Vietnam Visa questions (I went with Vietnam Visa Pro)

Guess Ill get to see how it goes next week when I arrive but my friend wrote this to me today when I asked her how the visa on arrival went for her and her family - "yes we showed the letter, i had assumed this would jump us to a different queue or speed things up but no. Queued then realised we were in wrong queue. Had to fill in more forms, queue and pay. Then sit and wait for name to be called. Then pick up payment. Then join actual queue. I was very confused because had done the pre application but it made no difference to speed when you arrive" Maybe someone else on this forum can enlighten us?

You don't seem to understand how Vietnamese visas work. The only way you, as a New Zealander, can avoid waiting in two lines is to get your visa in New Zealand before departure and pay a LOT more. If you have a visa in your passport then you go directly to the immigration line. But if you have a pre-approval letter you must first get a visa before going to the immigration line and the process is as you describe above. As suggested, print the forms and complete them before arrival and have $25USD (or $50 for multi-entry) in U$D CASH for the stamping fee. Turn in your letter and completed form at the windows to the left (in Saigon)wait to be called then pay at the cashier window and THEN go to the immigration line. However; CHECK to be SURE your visa is correct before going to the immigration line. The people typing the visas are working fast and they DO make mistakes! It's a simple process but if you get in the wrong line, don't do the form in advance, or try to pay in other the U$D then, of course, it can take much longer.

@cmburns - Thank you for that additional information in post #11. After reading that carefully, I was also under a different impression as to how the process would work in Vietnam, so I'm glad you wrote that. What do you mean exactly by check to make sure the visa is correct and that they may make a typing mistake? Don't they stamp the visa into the passport? Or do they type up a sticker that is stuck in your passport, or do they hand you a different sheet of paper that must then be submitted to immigration before you receive the visa stamped into your passport? I'm not sure where the typing mistake would be.

I will definitely have the forms completed beforehand, along with $25 US cash ready, and passport size pictures as well.

Thanks.

Oops, I forgot to put bring photos on my "to do" list, good catch.
The actual visa is a full page sticker with the relevant information typed in. You need to check that the dates and visa type(single/multi-entry....) match your pre-approval letter. If you find an error you MUST get it fixed BEFORE going to immigration. AND, you MUST have at least one FULL blank page in your passport for the full page sticker. They also like you to have blank space on the adjacent page for entry/exit stamps.

Oh, you need to listen VERY carefully when they call names because they often really mangle the pronunciation!

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