Yesterday I stopped by the Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok to check the visa costs for USA passport holders. I was told for a 30 day single entry visa the cost would be B 2,200 and would take 4 business days. How does this compare, price wise, to getting a on-line visa? Seems the costs are anywhere from a few dollars to 25. And upon arrival at the airport in VN is the cost a standard $25 or does it depend on what country you are from.
The 2200 baht fee is ABOUT $65USD and of course, you need to make two trips to the embassy.
www.vietnamvisapro.net has a $6 online fee and you pay a $25USD stamping fee on arrival. The online fee is higher for longer visas and the stamping fee is $50USD for multi-entry visas. The stamping fee is the same for all nationalities, but the online fees are higher for a few nationalities. There is now also a government sponsored online service for $25USD plus a small credit card fee.

As cmburns said, there are two types of online visas now, but they are not the same as the visas you get at the embassy because online visas are airport only - no land border entry. If you are coming by land you have no choice but to get the embassy visa. 2,200 baht is quite expensive. In comparison, in Cambodia the cost is 55 usd negotiable to around 50 in Sihanoukville and 47-48 in Phnom Penh AFAIK. A few nationalities now have 15 days visa free entry, but USA is not one of them.

In reply #2, forum2233 wrote, "online visas are airport only - no land border entry. If you are coming by land you have no choice but to get the embassy visa."
However, the Vietnamese government's official e-visa application allows you to select one of several land borders as your intended entry-point. Link: https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/en_US/web/guest/khai-thi-thuc-dien-tu/cap-thi-thuc-dien-tu
Furthermore, a recent article in a Vietnamese newspaper about the new e-visa program explicitly states, "Visitors can touch down at any of Vietnam's eight international airports [...] [and] can also arrive via land at 13 international border gates, and via sea at seven ports across the country." Link: http://e.vnexpress.net/news/travel-life/vietnam-launches-e-visas-for-visitors-from-40-countries-3533738.html
I'm hoping to travel by bus from Cambodia into Vietnam within the next five days or so. Does anyone have further information about the new e-visa being accepted (or rejected) at a land-border crossing? I can go by the Vietnamese embassy here in Phnom Penh to apply in person, but that sounds like a hassle, plus it's more expensive, so any advice is appreciated.
I assume you'll enter by bus at Moc Bai. That has to be the busiest land border crossing into Vietnam. I can't imagine that it isn't on the approved list for the new government issued online visa.

Thanks for that Bryan, apparently what I read was incorrect, this is great news if true, because visas overland from Cambodia have been quite expensive at 50-55 usd.
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