Mekong River Cruise Visas

[sanger727]

Has anyone does the Mekong River cruise since covid? We are booked for one in November and trying to sort out what we need in terms of visa. We will get our own to fly into cambodia. Our travel packet from Avalon says that we will also need to arrange our own visa for vietnam, and that we can't use an e-visa at a river crossing. They refer you to a visa service. To get an e-visa directly, it's $30; this service charges $300 for a visa. There has to be another way??

[gnome12]

I haven’t done this since pre-covid, but when I applied for my Vietnamese visa (multi-entry since I flew into Hanoi before Siem Reap, and then crossed back into Vietnam on the river), I applied on-line through the government website, and they mailed me a physical visa to put in my passport. I did not go through any 3rd party visa service. 
 

It seem that is still available. See items 2 and 3 on the webpage below. 
https://vietnamembassy-usa.org/consular/visa-application-process

 

I am assuming you are American; if not search for the embassy in the country in which you are a citizen. 

Edited August 12, 2022 by gnome12

[sanger727]

3 hours ago, gnome12 said:

I haven’t done this since pre-covid, but when I applied for my Vietnamese visa (multi-entry since I flew into Hanoi before Siem Reap, and then crossed back into Vietnam on the river), I applied on-line through the government website, and they mailed me a physical visa to put in my passport. I did not go through any 3rd party visa service. 
 

It seem that is still available. See items 2 and 3 on the webpage below. 
https://vietnamembassy-usa.org/consular/visa-application-process

 

I am assuming you are American; if not search for the embassy in the country in which you are a citizen. 

I am. So that website says that I need a ‘Visa letter of approval through immigration’ with my application. What is that?

 

 

Edited August 13, 2022 by sanger727

[gnome12]

I tried to find what I sent in, and I can't find it. I don't remember sending anything more than the form, the copy of the passport pages, and the passport picture. I don't think I supplied any approval letter. I would get your information together, and do the application. They will contact you if they need more.

 

I have 3 separate emails from the Vietnamese embassy in Ottawa. (I'm Canadian.) The first was an automated response that my documents were received, the second that they were accepted for processing, and the third that the document processing was completed.

 

Sorry I can't be of more help.

[Ummie4799]

We applied and received our E-Visa for Vietnam a couple of weeks ago. We sail Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City with an onward tour to Hanoi. We fly on October 24 for an October 26 start. Our visas were $25.74 US each. We supplied Emerald with entry dates, etc. Our Cambodian visas have been approved but won’t be released until September. We hope our t’s are crossed.

[gnome12]

14 hours ago, sanger727 said:

I am. So that website says that I need a ‘Visa letter of approval through immigration’ with my application. What is that?

Might I suggest contacting the consulate in one of the ways shown at the bottom of the linked page?

[dkf11]

We are traveling in September on the Uniworld Mekong cruise from Siam Reap to Saigon so we also had to learn about the Vietnam visa requirements.  The easy way to get a Vietnam visa is through this web site:  https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/web/guest/home.  The letter of approval is only required when you try to apply through the embassy.  The port of entry when you fill out the form is Song Tien according to Uniworld: that is the port of entry when you are on the riverboat. 

[sanger727]

On 8/13/2022 at 8:42 PM, dkf11 said:

We are traveling in September on the Uniworld Mekong cruise from Siam Reap to Saigon so we also had to learn about the Vietnam visa requirements.  The easy way to get a Vietnam visa is through this web site:  https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/web/guest/home.  The letter of approval is only required when you try to apply through the embassy.  The port of entry when you fill out the form is Song Tien according to Uniworld: that is the port of entry when you are on the riverboat. 

 

Ok. Thanks for the information. Avalon specifically says in our travel documents that an evisa is not acceptable. Good to hear that it is the route used on other river cruises. 

[sanger727]

So, an update on the consulate. There appears no way to contact them. All of the e-mail addresses listed are blocked when you try to use them. None of the phone numbers work, they all go to wireless voicemails that are not set up or full. Definitely not sending any money or information to them by mail at this point.