Do You Need a Visa for Vietnam? Visa Exemption List 2026

Do you need a visa for Vietnam? Most travelers do. As of October 2026, citizens of 24 countries, mostly in Europe plus Japan and South Korea, can stay 45 days visa-free, and Southeast Asian neighbors enter visa-free under bilateral agreements. Everyone else, including US, Canadian, Australian and Indian citizens, needs a visa, usually the e-visa.

This guide gives the short answer by passport, the full Vietnam visa exemption list with the resolution behind each group and its expiry date, the conditions at the border, and the cases where a visa-free stay is not enough. For the e-visa itself, start with our Vietnam e-visa guide, or apply for your Vietnam e-visa online if you already know you need one.

Do you need a visa for Vietnam? Short answer by passport

US citizens need a visa for Vietnam, and so do citizens of Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand. UK, German, French and Japanese citizens can stay 45 days without one. The table covers the passports we are asked about most often, as of October 2026.

If your passport is not here, the full list below has every exempt country. If it is not on that list either, you need a visa before you fly.

Full Vietnam visa exemption list

There are three groups of visa-free countries for Vietnam. Twelve countries get 45 days for any purpose, twelve more get 45 days for tourism, and a smaller group enters under bilateral agreements. Each 45-day group rests on a government resolution with a fixed end date.

45 days visa-free for any purpose (Resolution 44/NQ-CP)

Citizens of these 12 countries can stay 45 days from the date of entry, regardless of passport type or purpose of entry, under Resolution 44/NQ-CP of 7 March 2025. The resolution runs from 15 March 2025 to 14 March 2028.

45 days visa-free for tourism (Resolution 229/NQ-CP)

Citizens of these 12 European countries can stay 45 days from the date of entry for tourism, under Resolution 229/NQ-CP of 8 August 2025, part of Vietnam's tourism stimulus program. It runs from 15 August 2025 to 14 August 2028.

Visa-free under bilateral agreements

Citizens of the other nine ASEAN countries enter Vietnam visa-free under bilateral agreements: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Vietnam's national tourism authority also lists Belarus, Chile, Kyrgyzstan and Panama in this group.

The number of days differs from one agreement to another and some have changed recently, so check the page for your nationality, or ask your airline, before you book a stay longer than two weeks. Mongolia joined the group when its agreement on ordinary passports took effect on 6 March 2024.

Entry conditions for visa-free travelers

A visa exemption still has conditions at the border. You need a passport valid for at least 6 months from your entry date, and you must not be banned from entering Vietnam. Under Resolution 229, the purpose of the trip must also be tourism.

The UK government's travel advice adds two practical points that apply to every visa-free traveler. Check the exit date stamped in your passport on arrival, because it is not changed after you leave the airport or land border. And keep your passport in good condition: travelers have been refused entry over passport damage. The full document checklist is on our page of requirements by nationality.

When exemption is not enough

You still need a visa if you are from an exempt country but your plans fall outside the exemption. Three cases come up often: a stay longer than 45 days, a business trip under Resolution 229, and several entries close together.

• Longer than 45 days: The e-visa allows up to 90 days, so a 60-day trip needs an e-visa from the start.
• Business trip from a Resolution 229 country: That exemption covers tourism. A Dutch or Polish traveler attending meetings should apply for an e-visa. Our business visa guide explains the options.
• Several entries: If you will leave for Cambodia or Laos and come back, a multiple-entry e-visa covers both legs with one document. See single vs multiple entry.

If any of these applies and you fly within a day or two, an urgent Vietnam e-visa can arrive the same day on working days.

Visa-free vs e-visa comparison

A visa-free stay costs nothing and needs no application, but it is fixed at 45 days or less and, for 12 countries, tied to tourism. The e-visa costs money and needs an application, but allows up to 90 days, single or multiple entry, for any nationality.

The government fee is the same for every passport. Through our service the e-visa is priced from $55 with the fee included, and the fees page shows how much an e-visa costs at each speed.

Changes in 2025 and 2026

Vietnam's exemption list changed twice in 2025. On 15 March 2025, Resolution 44/NQ-CP took over from Resolutions 32/NQ-CP and 128/NQ-CP for the 12 countries in the first table. On 15 August 2025, Resolution 229/NQ-CP added 12 European countries and replaced Resolution 11/NQ-CP, which had covered Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland.

Belarus was in the earlier 45-day group but is not named in Resolution 44, so Belarusian travelers fall under the bilateral arrangement instead. Both current resolutions end in 2028 and, according to the government, will be considered for extension under Vietnamese law. We update this page when a new resolution is published.

VietnamVisa.com is a private visa agency, not a government website, and you can apply yourself at evisa.gov.vn for US$25 or US$50. If your passport is not visa-free, or your trip is longer than your exemption, apply for your Vietnam e-visa online with us and see the delivery time before you pay.

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