Gov't considers expansion of visa exemption policy

The Prime Minister also requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to evaluate the application of unilateral visa exemption policies for citizens of 13 countries, namely German, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, Russia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Belarus.

He urged the two ministries to expand the list of visa exemption beyond Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Russia, Japan, the RoK, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Belarus, whose citizens are unilaterally exempted from visas.

Since August, 2023, Viet Nam has granted three-month tourist visas for citizens from all countries and territories.

The government also tripled the duration of stays in Viet Nam to 45 days for citizens of 13 countries unilaterally exempted from visas.

As many as 12.6 million international tourists visited Viet Nam last year, surpassing the target of 8 million. Over 1.5 million foreign tourists travelled to Viet Nam in January, increasing 10.3 percent over the previous month and 73.6 per cent over the same period in 2023. The number is equivalent to the number of international visitors visiting Viet Nam in January 2019 — before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country aims to welcome 17–18 million foreign tourists in 2024, marking a full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic./.