VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese citizens who have visited South Korea more than one time can apply for a multiple-entry visa with a validity period of five years, and stay for up to 30 days per visit.

Representatives of Vietnamese and Korean travel firms meet at a function held in HCMC on Tuesday to grant awards to big travel firms and customers in this market – Photo: Dao Loan

The Consulate General of South Korea in HCMC introduced the new visa rule at a function held in HCMC on Tuesday night to grant awards to major travel firms and customers in this market.

Doctors, lawyers and professors; and parents, children aged under 18 and spouses of the Vietnamese passport holders who have multiple-entry visas can also ask for multiple-entry visa with a five-year validity.  

Korea has also loosened requirements for group visa. Previously, only enterprises on the list of 500 with annual revenue of US$5 million each could apply for group visa, but this policy now applies to all enterprises with tax payments.

Group visa applicants just need to pay a fee of US$15 each and visa will be issued within three days after all required documents are submitted.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) in Vietnam, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak caused visitor arrivals in Korea to fall in the middle of this year but Vietnamese arrivals in the northeast Asian country have rebounded thanks to travel stimulus programs.

By November 24, Korea had welcomed more than 151,000 Vietnamese visitors, a 14.7% rise against the same period a year earlier. The figure is projected to hit 170,000 in all of 2015, up 20% over last year.