The Ministry of Public Security has released the second draft of the law on amending provisions of the law on entry, exit, transit, and residence of foreigners in Vietnam.

The time currently between the last day of exit and the latest entry must be at least 30 days.

Vietnam set the regulation in order to prevent foreign individuals from exploiting Vietnam’s unilateral visa waiver policy to come to Vietnam to work without observing the laws on labor.

However, some organizations and analysts said the regulation affects the tourism industry, because it puts difficulties for foreign individuals who want to travel under the unilateral visa waiver policy, then go to third countries and later return to Vietnam.

A senior executive of a travel firm in Hanoi said that some foreign travelers want to fly to Vietnam, then go to Laos and Cambodia and return to Vietnam later. However, with the regulation, they cannot plan their trips this way.

The compilation committee believes that it is necessary to amend the regulation to pave the way for foreigners to come to Vietnam.

It would be better to stipulate that those who enter Vietnam under the unilateral visa waiver policy must have passports with the validity date for six months or more.

Travel firms criticized the regulation, saying that this is an odd regulation applied only in Vietnam.

A senior executive of a travel firm in Hanoi said that some foreign travelers want to fly to Vietnam, then go to Laos and Cambodia and return to Vietnam later. However, with the regulation, they cannot plan their trips this way.

The representative of the Tourist Advisory Board (TAB) also said TAB cannot see any benefit in prohibiting travelers to come back to Vietnam within 30 days, stressing that the barrier needs to be removed to lure more travelers to Vietnam.

Truong Thi Thu Giang from Vietravel also applauded the plan to remove the regulation.

“If the regulation is removed, travelers can fly from HCMC to Phnom Penh or Bangkok and then come back to Vietnam to visit Hanoi, Da Nang or Phu Quoc before they take flights back to their home countries,” Giang said.

Director of Xunaco Tour Pham Van Du praised the state management agencies’ plan to remove the regulation. However, he said if Vietnam wants to attract more travelers from Europe and travelers with high spending levels, it should extend foreigners’ staying time to 30 instead of 15 days.

Kim Chi

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