Vietnam visa free for Australian spouses of Vietnamese

Bởi: carol

Australians who married to Vietnamese nationals or Vietnamese passport holders who reside overseas are now entitled to 5-year Vietnam visa exemption. This is announced in the Government’s Decree No. 82/2015/ND-CP taking effect on November 15, 2015.

Australian passport holders who want to benefit from this visa-free policy will need to present documents proving that their spouse is overseas Vietnamese or Vietnamese nationals who reside in Vietnam.

To get Vietnam visa exemption, they need to have their passport or an international travel document valid for at least 01 year.

Their visa exemption certificate shall be valid for up to 05 years and expires at least 6 months before the expiration of their passport or international travel document.

However, please note that those who are not allowed to enter Vietnam and those who are prohibited from leaving the Southeast Asian country as per the law on immigration are not eligible for the visa exemption.

How to apply for Vietnam visa exemption for Australian citizens getting married to Vietnamese

Step 1: Submit the application dossier to the Vietnamese agencies in charge of visas there (Vietnam Embassy in Australia). The dossier includes:

  1. Original passport or international travel document
  2. An application for a visa exemption certificate attached with 02 photos (01 photo pasted in the application).
  3. A paper proving their relationship with Vietnamese citizens or overseas Vietnamese (certified copies of original documents or copies attached to original documents for reference of papers proving their spouse relationship with Vietnamese citizens or overseas Vietnamese).

Step 2: Pay for fee and wait to get visa exemption certificate.

The whole process takes around 5 working days from receipt of complete application dossier.

In case the process for applying for a visa exemption is too complicated, Australian citizens may have option to apply for 3-month visa for Vietnam and then extend it when it is about to expire. They may have two ways to obtain a Vietnam visa:

  1. Apply for visa at Vietnam Embassy Australia (It will be convenient if you live near the embassy, and it is the only option if you travel to Vietnam by road, sea or railway).
  2. Apply for Vietnam visa on arrival (It is very convenient despite you live near or far from the embassy of Vietnam. But it is for those traveling to Vietnam by air only).

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