Vietnam entry ban lifted: Entry for business travelers and tourists like in the “pre-covid era”

published on 23 March 2022 | reading time approx. 1 minute

As of 15 March 2022, Vietnam has reopened its borders. Tourists and business travelers will be allowed to enter the country again under the conditions as they used to be pre-covid.

Up to 15 days, nationals from 13 countries (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Russia, Japan, Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Belarus) can enter without a visa. However, with this visa exemption, they are not allowed to work in Vietnam. It is allowed, though, to do market research for example.  Longer stays require a visa, but the rather complicated application procedure has been removed. Thus, the procedure for a business visa takes about 7 working days from the date of application. The foreigner picks up the visa at the Vietnamese embassy/consulate abroad; the option of a "visa at arrival" has not been provided recently.

The E-visa procedure has also been reinstated, but was not yet feasible in practice at the time of writing.

However, it remains necessary (except for children under 2 years of age) to take a PCR test within 72 hours prior to departure, or a certified rapid test completed within 24 hours prior to departure. A health declaration must also be submitted via the official PC-Covid app prior to entry. In principle, however, proof of vaccination or quarantine is no longer required. If an entrant does not have a negative test result for SARS-CoV-2, he or she must go into quarantine for 24 hours and perform a test for SARS-CoV-2 (using RT-PCR/RT-LAMP or rapid antigen test).

International air traffic is steadily increasing again; since February 2022, for example, direct flights to and from Frankfurt in Germany are again available.