Vietnam visa process is turning into a nightmare!!

Since we are going on an October Uniworld Vietnam cruise, have to get a visa. Online, looked so easy....

the questions..the money...etc, but then a photo was required. The rules were reasonable..no smiles, white background...no shadows...etc. I have submitted 6 photos...3 of my wife and 3 of myself...they all get rejected!

What am I doing wrong!? The pics look reasonable...seem to adhere to their rules... but get tossed!! Help...Any suggestions...? Never thought the visa process would be so frustrating....thanks..

I also am a photography enthusiast...with big and small and in between cameras...which makes it even more frustrating...!

Rick

We got passport-style photos taken at a UPS store for a reasonable fee and didn't have any problems. Those places seem to know all the tricks.

So interesting! We are going on Uniworld Vietnam/Cambodia in January 2018. Therefore I am very interested in what you are doing. Are you taking photos yourself? I would think you would need passport photos from somewhere like UPS or AAA, etc.

UPS store sounds great..but do you get the file of the photo? or a printed photo? I thought the visa process needed a photo that was on your computer that you could just upload it, so having a printed photo would make that tough without digitizing it. Am I missing something?

thanks..

UPS store sounds great..but do you get the file of the photo? or a printed photo? I thought the visa process needed a photo that was on your computer that you could just upload it, so having a printed photo would make that tough without digitizing it. Am I missing something?

thanks..

Typically, a visa application is a hard-copy process. You submit application, photo, passport and whatever else the consulate needs to issue the passport directly, not online.

Typically, a visa application is a hard-copy process. You submit application, photo, passport and whatever else the consulate needs to issue the passport directly, not online.

 

Yes, they usually don't take any kind of photocopy for passport or visa applications. You will also have to submit your original passport, so I always send it via Fed ex...I had mine photos done at the post office and I've also had them done at CVS, with no problems.

I know OP asked a photo question (which I can't solve) but there are additional issues travelers need to be aware of. Most Mekong trips (including Uniworld) go Hanoi to Cambodia to HCMC (or vv). This requires a multiple entry Vietnam visa. If you are going Hanoi to HCMC one entry is by air and one by water, and I could only find 2 arrival type multiple entry e-visas: one good for air only and one for land/water only. I finally have up and went to the VN Consulate in DC (local for me); they didn't open at the posted time, but they eventually came back from lunch:mad:. Then (Sep 2016) we discovered that they had just raised the visa fee to US$225 pp (ouch!); they have since reduced the fees, not that that does US any good.

 

We flew Hanoi to Siem Riep, and got a Cambodian visa upon arrival st the airport (not painless, but a lot easier and cheaper than VN). I heard conflicting stories (mostly negative) about getting a Cambodian visa on arrival for water entry. I make no guarantees either way on that.

 

Good luck with the visas. The trip was worth the hassle!

 

Thom

thanks all for your replies...I guess the question is since the process is online...questions,,,photos..etc...how would you be able to get the photo from UPS or CVS onto the computer to finish the process??? I assume the photo they take is a hard copy...not a file for the computer....that is the rub. Do they give a file on a flash drive?? thanks...

Rick

Don't know about Vietnam so manybe I shouldn't be answering :)... but the Brazilian visa process seems similar. They gave very specific instructions for the photo and we had our's done at AAA where they ask which country the photo is for and commiserated about the Brazilian process. Then you had to fill out the application on line including scanning your photo and attaching it to the application - in the process you had to crop the scanned photo if necessary to fit their requirements. Finally you had to submit the actual photo and lots of other hard copy documentation along with your passport to the local consulate. The hard copy photo becomes part of your visa in your passport.

... and commiserated about the Brazilian process. ... The hard copy photo becomes part of your visa in your passport.

It had been some years since I had a Brazilian visa, and having heard horror stories (they were treating US citizens like we treated theirs) was dreading it. I CAREFULLY filled out the online form and then went to the DC Consulate 21 Sep 2015 prepared to spend hours. I was amazed that I was in and out in 10 minutes - they carefully checked that all my documents were in order. Visa issued and mailed the next day. VN also mailed my visa in one day, but at least Brazil opened at their stated hour. My 2015 Brazilian visa (which I have in hand) does not use the hardcopy photo I submitted; there is no raised edge on the visa photo and indeed they returned the hardcopy photo still stapled to my hardcopy application with my passport.

I haven't yet tried it (but if it might take a while I may do it fairly soon) but for Canadians we can email the Vietamese embassy in Ottawa with the form, a scanned copy of the passport, a scanned copy of the picture, and payment information and they will send us the visa to put in our passports. It does NOT require sending a passport off, and I really like that. I'll let you know how it goes when I do it.

When we got our visas (2016), we sent our passports, photos, and applications in to the embassy to get our multiple entry visa. There was no online option when we applied.

From what I have read, there still is no online option for a multiple entry visa to Vietnam.

Unless I am totally mistaken..The link to the Vietnam visa through Uniworld..only has the online option..at least that is what I have been struggling with...the questions, payment, etc are a breeze..it is just uploading the photo to their specifics that is causing the problem.

The clearing house that Uniworld links to is called VisaCentral, I believe.

If this problem keeps on, you might use a Visa expeditor service such as this:

http://www.rushmytravelvisa.com/?gclid=CP7Pn6HBw9MCFVOewAodVUYOLw

 

Alternatively you could go to the Vietnam embassy in Washington DC and walk it through yourself. At least by doing that you will know exactly what the problem is. Incidentally, there are different fees for single vs multiple entry visas - check out this website:

 

http://www.vietnamvisa-easy.com/vietnam-visa-in-united-states/how-to-get-vietnam-visa-in-Chicago

Unless I am totally mistaken..The link to the Vietnam visa through Uniworld..only has the online option..at least that is what I have been struggling with...the questions, payment, etc are a breeze..it is just uploading the photo to their specifics that is causing the problem.

The clearing house that Uniworld links to is called VisaCentral, I believe.

 

Ahh, I didn't use whatever service Uniworld recommended. I just did it myself through the Vietnam embassy. I followed these instructions.

Not Vietnam but when we have a port stop in Shanghai last year we needed a visa. Friends also travelling had been to China the previous year and gone through similar experience as you. I think their photos were rejected 4 times each and finally they got fed up and resubmitted one of the rejected photos that was then accepted - go figure!!!

Anyway I was dreading having to get our visa, but ours was easy as. The difference was that the size of the required photo was not a passport size photo. It was slighly bigger and the dementions of ear to ear and head to chin were specific. I only found this out by mega research and the info was on the canadian website not the australian one. The couple who had all the rejections the previous year went to get their pics taken at a passport photo place with my info, the person taking the pics did not know about the different size so took them as friends requested and no trouble. We were a group of 12 and all were processed no problem using my info from the Canadian website..

Just thinking your issue might be just as simple as that.

When I got my pictures at a CAA office (Canadian version of AAA) their computer program seemed to have all the information for scaling the pictures to the correct size for different uses. If you tell them what country you want it for, they should be able to crop it to the exact size.

Hey all,

Just to stay on message....

From my information, the process is online for visa to Vietnam from US. Maybe if you lived near the embassy it would be easier, but I do not. My problem was the specifics of the photo required.

Local UPS or CVS either do not have photo capabilities...or cannot put the photo file on a flash drive... really.

My take away is to have photo taken at a studio where they can put it on flash drive and you upload for application process. Worth a few bucks to save time and aggravation.

Tried taking my own pics..either background was not right..or something. Worth the few dollars to finish the process.

thank you..

Rick

From my information, the process is online for visa to Vietnam from US

But the instructions STILL tell you to print the PDF (once you fill it out online) and attach the photo......

 

The Embassy website directs you to the Consular website (that Ewizabeff links above) and it says

I/ A VISA to Vietnam can be applied for by mail or in person at the Embassy.

It does not say upload a photo and submit your visa application online. So whose instructions are you following???

You may be dealing with a private website, not directly with the embassy. This is a link to the warning on the official website for the Embassy of Vietnam in Canada.

http://vietnamembassy.ca/press-releases/warning-about-private-websites

ummm...just followed the link from the Uniworld website (under already booked)...kinda wonder now...

I/ A VISA to Vietnam can be applied for by mail or in person at the Embassy.

 

The applicant must submit:

1. The application form must be completed online,

 

Click here for online form or visit: http://visa.mofa.gov.vn

Important note: (1) choose ENGLISH language (top right corner);

(2) place of visa submission and collection should be VIET NAM EMBASSY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (the 7th from bottom up in the list).

(3) Field with (*) is compulsory.

(4) In case it is impossible for you to fill in the visa application online, you can download a PDF visa application form (click here).

but confusing at the least...

Yes, completed online but then printed & mailed in. I just read the same page before I posted. They just want to make sure that people are typing in their PDF- I'm sure to make it easier to read than handwriting.

 

(I went through the process last fall, but we ended up not needing the visa as we only had one stop in Vietnam and the cruise ship - not a river cruise- procured the visas for us)

We also used the online form when we got our Visas last year.

 

The idea is that you complete the form including the digital photo and submit it online.

 

You then get a collection date and you take your passport along with a printed copy of the form along to the Embassy and they stick the visa into your passport.

 

It is actually a very neat and streamlined process and as long as you can physically get to the Embassy it means that you are never without your passport.

 

On the other-hand, if you are not able to get to the Embassy then the online part of this is largely pointless as everything is going to have to go by post anyway...