How to get vietnamese visa

Former tourism chief blames visa rule for Vietnam’s falling tourist arrivals

April 18, 2015 by tuoitrenews.vn

Editor’s note: Luong Hoai Nam, former deputy head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, says the current visa policy is discouraging international tourists from visiting the country in his op-ed exclusively written for Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Nam’s piece of writing is particularly worth noticing at a time when Vietnam reported its tenth straight drop in tourism arrival number in March, according to the VNAT statistics.

The Vietnamese tourism visa policy, especially the complicated procedures to get a visa, is one of the import reasons why the number of international tourists visiting Vietnam did not increase but continuously shrank over the past time.

Local tourism authorities attributed the falling number arrivals in ten months in a row to the plunges of the Russian and Chinese markets, while the growths of other markets could not offset for such losses.

Such explanation, to me, is only partially correct.

Reality is that the tourism visa policy is a very significant hurdle for the growth of international tourism in Vietnam.

Complex visa rules; short exemption list

With nearly eight million international visitors a year, including those who come by road via the borders with China, Laos, and Cambodia and those who arrive for business and investment purposes, the number of tourist arrival to Vietnam is only equal to that of a single destination in Thailand, Pattaya. And it is lower than that of Phukhet.

Thailand rakes in US$60-65 billion from about 25 million international tourists it welcomes on an annual basis. The tourist arrivals of Hong Kong and Singapore are triple the figure of Vietnam.

In my opinion, one of the main reasons vacationers do not choose Vietnam is the country’s visa policy, especially its complicated procedures.

Holidaymakers do not mind paying a few dozens of U.S. dollars to get a visa, but they are indeed discouraged by complicated formality, and will thus travel to where they can enjoy a visa exemption, or get one on arrival.

Vietnam currently scraps visa for tourists from ASEAN countries, which is in fact not its major market. Besides, only seven countries, namely Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Russia, and Denmark, can visit Vietnam without visa requirements.

To compare, Thailand has a list of 48 countries exempt from visa requirements, whereas the respective figures for Singapore and China are 124 and 80 nations.

It is said that applying an easier visa rule will result in higher security risks for Vietnam. In fact, even when a visa-free policy is in place, any country has the right to refuse entry for any individual it deems inappropriate.

Therefore, I suggest expanding the list of countries exempt from visa requirements, and improve the visa applying procedures at the country’s border gates.

Tourists may have to pay more for the visa, but they should not be required to file an application prior to their journey via tour organizers and wait for approval, as currently do.

Finally, Vietnam should accept and approve visa applications online as many other countries are doing.

Lack investment for tourism promotion

Vietnam also has to invest more to improve the effectiveness of its tourism promotion campaigns outside the country.

The promotion activities should only be held in markets we want to target.

Thousands of festivals are held across Vietnam every year, which in fact do not have much meaning and contribute nothing to the goal of increasing the competitiveness of Vietnamese attractions compared to other countries.

Thailand earmarks $40 million to $50 million annually on promoting its tourism in international media and 27 overseas tourism promotion offices. The budgets of this activity of Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea are dozens of millions of U.S. dollars.

Cambodia spends a little less money, $3.5 million, but this is still way higher than Vietnam, $1.5 million.

The weak promotion activities obviously result in poor effectiveness.

Tourists choose where to travel first, before having any look on the service providers there.

So unless you manage to persuade vacationers to choose Vietnam as their destination, all of the efforts to sell services of local tour organizers are useless.

Vietnam should make its national tourism promotion system into a professional, knowledgeable one with strong financial muscle.

At a time of tight state budget, Vietnam should create new source of revenues for its tourism promotion task by applying the tourism fee via the hotel chains and international airlines, which is a common practice in many European, North American countries.

Paying an extra fee of $5 or $10 does for an overseas trip will not make vacationers to change their mind. What matters is the fee is collected and used in a transparent manner.

Besides the aforementioned issues, Vietnam should also improve the quality, price, infrastructure and environment of its tourism.

Should these issues remain unimproved, I don’t think Vietnam can revitalize its declining tourism, let alone seeing it grow healthily.

Do you think visa rules are really a hurdle to Vietnam’s tourism development? Send us your opinions via [email protected]

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Australia and Vietnam commence work and holiday visa agreement

March 2, 2017 by e.vnexpress.net

Vietnam set to send first workers to Australia, Thailand in 2017
Vietnam plans to send more skilled workers abroad to curb unemployment

Australia and Vietnam have commenced a reciprocal work and holiday visa arrangement that will offer hundreds of young people opportunities to visit and work in the two countries, starting March 1, according to reports posted on the Vietnamese government’s official website.

Each year, 200 eligible Vietnamese applicants will be granted visas to Australia, and 200 Australians will similarly be able to enter Vietnam.

This arrangement will allow young Vietnamese, between the ages of 18 and 30, to travel to Australia where they can work or study for the entire year, but for no longer than six months with any one employer or four months with any particular institute of study.

It will also allow young Australians to work and holiday in Vietnam.

The visa applicants must have sufficient funds to support themselves for the trip, must hold a university degree and must be under the age of 30.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs will select prospective candidates for the program.

According to the website of the Ministry of Immigration of Australia, those who have tourist and work visas have the opportunity to extend the visa for one more year if they spend three months working in rural areas.

Vietnam is the latest country to enter a reciprocal work and holiday visa arrangement with Australia.

The agreement was designed to increase understanding between the peoples of the two countries, and contribute to the economic, security and innovation partnerships.

The Vietnamese and Australian governments initially signed the agreement in March 2015 as part of Vietnam’s effort to expand and improve its overseas labor force.

Vietnam sent a record 126,000 workers overseas in 2016. The Vietnamese government has set a target of sending 105,000 workers abroad in 2017; Japan, South Korea and Taiwan continue to be the core markets.

> Vietnam plans to send more skilled workers abroad to curb unemployment

MoneyGram launches first real-time P2P payment solution to Vietnam using Visa Direct

February 4, 2021 by www.vir.com.vn

Consumers can transfer money digitally through the MoneyGram mobile app or website to arrive almost instantly to any Visa cardholder in Vietnam

This latest integration in the partnership between MoneyGram, Visa, Sacombank, and other leading banks across the country enables customers to transfer money from the US, UK, and 18 European countries to Vietnam quickly and securely through Visa Direct.

Consumers can transfer money digitally through the MoneyGram mobile app or website to arrive almost instantly to any Visa cardholder located in Vietnam.

“We’ve already hit the ground running in 2021, and this latest integration with Visa Direct further improves our leading customer experience and will help execute our strategy to scale digital growth in one of the largest remittance markets in the world,” said Grant Lines, global chief revenue officer at MoneyGram. “We’ve built a modern, mobile, and API-driven company that has enabled MoneyGram to become the preferred partner for cross-border transfers, and we’re excited to continue to expand our real-time transfer capabilities with Visa Direct.”

From now until June 30, 2021, consumers can send money to a Visa debit card in Vietnam without incurring a transfer fee.

“Our digital solution will enable MoneyGram consumers to quickly and conveniently receive money directly into their bank accounts via Visa Direct,” said Dang Tuyet Dung, country manager at Visa Vietnam and Laos. “Cardholders can use any Visa debit or prepaid card to receive cross-border payments via Visa’s real-time push payment solution. This partnership with MoneyGram will support Vietnam’s economic growth and streamline the remittance transferring process, which is vital to our customers’ digital experience and helps introduce our innovations to consumers.”

Vietnam is deemed one of the top-10 remittance recipients in the world. The millions of Vietnamese living and working abroad will now be able to use MoneyGram to send money seamlessly and conveniently to families and friends back at home.

“In this digital age, we believe it is important to introduce solutions that can improve our cardholders’ lives,” said Nguyen Minh Tam, deputy general manager at Sacombank. “We’re excited to once again be at the forefront of innovation with Visa Direct making cross-border remittances hassle-free and efficient to any Sacombank account holder in Vietnam using their Visa card on Sacombank Pay application.”

With Visa Direct, customers can now transfer up to $2,500 per transaction and $10,000 per day. From now until June 30, 2021, consumers can send money to a Visa debit card in Vietnam without incurring a transfer fee.

By Visa

South Korea allows Vietnamese workers to overstay visa until 2022

February 24, 2021 by e.vnexpress.net

The Center for Overseas Labor under the Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said that the new permission will apply to all overseas workers under the EPS who’ve completed their three- or four- year contracts using the E-9 (non-professional employment) visa. Unable to return because of the Covid-19 pandemic, they will be granted an extended residence permit by South Korea’s Ministry of Justice, the center said.

It also said that the seasonal work program is recruiting 4,179 agricultural workers for 27 localities across the country and around 200 people for the fisheries sector in one locality.

The center said the registration will be for employment from March 2 this year until March 31, 2022. Employees can choose to work continuously from one to a maximum of five months.

Foreign workers applying for seasonal employment will also be paid higher minimum wages. They will also be eligible for occupational accident insurance.

The program is not open to illegal residents or E9 workers in the agriculture and fisheries sectors who have reached the maximum number of times they are allowed to change their workplaces.

There are about 50,000 Vietnamese working in South Korea, 34,600 of them under the EPS program.

Many workers are stranded in the country because of Covid-19, which has infected over 87,000 people and resulted in 1,573 deaths.

Vietnamese workers given long-term working opportunity in Japan

February 24, 2021 by vov.vn

Under the scheme, the working period will last longer than the current 1 to 3 years.

Furthermore, Vietnamese migrant workers will also be able to enjoy benefits from these preferential policies, including wages equivalent to native workers at a rate of between VND36 million to VND50 million.

Guest workers will also have the chance to work for a long period in Japan, settle, and be able to sponsor their own families to settle in Japan.

All exit expenses will be partly covered by Japanese companies, while costs for learning Japanese and other vocational training fees are to be fully funded by various Japanese companies.

Last December, Japan announced 2 new visa regimes to foreign guest workers, with the working time of employees joining its skill internship programne to be increased to a maximum of 10 years. The new regimes will apply to 14 professions, including construction, nursing and agriculture.

According to the Department of Overseas Labour Management and the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam, the construction sector is set to implement a vocational test at the end of next March.

This also marks the first time that a scheme aimed at recruiting high-skilled workers has been deployed nationwide. Several other industries, such as furniture production, construction machinery driving, tunnel construction, and concrete pumping are expected to recruit additional workers in July.

The Japan Human Resources Society (JAC) recently signed a contract regarding a special-skilled labor programme with An Duong Group (ADG) and a Memorandum of Understanding with five vocational training schools. This is part of the Vietnamese Ministry of Construction’s plan to train “special skilled workers” and to bring additional skilled human resources from the local construction industry to work in Japan.

Visa study: Vietnamese consumers ahead of global average on healthy, sustainable living

February 27, 2021 by www.vir.com.vn

The study also shows that when trying to be healthier, consumers are most likely to alter aspects of their life if they perceive it to be relatively easy to do

Across the world, people have faced exceptional circumstances and have been forced to adapt to a new way of life. In the study, 27,000 people from 27 markets were asked about attitudes, opinions, and behaviours linked to enabling healthier and more sustainable lifestyles.

The study finds that consumers in Vietnam are more likely to support socially responsible companies. 47 per cent of those surveyed in Vietnam said they had supported a socially responsible company in the past year, against a global average of 33 per cent.

People in Vietnam are much more likely to seek out information about healthy lifestyles. 82 per cent of respondents said they had sought out information related to healthier lifestyles in the past year, well above the global average of 56 per cent.

When asked what companies could do to help them live healthily and sustainably, people in Vietnam list a desire for new products that are better for both people and the environment as a top priority.

Those in Vietnam display a significantly higher interest in environmentally friendly lifestyle choices as 81 per cent said they had sought out information about environmentally friendly lifestyles in the past year, versus a global average of 47 per cent.

According to the survey, people in Vietnam are already taking proactive steps towards healthier and more sustainable lifestyles, with 90 per cent saying that they had made changes to their lifestyles to be more environmentally friendly in the past year, along with 87 per cent who made changes to be healthier and 84 per cent who stated they were trying to become more helpful to others.

Globally, the top behaviours that people are most interested in doing more of this year are: taking care of financial health and wellbeing (80 per cent), saving energy at home (80 per cent), reducing food waste (78 per cent), taking care of mental health (78 per cent), spending time with family and friends (78 per cent), and eating healthy and nutritious food (78 per cent).

“It is encouraging to see that consumers in Vietnam are already taking concrete steps to lead more healthy and sustainable lifestyles,” said Dang Tuyet Dung, Visa country manager for Vietnam and Laos. “At Visa, we are proud of our commitment to offering innovative products that not only improve people’s lives but also protect our environment. Despite the challenging conditions brought forth by COVID-19, we look forward to working with our partners to cultivate affordable and easy-to-use solutions to the social and environmental problems we face.”

When asked what companies could do to help them live healthily and sustainably, people in Vietnam list a desire for new products that are better for both people and the environment as a top priority while affordable products and services ranked second.

With the importance of saving money, consumers rank reducing energy consumption and taking care of financial health and wellbeing as first and third in the list of top actions they would like to do more of in the year. With changes to income and financial stability in the wake of the pandemic, it is likely that the priority placed on affordability will intensify.

Findings from the study also show that when trying to be healthier and more sustainable, consumers are most likely to alter aspects of their life if they perceive it to be relatively easy to do so. Typically, these behaviours link to improving personal wellbeing, ethical purchasing, and actions within the household (such as saving water at home, eating healthy food, choosing products with less packaging, and buying from responsible brands). When encouraging behaviour change, evidence from this study identifies the importance of removing barriers and providing clear information.

By Anh Duc