Overseas Vietnamese will receive visa exemptions beginning September 1 under a new regulation approved by the Prime Minister on Friday. Overseas Vietnamese who enter without a visa may stay up to 90 days, with extensions available.
Overseas Vietnamese will receive visa exemptions beginning September 1 under a new regulation approved by the Prime Minister on Friday.
Ethnic Vietnamese who hold foreign passports, and foreign nationals who are their spouses or children, will benefit from the new policy.
A visa exemption certificate must be obtained by eligible passport holders for the exemption to be utilised. The certificate is available through Vietnamese embassies and consulates abroad and is valid for five years.
Overseas Vietnamese who enter without a visa may stay up to 90 days, with extensions available.
In order to be granted a visa exemption certificate from a Vietnamese embassy or consulate abroad, overseas Vietnamese need to submit one of the following documents: a document that proves they are ethnically Vietnamese; a guarantee by an overseas Vietnamese association in the country in which they reside of by a Vietnamese citizen; or a document issued by an authorised foreign agency certifying that the person is ethnically Vietnamese.
Spouses and children seeking the visa exemption will also need to submit documents that prove their relationship to the Vietnamese member of their immediate family.
The move to exempt overseas Vietnamese from visa requirements is part of the Government’s efforts to carry out Politburo Resolution No 36. The visa exemption policy was also announced by President Nguyen Minh Triet during his visit to the
According to the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, there are currently close to three million overseas Vietnamese, with the largest populations in the
Expecting a rush on embassies and consulates abroad, the committee has sent 200,000 visa exemption certificates to Vietnamese embassies overseas.
(Source: VNS)
