Yes, Indians need a visa for Vietnam — but it's one of the easiest in Southeast Asia. The simplest route is the official e-visa: about $25 for single entry or $50 for multiple entry, valid for up to 90 days, applied for entirely online. After that, you keep your life here going with "visa runs." That's the whole system in one paragraph.
I'm not writing this from a template. I live in Da Nang on an Indian passport, and I've done this cycle many times. So here's exactly how it works, the mistakes that trip people up, and the insider bits nobody tells you — from someone actually doing it, not a visa-agent blog trying to upsell you.
The E-Visa: The Only Form You Really Need
Apply on the official government site and nothing else: evisa.gov.vn. There are dozens of look-alike sites that charge you triple and add "service fees" — ignore all of them. The official portal is where you apply, check status, and download the visa.
The form itself is genuinely easy — passport details, a photo, a passport scan, your entry date and port of entry. Fees, paid directly to the government:
- Single entry: ~$25
- Multiple entry: ~$50
- Validity: up to 90 days (you choose the length)
Processing usually takes 3–4 working days (official guidance says up to five).
Insider tip: Don't sit around waiting for the approval email — it's slow and unreliable. If you're in a hurry, just log back into evisa.gov.vn and check your status directly. It's often approved before the email ever lands.
Insider tip: In all my cycles on an Indian passport, I have never once been denied this visa. With clean documents it's about as routine as it gets. Don't stress it.
The One Rule That Trips People Up: Your Port of Entry
This is the mistake I see cost people their trip.
- On a single-entry e-visa, the visa names your exact port of entry — a specific airport or land border. You must enter through that one. So fly directly to the port of entry listed on your visa. Don't route through a different Vietnamese city thinking you'll connect — if the first Vietnamese airport you land at isn't the one on your visa, you have a problem.
- On a multiple-entry e-visa, they don't lock a port of entry — you get flexibility on where you come in. Another reason multiple-entry is worth the extra $25 if you'll be hopping around.
What Happens After 90 Days: The Visa Run
Vietnam has no easy long-term or retirement visa for people like us — you cycle. When your e-visa period is ending, you leave the country and come back on a fresh e-visa. That's the "visa run."
One rule that catches everyone: you can only apply for the next e-visa after you have your Vietnam exit stamp. You cannot apply for it while you're still inside Vietnam. So the sequence is: exit → get stamped out → then apply for the next one.
The good news if you're based in Da Nang: you've got direct flights to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore (I fact-checked — Singapore is direct too, via Scoot/Singapore Airlines/VietJet, under three hours). Getting out and back is genuinely easy.
Your Visa-Run Options (Cheapest to Comfiest)
There's a real trade-off here between money, time, and how "clean" you want your passport to look.
Option 1 — The border bus (cheapest)
A luxury coach to the Laos border and back, run by local agents. Roughly $150–200, comfortable buses (climate control, USB, reclining seats). You leave painfully early — 5 or 6 AM — cross the border, wait a few hours, and come back the same day. Lynn VISA in Da Nang is the well-known operator for these (there are others locals will point you to).
The catch: rapid-fire same-day border runs are sometimes frowned upon by immigration. Do enough of them and you can start getting extra questions at the counter. It's cheap, but it leaves a pattern on your record.
Option 2 — A real trip (what I actually do)
I fly to KL or Bangkok for 3–4 days. Yes, it costs more — but it keeps my passport clean (no suspicious same-day in-and-out), and honestly, I reframe it as a forced mini-vacation. Rough budget:
- Round-trip flight: $150–200 if you book a bit ahead (Da Nang → KL or Bangkok)
- Hotel: $30–40/night (decent budget place)
- Food: $20–30/day
- Transport + whatever you get up to: $10–20/day
Book the flight last-minute and it's a lot more — so plan your runs a few weeks out and this stays cheap.
For a few hundred dollars every three months I get a change of scene and zero immigration side-eye. Worth it to me.
Speed services (when you can't wait)
If you need the new e-visa fast, agents like Lynn VISA will guarantee turnaround in a set number of days — 1 day, 2 days, 3, 4+ — with the price scaling to how fast you want it. Handy when you don't want to burn nights in a hostel across the border waiting on standard processing.
The balancing act: if you're trying not to spend much, you either wait out the standard processing (which can mean extra nights in a cheap hostel abroad) or pay an agent to rush it. Cheap-and-slow or pay-to-go-fast — pick your trade.
A Heads-Up on Arrival (Especially HCMC)
One more thing that's easy to miss: depending on where you fly in — notably Ho Chi Minh City — there can be an extra online arrival/declaration step, similar to Thailand's TDAC arrival card. It changes, so check the current requirement before you fly so you're not filling forms in the immigration queue.
Where This Fits in a FIRE Budget
I fold all of this — the e-visa fees plus the periodic runs — into what I call my "Vietnam tax," roughly $100/month averaged out. It's the one genuinely Vietnam-specific overhead in my Lean FIRE budget, and it's still cheaper than what I'd spend just commuting in a US city.
If you're weighing this whole life, the visa is the friction — but it's manageable friction. I break down the full cost of living behind it in $1,100 a month in Da Nang, and the bigger picture of retiring in Southeast Asia as an Indian.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Indians need a visa for Vietnam?
Yes. Indian passport holders need a visa. The simplest option is the official e-visa applied online at evisa.gov.vn — about $25 (single entry) or $50 (multiple entry), valid for up to 90 days.
How much does the Vietnam e-visa cost for Indians?
Paid directly to the government on the official site, it's roughly $25 for a single-entry e-visa and $50 for multiple entry. Third-party sites charge much more — use evisa.gov.vn.
How long can an Indian stay in Vietnam on an e-visa?
Up to 90 days per e-visa. To stay longer, you do a "visa run" — leave the country and re-enter on a fresh e-visa.
Can I apply for a new Vietnam e-visa while still inside Vietnam?
No. You can only apply for the next e-visa after you've exited and have your Vietnam exit stamp. Plan your visa run around that.
What is a Vietnam visa run?
Leaving Vietnam (by a same-day land-border trip or a short flight to Bangkok, KL or Singapore) and re-entering on a new e-visa. It's how long-stayers reset their 90 days.
Is the Vietnam e-visa hard to get for Indians?
Not in my experience — I've done the cycle many times on an Indian passport and never been denied. With clean documents and the correct port of entry, it's routine.
This is my personal, first-hand experience living in Da Nang on an Indian passport. Visa rules and fees change — always confirm the current requirements, costs, and processing times on the official portal, evisa.gov.vn, before you book anything.