Last min visa problem, Cambodia & Vietnam

Miró

Help!

We are due to set off on Tuesday on an organised tour of Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam. We paid for the tour company to organise our visa's for Cambodia & Vietnam but we have just been informed that they have omitted to do so, (thanks Travelsphere!). I have checked with them several times recently asking why we did not have a visa stamp in our passport or a paper visa and was told that it would be a group visa and that everything was OK. Now they have realised that is not the case.

We fly into Thailand, (Bangkok), and then will be entering both Cambodia and Vietnam overland...could anyone reassure us as to whether it is going to be possible/straightforward/a nightmare to obtain the required visas at the border crossings?? From what I have read it is supposed to be possible to get a Cambodia visa at the Thailand/Cambodia border...is this the case? I have also read that you have to have a visa before entering Vietnam and that you cannot get one at the Cambodia/Vietnam border crossing.....??!! Is this correct? What on earth do we do?????

Any information/advice would be much appreciated as we are worried sick at the mo.....:(

Jeff_Bridges_hair

You should be fine as they stamp you in at both borders without the need of a pre arranged visa.. Well they did when i went there 6 month ago.

elsien

Cambodia looks fine. Just make sure you have photos.
http://www.cambodia-airports.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=20&lang=en

elsien

Maybe give the vietnam embassy a ring to be on the safe side - I have heard something about preapproval letters, but don't have personal experience. Should it not be up to the tour company to sort out their mess, although I can understand if you don't want to take their word for anything at the moment.

puffinmuffin

Are Travesphere helping you with this at all?
Sorry but you can't get Vietnam visas at land borders. If the company can't sort it out try the embassy http://www.vietnamembassy.org.uk/#VISA pre approval letters only work when flying in (i think)
otherwise, you can arrange it in Bangkok/Phnom Penh/Siem Reap. wherever you have time, travel agents should be able to do it, there are plenty of backpackers travelling overland. You will need passport photos. i did it in Laos, it took a couple of days. Cambodian visas can be got at the border, again you need photos.
This was the case in late 2009 anyway!

This site is excellent for SE Asia travel info http://www.travelfish.org/vietnam-visas.php

Sorry you are having all this stress when you should be looking forward to your trip!

andy0829

As puffinmuffin has said , you can get the cambodian visa at the border with no problems, but the vietnam one needs to be obtained in advance.

Miró

elsien wrote: »

Maybe give the vietnam embassy a ring to be on the safe side - I have heard something about preapproval letters, but don't have personal experience. Should it not be up to the tour company to sort out their mess, although I can understand if you don't want to take their word for anything at the moment.

Thanks elsien, (and everyone else!).

We are supposed to have a tour manager with us on the trip and Travelsphere have said that this person will help us to sort things out when we get there. However, I have no faith whatsoever in Travelsphere at the mo...they really do not seem to have a clue....so I am trying to find out what is what myself...just in case.

For instance, they have said that as we do not have visas then we will need a letter from them in order to be allowed to fly from the UK. As we are flying into Thailand, where no visa is required...then why????? :mad:

Aaaarrgghhh....and now my travel companion has gone down with flu!!

Miró

puffinmuffin wrote: »

Are Travesphere helping you with this at all?
Sorry but you can't get Vietnam visas at land borders. If the company can't sort it out try the embassy http://www.vietnamembassy.org.uk/#VISA pre approval letters only work when flying in (i think)
otherwise, you can arrange it in Bangkok/Phnom Penh/Siem Reap. wherever you have time, travel agents should be able to do it, there are plenty of backpackers travelling overland. You will need passport photos. i did it in Laos, it took a couple of days. Cambodian visas can be got at the border, again you need photos.
This was the case in late 2009 anyway!

This site is excellent for SE Asia travel info http://www.travelfish.org/vietnam-visas.php

Sorry you are having all this stress when you should be looking forward to your trip!

Many thanks for all the info/sites etc...most useful.

We will be staying in Bangkok for 2 nights, Phomh Penh for 1 night and Siem Reap for 3 nights so will have to hope there will be time to get the Vietnamese visa sometime then. Just hope it doesn't mean hanging round some embassy/office for hours on end...

andy0829

Is your return flight to the UK booked from bangkok ? or are you coming home from a different country ie Vietnam ?

andy0829

You won't have to hang around for the visa , plenty of companies will do it for you if you want. Probably take a day , so plan well. Quite suprised your tour company hasn't planned for this , very odd. What have they said about the Vietnam visa ?

Miró

andy0829 wrote: »

Is your return flight to the UK booked from bangkok ? or are you coming home from a different country ie Vietnam ?

We fly back...

Ho Chi Minh --> Bangkok --> Heathrow

ermm...why????