Fixes for Every Vietnam E-Visa Error

When evisa.gov.vn not working is the problem, the cause is almost always one of eight things: three photo warnings, a failed payment, a page that will not load, a PDF that will not download, a missing entry port or an application stuck on "Processing". Each section below quotes the message exactly as the site shows it, explains what it means and gives the free fix. If you would rather not deal with it yourself, you can apply for your e-visa with us and we handle the upload checks.

We copied every message from evisa.gov.vn on October 8, 2026. Most photo messages are warnings that end with "Your application may be rejected", so the site still lets you continue. Do not ignore them: the government fee is not refunded if the e-visa is refused, so fixing a photo before you pay costs nothing, while fixing it after a refusal costs a new fee.

Vietnam e-visa problems at a glance:

Problem	Usual cause	Quick fix
"Captured from another source"	Photo of a printed photo or a screen	Take a new photo with a phone
"Low match rate"	Portrait and passport face look different	New portrait without glasses, sharper passport scan
"No MRZ detected"	Bottom two lines of the passport cut off or blurred	Rescan the whole data page, flat, no glare
Payment failed	Card blocks international online payments	Check status first, then call your bank
Site will not load	Heavy traffic or a browser issue	Try thithucdientu.gov.vn or another browser
PDF will not download	Wrong code, email or date of birth	Re-enter exactly; check your inbox
Entry port missing	Searching by city instead of gate name	Search by the airport or gate name
Stuck on "Processing"	Normal queue, weekend or a request for changes	Count working days; check for "Amendment required"

The first warning on the list is the one travelers run into most, so we start there.

Portrait photo was captured from another source

The full message reads:

Portrait photo was captured from another source. Your application may be rejected. Please upload another photo

It means the face check on evisa.gov.vn thinks your portrait is a picture of a picture: a scan of a printed passport photo, a crop from the passport page, a screenshot or a photo taken of a screen. The system wants a fresh photo of a real face.

The fix is a new photo, taken now. Stand in front of a plain white wall in even daylight, look straight at the camera, take off glasses and hats, and ask someone else to hold the phone. Upload the original file from the camera, without filters or editing apps. The site asks for a recent photo, 4x6 cm, in jpg or jpeg format, up to 2MB, with a straight face, no hat, no glasses and a white background. Our photo guide shows good and bad examples.

The portrait and passport photos have a low match rate

This warning reads:

The portrait and passport photos have a low match rate. Your application may be rejected. Please upload another photo

It means the face in your portrait and the face on your passport page do not look alike enough to the system. A low match rate on the Vietnam e-visa photo usually comes from glasses in one image and not the other, a strong angle, heavy shadows, or a passport scan so small that the face is a blur.

Fix both images, not just one. Take a new portrait facing the camera squarely, with your hair off your face and no glasses, and rescan the passport page at a higher resolution so the printed face is sharp. A big change since the passport photo, such as a new beard, can also lower the score; a clean, front-facing portrait is the best you can do in that case.

No MRZ detected in the passport image

The message reads:

No MRZ detected in the passport image. Your application may be rejected. Please upload another photo

The MRZ (machine readable zone) is the two lines of capital letters, numbers and "<" signs at the bottom of your passport data page. The site reads your name, passport number and dates from it, so if those lines are cut off, blurred or hidden by glare, it cannot.

Rescan the full data page with all four corners visible. Lay the passport flat on a dark surface, avoid direct light that causes a shine on the laminate, and keep fingers out of the frame. The site asks for clear photos with "no lost corners" and only one passport data page per upload.

Other photo warnings on evisa.gov.vn

evisa.gov.vn has six more photo messages. The table lists each one as written on the site, with what it means and how to fix it.

Message on evisa.gov.vn	What it means	Fix
Face not looking straight in the portrait photo	Head turned or tilted	Retake facing the camera
The portrait photo does not meet the required resolution	Face too small or file too compressed	Retake closer; upload the original file
The passport image does not meet the required resolution	Scan too small	Rescan at a higher resolution
The uploaded image format is not supported	Wrong file type (for example HEIC or PDF)	Save as jpg or jpeg
No face detected in the portrait photo / passport image	Face hidden, too dark or not in frame	Retake in good light
Too many faces detected in the portrait photo	Someone else in the background	Retake alone against a plain wall

Photo messages are the most common block, but they all happen before you pay. The next problems happen at or after payment, where the stakes are higher.

Vietnam e-visa payment failed

A Vietnam e-visa payment failed message usually means your card issuer declined an international online payment. evisa.gov.vn takes the fee through a Vietcombank payment gateway, and many banks block or challenge payments to foreign gateways by default. The site's own advice on the failure screen is to check your information or search for the application and try again.

If money left your account

A charge can show as pending even after the site says "PAYMENT FAILED". Search for your application with the registration code before anything else.

If the status shows paid or processing, the payment went through: do not pay again. If it still shows unpaid and the pending charge drops off, the payment did not complete.

Before you pay again

Call your bank and ask it to allow online payments to a Vietnamese merchant, or use a different card that supports 3-D Secure. Then retry from the same application, found with your registration code, rather than starting a new one. Two applications for the same trip mean two fees and a confusing record.

evisa.gov.vn not working or not loading

When the site itself fails, the page either does not load, loads without the form, or times out during upload. The government system also runs at thithucdientu.gov.vn, which we confirmed opens the same site on October 8, 2026, so try that address first.

If both fail, switch browser or device, open a private window to clear stored data, turn off any VPN, and try again later in the day. Avoid sites that offer a "backup" link to the form: only addresses ending in .gov.vn belong to the government, and our guide to evisa.gov.vn explains how to recognize them.

Approved but can't download the PDF

If your Vietnam e-visa is approved but you can't download the PDF, the usual cause is a small typing error on the search form. evisa.gov.vn finds your e-visa through "Check application status and download e-Visa" using the registration code, the email address on the application and your date of birth, and all three must match exactly.

Copy the registration code from your confirmation email instead of retyping it, and check the date of birth format. The site also tells applicants to look in their email to view and download visa information, so search your inbox and spam folder. Once you have the PDF, save it to your phone and print a copy for the border. Our page on how to check your e-visa status covers each status you may see.

Port of entry not showing in the list

A port of entry not showing on the Vietnam e-visa form is usually a naming issue. The dropdown "Intended border gate of entry" lists gates by their own names, so Ho Chi Minh City appears as "Tan Son Nhat International Airport" and the main Cambodia crossing as "Moc Bai Landport".

The e-visa is accepted at 79 border gates: 15 international airports, 26 land border gates and 38 seaports (as of October 2026). If the crossing you planned is not in the list under any name, it is not one of those gates, and you need to enter through one that is. The full list of entry ports gives every name as it appears in the form.

Application stuck on processing

An application on "Processing" is normal for up to 3 working days, which is the time evisa.gov.vn gives in its FAQ (checked October 2026). Saturdays, Sundays and Vietnamese public holidays do not count, so an application sent on Thursday evening may not be decided until the following Tuesday or later.

"Amendment required" status

"Amendment required" means the reviewing office wants something changed or added, most often a photo or a detail that does not match the passport. Find the application with your registration code, edit what is asked and send it back. The clock does not move while the request waits, so check your status every working day once you have applied.

When to get help

Get help when your application has passed 3 working days and you fly within 48 hours. Our guide on how to speed up a pending application explains the options.

The quickest is to expedite an application you filed yourself, from $50 per person, since the government fee is already paid. If the application has wrong details, an urgent e-visa with correct details is the better route.

eVisaVietnam.com is a private visa service operated by TK VIET NAM., JSC, not the Vietnamese government. You can apply yourself at evisa.gov.vn for US$25, and most problems above can be fixed for free. If you would rather have a person check your photo and passport scan before submission, apply for your e-visa with us, or choose a service if you already applied elsewhere.