1. Subjects applying for a visa to visit relatives in Vietnam

Vietnam visit visa is one of the types of visas issued to foreigners entering Vietnam for the purpose of visiting relatives and family. Visit visa is a prerequisite for foreigners to apply for a temporary residence card to visit relatives, valid for up to 3 years.

According to regulations on Vietnam visit visas for foreigners, specifically according toLaw on entry, exit, transit, and residence of foreigners in Vietnam No. 51/2019/QH14, Vietnam visit visa is issued to the following subjects:

- Foreigners who are fathers, mothers, wives, husbands, and children of Vietnamese citizens;

- Foreigners who are spouses and children under 18 years old of foreigners are granted visas with symbols LV1, LV2, LS, DT1, DT2, DT3, NN1, NN2, DH, PV1, LD1, LD2, of which:

·    LV1 – Vietnam visa type issued to people working with departments, agencies and units directly under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam; National Assembly, Government, Central Committee of Vietnam Fatherland Front, Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuracy, State Audit, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies under the Government ; Provincial Party Committee, City Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee of provinces and centrally run cities;

·    LV2 – Vietnam visa type issued to people working with socio-political organizations, social organizations, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry;

·    LS – Type of Vietnamese visa issued to foreign lawyers practicing in Vietnam;

·    DT1 – Vietnam visa type issued to foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam with capital contribution worth VND 100 billion or more or investing in preferential industries and professions Investment and investment incentive areas are decided by the Government;

·    DT2 – Vietnam visa type issued to foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam with capital contribution worth from 50 billion VND to less than 100 billion VND or investing in the industry, occupations encouraged for investment and development are decided by the Government;

·    DT3 – Vietnam visa type issued to foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam with capital contribution value from 03 billion VND to less than 50 billion VND;

·    NN1 - Vietnam visa type issued to people who are Heads of representative offices or projects of international organizations and foreign non-governmental organizations in Vietnam;

·    NN2 – Vietnam visa type issued to heads of representative offices, branches of foreign traders, representative offices of economic, cultural, and other foreign professional organizations in Vietnam;

·    DH – Vietnam visa type issued to people who practice and study.

·    PV1 – Vietnam visa type issued to reporters and press permanently residing in Vietnam.

·    LĐ1 – Type of Vietnamese visa issued to foreigners working in Vietnam with confirmation that they are not subject to a work permit, unless an international treaty to which Vietnam is a member has other provisions.;

·    LĐ2 – Vietnam visa type issued to foreigners working in Vietnam who require a work permit.

2. What does an application for a Vietnam visit visa include?

Depending on whether the sponsor is a foreigner with a valid visa or a Vietnamese person, the documents needed to prepare to apply for a Vietnam visit visa for foreigners are also different, specifically as follows:

In case a foreigner holding a Vietnamese visa sponsors a relative to apply for a visa to visit relatives in Vietnam, the dossier will include:

In case a Vietnamese citizen sponsors a foreign relative to apply for a visa to visit relatives in Vietnam, the dossier includes:

3. Procedures for applying for a Vietnam visit visa for foreigners in 2024

Depending on whether the sponsored person is in Vietnam or abroad, the procedure for applying for a Vietnam visit visa will also be different.

If the sponsored person is abroad:

Step 1: Please apply for a visa to enter the country to visit relatives

The guarantor/guarantor company will prepare documents according to the instructions in the Documents section above and submit them to one of the following addresses:

·    Hanoi Immigration Department: 44-46 Tran Phu Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi

·    City Immigration Department. Ho Chi Minh: 333-335-337 Nguyen Trai Street, District 1, City. Ho Chi Minh

·    Da Nang Immigration Department: 78 Le Loi, Thach Thang, Hai Chau, Da Nang

·    Immigration management department of the provincial police, where the guarantee company is headquartered or where the Vietnamese sponsor has permanent residence.

After submitting your application, you will receive a receipt (also called an appointment letter). You will have to wait about 5 working days for the immigration agency to process the application. Finally, you will receive an approval letter from the Immigration Department. This paper is called the Vietnam Entry Document. At that time, you scan this entire document and send it to the person being sponsored abroad, so that person can stamp the visit visa to enter Vietnam.

Step 2:. Paste visa to visit relatives in Vietnam

When receiving a scanned copy of the immigration document, the sponsored person will need to prepare:

·    Original passport with a validity of more than 6 months and must have at least 2 blank pages (the passport used to apply for a visa to enter Vietnam);

·    2 4×6 photos with white background;

·    Printed copies of all immigration dispatch pages;

·    Application for entry and exit from Vietnam.

After that, depending on the location to apply for a visa to visit relatives in Vietnam, the foreigner will bring the documents

·    Registered Vietnamese Embassy/Consulate General; or

·    The Vietnam entry border gate has registered to affix visas to visit relatives and complete procedures to enter Vietnam for visiting relatives.

If the sponsored person is in Vietnam

Step 1: Prepare and submit documents

The sponsoring individual/representative of the foreign sponsoring agency applying for a Vietnam TT visa will prepare the dossier according to the instructions above.

After that, the sponsoring individual/representative of the guarantee agency will bring the documents to submit to the Immigration Department in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City or Da Nang or the Immigration Department of the local police. province, where the guarantee company is headquartered or where the Vietnamese sponsor has permanent residence.

Next, the submitter will receive a receipt with an appointment date to receive the results.

Step 2: Get results

On the appointment date, the sponsoring individual/representative of the sponsoring agency will bring the appointment letter to the application submission location to receive the visit visa results.

From that point on, foreigners will be able to stay in Vietnam on a visit visa.