Vietnam travel requirements for US, UK and EU passports

Start with the passport group

US passport

The United States is on neither 45-day exemption list. A valid passport holder from any country can apply for an e-visa for a stay of up to 90 days. See the detailed US e-visa guide for the selected entry points, passport conditions, and fees.

UK passport

British citizens are on Resolution 44/NQ-CP. The exemption is 45 days, valid from 2025-03-15 to 2028-03-14, for any passport type and any purpose of entry. It will be considered for extension under Vietnamese law, which is a review, not a new end date. The UK government page confirms the 45-day exemption.

The two dates are part of the check. Resolution 229/NQ-CP has a different validity window, from 2025-08-15 to 2028-08-14, and its purpose is tourism. A passport group can share the 45-day number while the resolution and purpose line still differ.

EU passport

Check which of these three groups applies:

• Resolution 44/NQ-CP lists Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
• Resolution 229/NQ-CP lists Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland for tourism. It is valid from 2025-08-15 to 2028-08-14.
• Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, and Portugal are on neither list. The visa-free comparison explains the two resolutions in full.

This Vietnam Today segment covers the visa-free policy behind the first passport group.

Passport and border checks

The shared checklist starts with the document, not the itinerary. Your passport must expire at least 6 months after arrival, have at least 2 blank pages, and have no damage. Enter and leave Vietnam on the same passport.

Screenshot: UK FCDO travel advice for Vietnam, entry requirements (gov.uk), captured 8 October 2026

If you enter under the 45-day exemption, check the date stamped in the passport before leaving the airport or land border. The entry rules say immigration will not change it after you leave the border point.

Asked whether a worn passport would get past Vietnamese immigration, one r/VietNam user replied:

"Look alright to me, no tears and or missing pages which is what they usually pretend to be picky about."

u/wuanlai65 on r/VietNam

Before the flight and at the border

Fill in the online pre-arrival declaration (PAI) before you fly, whichever airport you land at. Vietnam's own notices still call it a pilot. The Ministry of Public Security says the Immigration Department started it at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on 15 April 2026 and ran the first weeks as voluntary, and Da Nang police said on 17 June 2026 that Da Nang had joined on 15 June as the fourth airport in the pilot, after Tan Son Nhat, Phu Quoc and Noi Bai. On 21 October 2026 the form's own list of arrival airports had a fifth, Cam Ranh, the airport for Nha Trang. A US Embassy notice of 17 June goes further: it calls the declaration mandatory and says it is being extended to all airports in Vietnam, for every international passenger who does not hold a Vietnamese passport.

You can complete it at prearrival.immigration.gov.vn up to three days before you arrive, or on arrival by QR code or paper form at the airport. Show the QR code it generates to immigration. It is separate from the visa. The notices we read cover airports only.

The UK government page is the mildest of the three. On 15 October 2026 it still said travellers entering through Tan Son Nhat are "encouraged" to complete a digital arrival card and that it "is not currently a mandatory requirement". Until Vietnam publishes a nationwide rule, plan on the US reading and complete the declaration before you fly: if it's right you need it, and if it isn't you've only filled in an online form.

Screenshot: US Embassy and Consulate in Vietnam, pre-arrival declaration notice, captured 8 October 2026

Travellers to or through Vietnam may also be required to complete a health declaration, which may include proof of vaccination, "from 1 July", the UK government page says. Vietnam's Ministry of Health answered that on 30 June 2026: the health declaration in Decree 165/2026/ND-CP, in force from 1 July 2026, is not required of every traveller at all times. The health minister decides who has to declare, and when, disease by disease, and the ministry will announce its own declaration system when one is needed.

If you change from an international flight to a domestic flight in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, you must clear immigration and enter Vietnam, even when the final destination is outside Vietnam. Check with the airline before booking the connection.

Overstaying can stop you from leaving until a fine is paid. You can also be deported and refused entry in future. Vietnamese authorities can place an exit ban on people involved in an investigation, including a civil matter or road accident, and your passport can be held until the case closes.

If you need an e-visa: fee, length and entry points

US passport holders and anyone on neither exemption list will usually apply for an e-visa. An airport visa on arrival is no walk-up alternative: it needs a sponsor's approval before you fly. The fee is 25 US dollars for a single entry and 50 US dollars for a multiple entry, set by the Ministry of Finance in Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC, in force since 1 April 2026. It is paid through the portal and is not refunded if the visa is refused. The stay can run up to 90 days.

The e-visa is tied to designated border gates. Resolution 389/NQ-CP of 2 December 2025 added 41 of them, and Vietnam's embassy in Washington puts the total at 83: 17 airports, 27 land border gates and 39 seaports. They include Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, Da Nang, Phu Quoc and Cam Ranh airports and land crossings such as Moc Bai and Lao Bao; Vinh and Chu Lai airports joined in the new list, while Long Thanh and Gia Binh airports only apply once they open. The UK government page adds that an e-visa restricts you to the entry and exit points you select when you apply, and that an e-visa issued while you are in Vietnam only starts after you leave and re-enter. The airports by destination guide shows which airport serves each part of the country. If you entered the wrong gate or made a typo on the form, see what to do about e-visa problems.

Screenshot: VnEconomy, e-visa report of 20 February 2025, captured 8 October 2026

Customs: cash and medicine

Customs rules apply to every passport. You must declare cash over 15 million Vietnamese dong or 5,000 US dollars, or the same value in other currencies. Bank cards don't count toward that, and our Vietnam ATM fees guide compares what five banks' machines charge a foreign card. Prescription medication goes in your hand luggage with a copy of the prescription, and medication with a total import value over 100 US dollars must be declared at customs.

Our take

The passport itself is the check that applies to everyone. Six months of validity, two blank pages and no damage apply to every traveler, whatever the visa. For UK and most EU travelers, check the entry stamp before leaving the border. For US travelers, the e-visa entry point matters as much as the visa, so pick the airport or crossing you will really use. Everyone flying in should complete the pre-arrival declaration, even though the UK page still calls it optional.

How we checked this

The rules come from the two Government newspaper reports on Resolutions 44/NQ-CP and 229/NQ-CP, the UK FCDO entry page, two US Embassy notices and the VnEconomy e-visa report. Each figure in this article was matched against its source on 8 October 2026. On 14 October 2026 we re-read the US Embassy's notice on the declaration and added the Vietnamese notices on the pilot from the Ministry of Public Security and Da Nang police, and re-read the report on Resolution 44 for its line on extending the exemption. On 15 October 2026 we re-read the UK FCDO entry page; its passport, arrival-card and health-declaration lines were unchanged. On 19 October 2026 we read the fee in the signed text of Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC, which replaced the earlier fee circular on 1 April 2026 and keeps the same two amounts. The same day we checked the e-visa gate list against Resolution 389/NQ-CP, as summarised by Vietnam's embassy in Washington and the Hung Yen police, and corrected the gate counts.

On 21 October 2026 we re-read the UK entry page (last changed 21 September 2026), both resolutions, the US Embassy notice and the Vietnamese pilot notices. Nothing in this checklist had changed, and we found no new visa exemption or e-visa rule for US, UK or EU passports. Last reviewed: 21 October 2026.

What this does not tell you

This checklist does not decide an application for a passport outside the named exemption lists. Use the Vietnam visa page for the next check, then confirm the live application steps on the official e-visa portal before submitting.

References

• Government of Vietnam (Báo Chính phủ), Resolution 44/NQ-CP: https://baochinhphu.vn/mien-thi-thuc-nhap-canh-viet-nam-cho-cong-dan-12-nuoc-102250307195144569.htm. Checked 2026-10-14.
• Government of Vietnam (Báo Chính phủ), Resolution 229/NQ-CP: https://baochinhphu.vn/tu-15-8-2025-mien-thi-thuc-cho-cong-dan-12-nuoc-vao-viet-nam-du-lich-102250811085114891.htm. Checked 2026-10-08.
• VnEconomy, e-visa fees and designated border gates (20 February 2025): https://en.vneconomy.vn/more-detailed-information-about-vietnams-e-visa.htm. Checked 2026-10-08.
• Embassy of Vietnam in the United States, 41 border gates added for e-visa holders under Resolution 389/NQ-CP (14 May 2026, Vietnamese): https://vietnamembassy-usa.org/vi/tin-tuc/2026/05/viet-nam-bo-sung-41-cua-khau-quoc-te-cho-phep-nguoi-nuoc-ngoai-nhap-canh-xuat-canh. Checked 2026-10-19.
• Hung Yen Provincial Police, the 41 added e-visa border gates (25 December 2025, Vietnamese): https://congan.hungyen.gov.vn/bo-sung-41-cua-khau-quoc-te-cho-phep-nguoi-nuoc-ngoai-xuat-nhap-canh-bang-thi-thuc-dien-tu-c232511.html. Checked 2026-10-19.
• Ministry of Finance, Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC on immigration fees (27 March 2026, in force 1 April 2026, Vietnamese): https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?docid=217367&pageid=27160. Checked 2026-10-19.
• Ministry of Public Security of Viet Nam, Immigration Department launches the PAI system (11 May 2026, Vietnamese): https://www.mps.gov.vn/bai-viet/cuc-quan-ly-xuat-nhap-canh-trien-khai-he-thong-cung-cap-thong-tin-truoc-chuyen-di-pai-1778469461. Checked 2026-10-14.
• Da Nang City Police, PAI pilot at Da Nang International Airport (17 June 2026, Vietnamese): https://congan.danang.gov.vn/atgt-pccc-cnch/6a3253be4ae8855a792a4557.html?id=6a3253be4ae8855a792a4557&p_id=328. Checked 2026-10-14.
• US Embassy and Consulate in Vietnam, pre-arrival declaration notice (17 June 2026): https://vn.usembassy.gov/notice-implementation-of-pre-arrival-declaration-for-international-visitors-arriving-at-airports-in-vietnam/. Checked 2026-10-15.
• UK FCDO travel advice for Vietnam, entry requirements: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/vietnam/entry-requirements. Checked 2026-10-15.
• Vietnam National Authority of Tourism, Resolution 44/NQ-CP: https://vietnam.travel/things-to-do/viet-nam-waives-visas-citizens-12-countries. Checked 2026-10-08.
• KPMG Vietnam, Resolution 229/NQ-CP: https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/vn/pdf/2025/08/new-regulations-on-visa-exemption-vi.pdf. Checked 2026-10-08.
• Vietnam National Electronic Visa system: https://evisa.gov.vn/. Checked 2026-10-08.

Photo (cover): Edwin Petrus / Unsplash

Data checked: October 2026.