U.S. citizens will pay a US$135 fee when applying for a Vietnam visa regardless of their visit purposes, up more than five times, according to local tourist firms.

With the fresh fee applicable from late last month, U.S. passport holders can apply for a one-year multiple entry visa. 

Earlier, Americans just paid a US$25 visa fee for short visits to Vietnam and the fee for those who arrived by sea was only US$5.

Tourist firms said they just knew the visa fee spike for Americans when they helped them with some relevant procedures and that the new fee came into force without prior notice.

Phan Xuan Anh, chairman of Viet Excursions, which specializes in arranging tours for guests of cruise ships, told the Daily that the company could not explain the new visa fee to its partners due to the absence of a formal statement from the immigration agency.

Anh said he did not know whether or not American tourists to Vietnam by cruise ship should pay a visa fee of US$5 as decided by the Government early last year, or US$135.

Vu The Binh, vice chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA), told the Daily that many travel firms are grappling with a new regulation on the the new visa fee.

Binh said most U.S. visitors come to Vietnam for short visits so they should not be required to pay such a high visa fee. 

VITA will propose the Government reconsider the fee which will certainly put a dampener on the local tourism sector’s effort to woo Americans.

The U.S. is one of the major markets for Vietnam’s tourism sector. Data of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism showed the country attracted 386,000 U.S. visitors in the first eight months of this year, up 14.8% year-on-year.

Over the past years, domestic travel firms have proposed the Government offer visa exemptions and lower visa fees for foreign passport holders to make Vietnam an appealing destination for international arrivals.

Early last year, the Government approved a visa fee of only US$5 for foreign tourists arriving in Vietnam by sea, instead of US$45 as regulated in the law on entry, exit, transit and residence of foreigners in Vietnam. 

The fee for short-term visas for foreigners was also brought down to US$25 from US$45.

SGT