Vietnam gives 3-year extension for visa exemption policy for 5 European countries

During the last meeting of Vietnam Government, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc agreed to continue the visa exemption for visitors from these five European countries with a validity period of 3 years, responding in favor of suggestions from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The new visa exemption policy will be expired on July 1^st, 2021. However, the suggestion of increasing the allowable stay from 15 to 30 days and adding more countries to the visa – free list was rejected. Prime Minister Phuc also urged the relevant ministries and agencies to evaluate the effectiveness of the current visa waiver policy, which was applied to the five countries under a pilot scheme before the Government decide to make any changes.

The visa waiver policy for five European countries was first introduced in July, 2015 which allowed visitors from the UK, Germany, Spain, France and Italy to stay 15 days visa – free for each entry when they travel to Vietnam. The policy has helped to increase number of European visitors significantly. European citizens traveling to Vietnam topped 1.5 million last year, more than double the 720,000 recorded in 2015, when the visa – free policy was first applied.

However, the short allowable stay of 15 days also discouraged many other travelers from visiting Vietnam because they wish to stay a longer time to enjoy fully their private holidays in Vietnam. For those who want to stay longer than the 15-day visa waiver still need to go through the process of applying visa for their stay in Vietnam. Please read our previous article “Vietnam Visa Guide” for more details about applying Vietnam Visa.

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