Vietnam Visa Guide for New Zealand Citizens (2026): E-Visa, Visa on Arrival and Embassy

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A vietnam visa for New Zealand citizens is required for every trip to Vietnam, since New Zealand passport holders have no visa-free arrangement with Vietnam. Some travelers assume New Zealand sits on the same exemption list as a handful of European countries, but it does not. You can get a visa three ways: the online e-visa, visa on arrival at select airports, or a visa sticker from the Vietnamese Embassy in Wellington.

Most travelers pick the e-visa because it skips the embassy visit entirely and covers stays of up to 90 days. If your trip is close, an urgent e-visa service can still deliver approval within hours, which matters more for New Zealand travelers than most, since there is no direct flight between the two countries. Below, you will find the fees, processing time, and document list for each route, plus the travel-timing detail that catches some New Zealand applicants off guard.

In brief:

What are the ways to get a Vietnam visa for New Zealand citizens?

New Zealand citizens have three routes into Vietnam: the e-visa, visa on arrival, and an embassy-issued visa sticker. Each route ends with the same result, a valid visa in your passport or on your approval letter, but the process, fee, and speed differ.

• E-visa: applied for entirely online, no embassy visit, single or multiple entry, up to 90 days.
• Visa on arrival: approval letter obtained online, visa stamped at the airport counter on landing, air travel only.
• Embassy visa: a visa sticker issued directly by the Vietnamese Embassy in Wellington before departure.

The e-visa is the fastest of the three for most New Zealand travelers, since it removes the in-person step at either end of the trip and does not depend on your layover schedule. Visa on arrival can work well if your only international leg lands directly at a Vietnamese airport with a visa counter, but most New Zealand itineraries route through a connecting country first, which makes the e-visa the more reliable default. The embassy visa remains useful mainly for travelers who live near Wellington and prefer to handle the paperwork in person before they fly.

Cost is rarely the deciding factor between the three routes, since the government fee of USD 25-50 applies whichever way you enter. What actually separates them is certainty. An e-visa approval letter in hand before you board removes the risk of a border-side surprise, while visa on arrival still leaves the final decision to an immigration officer at the counter. For a trip you have already paid airfare and accommodation for, that difference in certainty is usually worth more than the small amount of extra planning the e-visa requires.

How to get a Vietnam e-visa for New Zealand citizens

The e-visa is a government-issued electronic visa applied for on evisa.gov.vn or through a visa agency. New Zealand passport holders are eligible for both single and multiple entry, with validity up to 90 days. Choose multiple entry if your trip includes a side visit to Cambodia, Laos, or elsewhere in the region before you return to Vietnam, since a single-entry e-visa closes the moment you exit the country.

Vietnam e-visa requirements

You will need the following documents ready before you start the application:

• A New Zealand passport valid for at least 6 months beyond your arrival date, with at least 2 blank pages.
• A clear scan of your passport bio page, showing the ICAO lines at the bottom.
• A passport-style photo, 4x6cm, white background, no glasses.
• A valid credit or debit card for the government fee and any service fee.

How to apply for the Vietnam e-visa

1. Submit the online application form with your passport and photo scans.
2. Pay the government fee (and the service fee, if using an agency).
3. Receive the approval letter by email once the application is processed, then print it for your trip.

Note: Standard processing takes 3-7 working days. Given the long routing between New Zealand and Vietnam, apply at least 2 weeks before departure rather than the 1 week that suffices for travelers with a direct flight.

Urgent Vietnam e-visa for New Zealand citizens

If your flight is only days away, vietnamvisa.com offers a Super Urgent tier that delivers the approval letter in as little as 2.5 hours, alongside faster same-day and 1-day options. Every application through vietnamvisa.com is backed by a money-back guarantee: if your application is declined for reasons outside your control, you get a full refund, including the government fee. This does not cover declines caused by incorrect information you submitted.

Visit www.vietnamvisa.com to apply for the Urgent Vietnam E-Visa and choose the processing speed that matches your travel date.

Vietnam visa on arrival and embassy visa for New Zealand citizens

Visa on arrival works only for air travel. You apply online for a pre-approval letter, then present it at the visa counter on landing, where you pay the visa stamping fee in cash and get the visa stamped into your passport.

Note: Since most New Zealand travelers connect through a third country to reach Vietnam, check that your final arrival airport has a Vietnamese visa counter before choosing this option; otherwise, use the e-visa instead.

For travelers who prefer a visa sticker arranged before departure, the Vietnamese Embassy in Wellington issues visas directly. This route generally takes longer than the e-visa and typically calls for an in-person visit or a mailed application, so it suits travelers with weeks of lead time rather than a trip that is days away.

Vietnamese Embassy in Wellington

• Address: Level 21, Grand Plimmer Tower, 2-6 Gilmer Terrace, Wellington 6011, New Zealand
• Phone: (04) 473 5910, consular section (64-4) 473 5912 ext. 700 or 701
• Email: embassyvn.nz@gmail.com
• Hours: Monday to Friday, 09:00-12:00 and 14:00-17:00

Vietnam visa fees and processing time for New Zealand citizens

Fees and speed vary by method. The government fee is fixed; what changes is the service fee for faster handling.

See the full e-visa fee table for every speed tier and entry type.

Do New Zealand citizens need a visa for Vietnam?

Yes. New Zealand passport holders are not on Vietnam's visa exemption list, so a visa is required for every entry, regardless of trip length or purpose. This surprises some travelers, since a handful of European countries and several of New Zealand's regional neighbors do hold unilateral exemptions with Vietnam; New Zealand is not among them.

Flights from New Zealand to Vietnam and why timing matters

No airline currently flies direct between New Zealand and Vietnam. Most travelers connect through Singapore, Brisbane, or Taipei before reaching Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, or Da Nang, with total travel time typically running well beyond what a direct route would take. Jetstar alone runs about 21 connecting flights a week between Auckland and Ho Chi Minh City, so seats are not scarce, but the itinerary always includes at least one layover.

This routing matters for one practical reason: if a connecting flight is delayed or rebooked, your arrival date can shift by a full day. Build a buffer into your e-visa application date rather than timing it to your original itinerary exactly, and use the multiple-entry option if your trip includes a side visit to a neighboring country before returning to Vietnam.

See our guide to the urgent Vietnam e-visa if a rebooked connection leaves you with only a day or two before you land in Vietnam.

Common reasons Vietnam e-visa applications get delayed for New Zealand citizens

Most delays trace back to a handful of avoidable mistakes rather than eligibility problems. Passport photos that do not match the 4x6cm, white background, no glasses spec are the most frequent cause of rejection or resubmission. A passport bio page scan with glare or cropped ICAO lines is the second most common issue.

Name mismatches between the passport and the payment card round out the top causes, along with a payment card that gets declined mid-application and forces the applicant to restart the form. New Zealand banks sometimes flag an overseas government payment as suspicious and block the transaction on the first attempt, so call your bank ahead of time if you plan to apply close to your departure date and cannot afford a delay. Checking these details before you submit removes most of the risk of a delayed approval letter.

Combining Vietnam with a wider Southeast Asia trip

Many New Zealand travelers extend a Vietnam trip into a wider Southeast Asia itinerary, since the flight time to the region is long regardless of the final destination. Once you have decided on multiple entry for a side trip, the detail that trips people up is not the entry type but the ports themselves.

Plan the entry and exit points carefully. A multiple-entry e-visa lets you fly into Hanoi, cross overland into Laos, and fly home from Ho Chi Minh City, but only if all three ports are on Vietnam's approved e-visa entry and exit list. Check the current port list on evisa.gov.vn before booking any overland leg, since a mismatch between your booked port and the approved list is treated the same as arriving without a visa at all.

New Zealand passport validity and blank page requirements

Vietnam requires your passport to remain valid for at least 6 months beyond your arrival date, with a minimum of 2 blank pages for the visa stamp or entry stamp. New Zealand passports are issued with a standard 10-year validity for adults, so most travelers clear this threshold without thinking about it, but a passport nearing its expiry date or one already stamped full from previous trips can quietly fail this check.

Renew your passport before applying if it expires within 8 months of your planned arrival date, since a rejected e-visa application due to insufficient passport validity cannot simply be resubmitted with the same document. Check your remaining blank pages as well, particularly if you travel often, since a passport with only 1 blank page left will be rejected even if the expiry date is fine. The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs can issue an urgent replacement passport in as little as 3 working days for an additional fee, which is worth knowing if you discover the shortfall close to your travel date.

Frequently Asked Questions