1

Thousands of people have used them, the embassy doesnt like them as they miss out on their pocket money.

2

They aren't official, but they work.

3

couple of days I used vietnamvisapro.com

Within 3 working days I received the letter in my mailbox, I'm going in december so can't tell you if it's working (but read some good stories as well) so no need to pay more for you letter of invitation than the $10 this company asks.

And they are based in VN in case something 's wrong. (Hanoi).

4

Yes, they work just fine, and as RK95 says it's just about who gets a fee. They are "official" in that the travel agencies that issue them are approved by the Immigration Dept. and each approval letter is stamped by an immigration official. As above, I also like http://www.vietnamvisapro.com for their low fee ($10USD) and good service.

5

It is really a breach of trust information from mentioned Embassy. As they expect to gain more money from the tourist who apply for visa to Vietnam, they gave that informed.
"Vietnam visa on arrival" is stated in the Immigration Laws of Vietnam Article 24, 1999, clause No6, Chapter II. Other governments also recognize Vietnam visa on arrival as a legitimate travel document, such as the U.S. Department of State and the British Embassy in Hanoi: "In order to enter Vietnam, you will need a valid passport with at least six months validity remaining and a Vietnamese visa, a visa exemption document, or a written approval letter for a visa upon arrival. To obtain a written approval letter to enter, you must contact a travel agency prior to departure."
There is no reason to say that it is not official.
For a reliable visa agency in Vietnam, we suggest the services from http://www.vietnamvisabooking.com
Regards,

6

you should ask a travel agent in Vietnam to make visa letter for you. Sure that you will receive good cost compared with you make in Australia. It is about $25/each person

7

Thanks to all you who responded, that's good news!
Happy travels,
Frank (xly)

8

Hi,
No problem at all with the approval letter for visa on arrival because the approval letter is fro Vietnam government under Vietnam Department control. Once you get the approval letter, it mean you will get visa on arrival at Vietnam airport without problem. Risky free.

Why it is not official ?
Official mean website of government but in fact the government authorized for company in Vietnam do that and these companies have to responsible with government if any problem happen for the visa they sponsor.

Some company run domain with domain.gov.vn but they are private too, you can read "about" or ask them or you can see the approval letter then you will know.

You trust embassy then you come to embassy and what happen if the embassy said ok but in fact the company you apply visa not good ? There are many thousand of such company, from high price to very low price, but it's worth value for money which you never know if you are not expert.

Why difference price ? There are many thousand companies arrange that kind of visa but just few of them powerful and you never know which is powerful if not experts

Thanks and have a good trip

Edited by: expatinvn

9

Look like expatinvn has a lot of experience about this. At first, I really worried about visa online service but I visited Vietnam several times and it's all good when applying online. I used either vietnamimmigration.com , visa-vietnam.org and evisa.com.vn , nothing happens. I don't think that they can cheat us with a small amount of money. But it seems that visa online works for air travel only, it's sometimes inconvenient for me when I would like to enter Vietnam by a cruise ship. It's just really perfect for those who travel by air.