Chinese Allowed Visa-free Trips to Vietnam

Effective September 12, Chinese tourists are allowed to travel throughout Vietnam without visas, instead of only seven northern cities and provinces as previously.

Chinese nationals who hold passports granted by authorised agencies in China are allowed to enter Vietnam without obtaining a visa. This measure has been applied to Chinese visitors for many years to encourage them to visit Vietnam. However, to enjoy this mechanism, Chinese visitors had to have tourist cards granted by Vietnam which would allow them to visit only seven northern provinces of Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Lao Cai, Haiphong and Hanoi. If they wanted to visit other cities and provinces they had to apply for visas. Under the new regulation, Chinese visitors with a tourist card can visit any province or city in Vietnam without a visa. This is a tourist promotion measure to encourage more Chinese tourists to visit Vietnam. Tourist cards for Chinese visitors are not a normal visa exemption but a conditioned and controlled visa exemption. To be granted tourist cards, Chinese visitors must join a group of tourists organised by a Vietnamese travel agency or in cooperation with Chinese travel agencies. Chinese visitors must pay US$10 for a tourist card, while they previously had to pay US$25 for a visa. A tourist card has a visit duration of one month while the duration for visas is identified based on the demand of visitors and the permission of Vietnam’s authorised agencies.

Chinese visitors have accounted for the largest proportion of foreign visitors to Vietnam for many years. Local travel agencies and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism have proposed that the Government waive visa requirements for Chinese visitors. However, the Government decided to amend the application of tourist cards, a conditioned visa exemption applied for foreign investors and entrepreneurs. Vietnam provides visa exemption for visitors from Japan and the Republic of Korea and has signed agreements on visa exemption with six ASEAN countries, namely Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Laos.

In the first eight months of this year, Vietnam has hosted approximately 520,000 visitors from China, an increase of 40 per cent over the same period last year. With the new regulations, Vietnam hopes to receive one million Chinese visitors each year.

• B.H