At the event on August 29, Vo Viet Hoa from Saigontourist wanted to know if the HCM City Tourism Department had asked the government and relevant ministries to set a visa waiver for all citizens of the EU, US, Australia, New Zealand and India, the most important markets for Vietnam’s tourism. 

He said this would help attract more travelers to Vietnam and help travel firms overcome difficulties.

Hoa noted that the number of countries subject to the visa waiver policy remains modest, which explains why some travelers still have to pay high fees and spend time on procedures. 

A representative of the HCM City Tourism Association said many travelers have complained that when applying for visas online, they have found it difficult to conduct operations on the website, and there are still mistakes in English. 

After submitting their applications, they could not receive the results as informed, and they were unable to contact the agencies for help.

Vo Chien Thang, deputy head of the Immigration Sub-department under the HCM City Police, said the complaints have been recognized by the agency and will be reported to higher authorities. The proposal on visa exemption for all citizens of the EU, India and some countries will also be considered.

According to Thang, in August 2023, the National Assembly and the government adopted a series of policies to support tourism development, including regulations on entry and exit. 

The validity time of the e-visa has been raised from 30 days to 90 days, and travelers can apply for visas online. They are also supposed to get answers after three working days.

For the 13 countries that enjoy unilateral visa waiver, their citizens' maximum stay in Vietnam has been raised from 15 days to 45 days, with no limitation on the number of entries and exits.

Thang said the number of applications for visas has been very high. The immigration division of the HCM City Police at times receives up to 10,000-13,000 applications a day. This has led to a big workload for the officers of the division.

Regarding procedures for e-visas, Thang said this is within the jurisdiction of the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). 

Travel firms have also complained about high lending interest rates, affirming that while the deposit interest rates have been lowered, the lending interest rates do not decrease proportionally. Some commercial banks are providing loans at the interest rates of 14-15 percent per annum, and the best loan cost is 9-10 percent.

Ngoc Ha