How to Apply for Vietnam Visa From South Africa: Steps, Timing and Payment

How to apply for Vietnam visa from South Africa is done online: South African citizens apply for the e-visa, valid for up to 90 days, pay by card, upload a passport page and a photo, and receive a PDF by email. South Africa appears on a Vietnamese exemption list, but only for diplomatic and official passports. This page covers the steps, what to prepare, timing in Pretoria time, paying from South Africa and the mistakes South African applicants make. For prices in South African rand and the full cut-off table, see our guide to the Vietnam visa for South African citizens. When you are ready, you can apply for your e-visa.

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.

How to apply from South Africa at a glance:

How to apply for Vietnam visa from South Africa

You apply for a Vietnam visa from South Africa in five steps with us, and the steps are the same wherever in the country you are.

1. Fill in the form: Enter your passport details, trip dates, entry gate and the speed you want. The price and the delivery time update as you choose.
2. Pay by card: Pay in US dollars. The price at checkout is the price we charge.
3. Upload your files: Add the passport data page and the portrait photo. You can upload any time after paying.
4. We check and submit: A person looks at the photo and scan, and contacts you if a file has a problem, before submitting on evisa.gov.vn.
5. Receive the PDF: The approved e-visa arrives by email. Check your name and passport number against your passport, and print one copy.

You can also apply yourself on evisa.gov.vn; our guide on how to apply covers that route screen by screen. To follow an order with us, use the e-visa status tool.

What to prepare in South Africa

A Vietnam e-visa application from South Africa needs four things ready:

• A South African passport: Valid for at least 6 months from your entry date, with two blank pages.
• A data page image: The page with your photo, all four corners in view, and the two code lines at the bottom sharp, without glare.
• A portrait photo: Recent, facing the camera, white background, no glasses. The photo requirements guide shows examples that pass and fail.
• A card and an emergency contact: A card enabled for online payments to a foreign merchant, and the name, address and phone of a contact at home.

Copy your name from the two code lines at the bottom of the data page, in capital letters, including middle names. The form also asks for the address of your first night in Vietnam.

When to apply from South Africa

Apply at least two weeks before you fly if you choose Standard, because 5 to 7 working days can stretch over weekends and Vietnamese public holidays. Pretoria is 5 hours behind Vietnam. Pretoria keeps the same time all year, so the gap does not change.

For Same day delivery, order between 3:00 and 9:15 in Pretoria, on a day that is a working day in Vietnam. Order before lunch if you need an urgent speed, because the Vietnamese working day is almost over by early afternoon in Pretoria. Our guide for South African citizens has the full table of cut-offs, and the urgent e-visa page covers every speed.

Paying for your e-visa from South Africa

You pay in US dollars by credit or debit card. A Standard single-entry e-visa costs $47, about ZAR 776, government fee included.

Figures use 1 USD = 16.50 ZAR (xe.com, October 10, 2026). Your card is charged in US dollars; your bank converts the amount into South African rand at its own rate, so your statement can differ from the figure here. See the full price table for every speed.

On evisa.gov.vn the government fee alone is US$25 (approx. ZAR 413). If a payment fails, check that your card allows online payments to foreign merchants and retry, rather than starting a second application.

Mistakes South African applicants make

The first two points below are specific to South African applicants; the last two apply to everyone.

• The e-visa is not limited to 30 days: Some guides describe a single-entry e-visa of up to 30 days. The current e-visa allows up to 90 days with single or multiple entry, at no extra cost compared with 30 days.
• Mixing up passports: If you hold more than one passport, apply with the one you will present at the border and use the same one on the form, the scan and the flight booking.
• A look-alike website: The government site is evisa.gov.vn. Private services, including ours, say that they are private; leave any site that does not say who runs it.
• A gate you will not use: Choose the airport or border gate you will really enter through, and check the ports of entry list.

If you already filed a faulty application, read about e-visa problems first. Ready? Apply for your e-visa and a person checks your files before they go in.