How to Apply for Vietnam Visa From USA

To learn how to apply for Vietnam visa from USA, start with one fact: Americans apply online for the e-visa, which is valid for up to 90 days, and they never need to visit an embassy. You enter your details, pay by card, upload your passport page and a photo, and receive a PDF by email. This page covers the steps, what to prepare, when to apply in US time zones, paying with a US card and the mistakes Americans make. For prices and urgent cut-offs, see our guide to the Vietnam visa for US 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 the USA at a glance:

How to apply for Vietnam visa from USA

You apply for a Vietnam visa from the USA in five steps with us, and the whole thing takes one sitting if your files are ready.

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. Nothing is added later.
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 to 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.

This Vietnam visa application from the USA is the same form for every state. You can also apply yourself on evisa.gov.vn with the same information; our guide on how to apply walks through that route screen by screen. If you apply through us, you can follow the order with our e-visa status tool.

What to prepare in the USA

A Vietnam e-visa application from the USA needs four things ready before you open the form. The first catches many Americans.

• A US passport book: The e-visa is issued against a passport, so a passport card does not work. The book must be valid for at least 6 months from your entry date, with two blank pages.
• A data page image: The page with your photo, shot flat, all four corners in view, and the two code lines at the bottom sharp.
• A portrait photo: Recent, facing the camera, white background, no glasses. Our photo requirements guide shows examples that pass and fail.
• A card and an emergency contact: A card for online payments abroad, and the name, address and phone of a contact at home.

Enter your name exactly as it appears in the two code lines at the bottom of the passport data page, including middle names. The form also asks for your first night's address in Vietnam, and a booking you can cancel is enough.

When to apply from the USA

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. For faster speeds, remember that Vietnam is 11 to 15 hours ahead of the continental US, so your morning is Vietnam's evening or night.

An order placed during the US day is processed on the next Vietnamese working morning, which is why urgent e-visas often arrive the same evening, US time. A Friday US daytime order is already Friday night in Vietnam, so the Weekend and public holidays speed applies. Our US page has the full table of cut-offs in Eastern and Pacific time, and the urgent e-visa page has every speed.

Paying for your e-visa from the USA

You pay in US dollars by credit or debit card, and the price shown at checkout is the price you pay, with no card surcharge. Our full price table lists every speed. Applying on evisa.gov.vn costs US$25 for single entry and US$50 for multiple entry, charged in the same currency.

The card must allow online payments abroad. Some US issuers decline a charge from an unfamiliar overseas merchant until you approve it. If a payment fails, check your banking app or call your card issuer and try again, rather than starting a second application.

Mistakes Americans make

Most delays come from five avoidable mistakes:

• A passport card: It is not a passport book and cannot be used for the e-visa.
• A name that does not match: Leaving out a middle name or typing a nickname. Copy the code lines.
• A recycled photo: A crop from a passport or a photo of a printed picture is flagged.
• Dates with no margin: Setting the validity to start the day you land. Add a day or two, since 90 days costs the same as 30.
• A weekend order on a weekday speed: Ordering Friday daytime in the US and expecting working-day timing.

If you already filed a faulty application, read how to fix e-visa problems before you apply again.

Ready to start? Apply for your e-visa and a person checks your files before they go in.