrative formalities, you can ask for information at your Embassies.
You have your flight tickets? You are good? And now…what left to do before departure? Well let’s see, now you have to make sure that all the administrative formalities are in order! Let’s have a look together…
Passport
Don’t forget to check your validity date! For a tourist staying in Viet Nam, your official document must have at least 3 months of validity beyond the date you are scheduling to return!
You don’t have a passport yet? It is necessary to have one before leaving for Viet Nam. The paperwork and process are to be done at your city hall and usually take a good month. The French passport is now valid for a period of 10 years.
Tourist Visa
For a stay in Viet Nam, for touristic or professional reasons, it is mandatory to obtain a visa previously to your departure. There are several types of tourist visas, according to the duration of stay and the number of possible entries in Viet Nam. You have then the choice between a 1 month visa (30 days) or a three months visa (90 days), with simple entry (you stay in Vietnamese territory during your entire stay) or with multiple entries (if for example you want to visit a neighboring country during a trip before coming back to Viet Nam).
Get your visa done with HAPPY LUAN for cheaper prices
Since Visas are expensive when made in France, and since not everybody lives nearby the Vietnamese Embassy in Paris, my efforts were directed at developing a Visas Service at reasonable prices with the immigration authorities.
The Visa is issued at the airport on arrival in Viet Nam. It is a safe, fast, far cheaper and very simple process:
- Once you have your staying dates, send me a scan of your passport,
- About a week later, I will send you an official immigration paper,
- Print it, keep it safe and please also bring 2 valid photos ID as well as the fee for the Visa,
- Present the whole thing when arriving at the airport in Viet Nam and they will deliver your Visa.
If you wish to take care of the Visa by yourself and that you live close to a Vietnamese Embassy abroad, the easiest way is to carrying out directly those steps and process there. Else, you can call up an intermediate body that will take care of it by postal service. The steps are easy but the price is naturally higher! I usually advise ‘’Action-Visas’’ for their professionalism…
Driving license
You feel like driving? You wish to take commands of a motorbike in the small streets of Ha Noi or on the Vietnamese roads? You must know that neither the international nor your national license is valid on the Vietnamese territory.
In Viet Nam, it is forbidden to drive any types of motor vehicles (motorbike, cars) without a Vietnamese license…You will have absolutely no right to drive a car, but for a motorbike under 125cm3, the risk is minimized. The police won’t bother you with it. However, in case of accidents, you must know that you will always be held responsible, doesn’t matter whose fault it was! The consequences can be heavy…think about it!
For those who cannot conceive a trip without driving a motorbike, you can find helmets everywhere in Ha Noi. Don’t forget about it…even if the Vietnamese people don’t always wear them. It is obligatory to wear one! But be careful, be extremely cautious; as a reminder, in 2011, 45 000 people died on the roads (number not including on-spot deaths).
Customs
After your arrival at the airport, the process through customs is usually quick. You will only be asked to declare large sums of money. You can also carry duty free the traditional carton of 200 cigarettes and a bottle of alcohol.
Don’t forget on your way back home that if you carry Art items bought in Viet Nam, you will need the bills to justify their departure from the territory. Also be careful with counterfeit objects often sold on the streets, they could get you into trouble at your arrival back at home…
