Hi - I'm finding it very difficult to find out whether the 15 day visa free exemption applies to Irish citizens?
I can see it's in place for some EU countries such as the UK - but the Republic of Ireland is not part of the UK.
Surely as a neutral country it should be the case?
My mother is coming for one week at the end of May and I don't want her to have to apply for the Online 30 day visa if she doesn't have to. She will have a return flight to show on arrival that she is not staying for more than 30days.
Are there any Irish citizens out there who have flown to Vietnam (specifically Hanoi) who can help me out with this?
I'm a bit frustrated that I can not find out this one piece of information. Many thanks.
LisaL99
2
LisaL99
Thanks. Saw this but didn't know if I could trust Wikipedia as a final source. I think I'll just ask her to apply for the 30 day visa to be on the safe side.
I just think it's strange the UK has a 15 day visa exemption and not Ireland
4
marka55
If you think being a neutral country makes any difference to visa requirements you are sadly deluded also when did the UK have any conflict with Vietnam?
5
bigal1
Indeed this is all about politics and quite frankly is is impossible sometimes to understand the logic
In answer to your second question back end of the 20th century when we were covertly supporting Pol Pot after the Vietnamese had invaded and pushed him and the Khmer Rogue back
6
marka55
#5 Not all visa policies are about politics, a major factor is actually the tendency to overstay and work illegally, which is something that the Irish have more of a problem with than most other Western European nations.
Most of the UN supported the legitimacy of the Pol Pot government over the Hun Sen government despite the very obvious flaws in attempting to make that argument but I think the UK did nothing more than that although the US probably did do more than that.
7
wildbill341
Just ask your airline, they have to know. The decision to grant visas is often at least partially based on reciprocity. Does Ireland grant free visas to Vietnamese?
8
marka55
#6 Reciprocity does enter into it but Vietnamese need visas for both Ireland and the UK (anyplace in Europe actually) but they have decided that the potential rewards from giving a visa exemption to the UK are justified but not to Ireland.
9
westwood
Sometimes I think these governments just stick xx number of pins in a map and say " yes, you can enter visa free". Australia has big numrs of tourists going to Vietnam plus an off shoot of their ANZ Bank and yet they don't have visa exemption.
Visa exemption is a privilege, not a rite of passage.
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