Vietnamese Visa, Visa for Vietnam

swinster

Does anyone have any good/reputable companies that would be able to provide a "pre approved" tourist travel visa fo UK citizens entering Vietnam by flight and arriving in Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City)?

Our tour operator is willing to sort out the Visa, but I think they will use the Vietnamese Embassy in London. Not only do we have to pay the £44 visa, but a £35 handling change per person!

The pre-approved route does seem to be much cheaper, and there are hundreds of companies that turn up using a goggle search for "Vietnam visa", but wondered if anyone has any direct experience of an such company. The prices even vary from company to company.

Incapuppy

I'm not sure the advice is still current but could you not do it yourself as per the OP?

phatbear

swinster wrote: »

Does anyone have any good/reputable companies that would be able to provide a "pre approved" tourist travel visa fo UK citizens entering Vietnam by flight and arriving in Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City)?

Our tour operator is willing to sort out the Visa, but I think they will use the Vietnamese Embassy in London. Not only do we have to pay the £44 visa, but a £35 handling change per person!

Thats very generous of your tour operator, but as pup said about the OP you can do it yourself via the vietnam embassy, not going down the VOA route though

http://www.vietnamembassy.org.uk/#VISA

or you could arrange for a VOA (visa on arrival).

Im off to vietnam to visit my brother in feb so have been reading up on this system as it appears to be the most reasonable, however it would appear the feedback of using the system in HCM is'nt good, a lot of Q jumping due to people buying their way to the front of the line etc, and reports of 2 hour+ waits are feeding back, however other people are getting through in minutes so its hit and miss.

However you will still need to pay a broker/agent to get the letter you need to board the plane and arrive with in Nam.

So the easiest and most expensive route is through the embassy
The cheapest but potentially most problematic is using the VOA scheme

also have a read of this:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Travel-g293921-c148049/Vietnam:Faq.Visa.On.Arrival.Voa..html

swinster

Incapuppy wrote: »

I'm not sure the advice is still current but could you not do it yourself as per the OP?

Of course, and this is my fall back plan.

However, the is a significant saving by going the pre-approved method.

Approximate cost for 2 people traveling on a 1 month single entry visa
Pre-Approval cost per person - $19.99
Stamping fee (payable per person on arrival in Vietnam international airport) - $25

That's $44 per person = approximately £28.

Compare that with the £50 per person (plus initial special delivery postage) it will cost to get ta visa and the passports sent back if I go via the Vietnamese embassy.

swinster

phatbear wrote: »

or you could arrange for a VOA (visa on arrival).
...

However you will still need to pay a broker/agent to get the letter you need to board the plane and arrive with in Nam.

So the easiest and most expensive route is through the embassy
The cheapest but potentially most problematic is using the VOA scheme

This is exactly what I was asking. What companies are considered to be "reputable" for obtaining VoA. There are so many travel agencies in Vietnam with websites offering this service, it is hard to determine if they are cosha.

All I was after was an recommendation of companies that people may have used to achieve this.

Eg myvietnamvisa.com, vietnam-visa.com, smiletravelvietnam.com etc etc

phatbear

swinster wrote: »

All I was after was an recommendation of companies that people may have used to achieve this.

Right ok sorry for wasting your time with my post then.

This company is well thought of over on tripadvisor:

http://www.myvietnamvisa.com/visa-requirements/united-kingdom.html

however i have'nt used them personally so cant vouch for them.

swinster

phatbear wrote: »

Right ok sorry for wasting your time with my post then.

This company is well thought of over on tripadvisor:

http://www.myvietnamvisa.com/visa-requirements/united-kingdom.html

however i have'nt used them personally so cant vouch for them.

No worries, I shall head on over to Trip Advisor. Did have a look through Lonely Planet, but didn't come across much - mind you I was only looking at the site, not the forums.