Vietnam Visa for UK Citizens (2026)

British passports have the easiest deal going for Vietnam: 45 days visa-free, no paperwork, no fee, no form. That covers most trips. The exemption is a unilateral Vietnamese policy, currently extended through 2028, and it applies whether you fly into Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, or cross a land border.

If your trip is 45 days or under, stop reading and get on with packing. If you want longer, or want multi-entry flexibility for a regional loop, you need the $25 e-visa — details below.

The 45-day visa-free rule, in practice

One entry, 45 days, counted inclusive of arrival and departure days. Land on the 10th and leave on the 24th of the next month — that’s 45 nights, right at the limit.

A few things catch people out:

The clock is per visit, not per year. You can leave Vietnam, spend a week in Cambodia, come back and get another 45 days. The immigration officer may ask what you’re doing — “tourism, back for a second trip” is a fine answer.
Multiple entries in a short window draw scrutiny. Three back-to-back visa-free entries within a few months and you’ll likely be asked for an onward ticket and proof of funds. Aggressive hopping (four or five entries) has been refused.
It’s not for employment. Working for a Vietnamese company on the exemption is a violation. Remote work for a non-Vietnamese employer is a grey area that’s functionally unenforced for individuals.

At the airport: standard passport control, entry stamp, no forms.

When you need the e-visa instead

One of three cases:

Staying more than 45 days continuously. The e-visa gives you 90.
Want multi-entry flexibility. The exemption is single-entry. If you’re doing Vietnam → Laos → Vietnam → Cambodia → Vietnam, the multi-entry e-visa ($50) saves you three runs to consulates.
Paper trail for your employer. Some UK companies require a formal visa stamp for business travel even if technically not needed. The e-visa covers that.

Single-entry e-visa: $25, 90 days. Multi-entry: $50, 90 days total across multiple trips.

Applying — the real version

Use only evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn. That’s the government portal. Everything else in Google results is a middleman charging £50-80 markup to fill in the same government form.

You’ll need:

UK passport, valid 6+ months past entry, with at least 2 blank pages
Scanned bio page (full colour, all corners visible)
Passport photo 4×6 cm, white background, no glasses — a high street print is £8 and safer than a phone snap
UK card that works abroad (the form rejects ~20% of UK cards on first try; Revolut and Wise work reliably)
An approximate arrival date and port (DAD for Da Nang, HAN for Hanoi, SGN for Ho Chi Minh)

Processing is officially 3 working days, typically 48 hours. Apply a week out. If it lands during Tết, Reunification Day (30 April), or National Day (2 September), add 2-3 days buffer.

Approval comes by email as a PDF. Print two copies. Airline check-in staff at Heathrow and Gatwick occasionally refuse phone-only e-visas even though immigration accepts them. Print.

Extending and staying longer

You can’t extend an e-visa from inside Vietnam. If you want to stay past 90 days, fly out (Bangkok and Phnom Penh are the cheap runs), apply for a new e-visa from there, come back.

For proper long-term residency — a year or more — you need a work-sponsored visa and a Temporary Residence Card (TRC). That goes through a Vietnamese employer or a visa agency in HCMC/Hanoi. Budget £400-800 in agency fees. Investor and family-reunion routes exist but need local legal advice.

No digital nomad visa

Vietnam doesn’t have one as of early 2026 and doesn’t seem to be in a hurry. The de facto workaround is to cycle through the 45-day exemption and the 90-day e-visa, which is what most nomads on the ground do. It’s a legal grey zone; enforcement against individuals is zero. If you’re staying over six months with a remote job, the clean path is a sponsored business visa.

Things that trip up British travellers

Passport expiry. Vietnam requires 6 months validity on arrival. If yours expires in July, a January trip leaves only 6 months — cutting it fine.
Short connections. Vietnam doesn’t offer visa-free transit. If you’re routing through Hanoi or Saigon with a long layover, you can’t leave the airport without a visa.
UK cards declined. Monzo, Starling, Barclays — international-transaction filters flag the Vietnamese government portal. Call your bank, clear the flag, or use Revolut/Wise.
Old 15-day rules. The Vietnam-UK exemption was 15 days pre-2023, then 45 days. Old blog posts still show 15. The current rule through 2028 is 45.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long can British citizens stay in Vietnam without a visa?

Up to 45 days, under Vietnam’s unilateral exemption for UK passports, currently extended through 2028. No form, no fee.

Do I need a visa to go to Da Nang from the UK for two weeks?

No. A two-week trip fits inside the 45-day exemption. Fly in, get stamped, enjoy Da Nang. Same for Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hoi An, or any other destination.

Can I extend the 45-day visa-free stay?

Not formally. If you want to stay longer, the options are: leave and re-enter (changes the counter, but don’t do this more than a couple of times without a real reason), or apply for a 90-day e-visa from outside Vietnam and re-enter on that.

What does a Vietnam e-visa cost for UK citizens in 2026?

$25 for single-entry 90 days, $50 for multi-entry 90 days. Paid on the government portal in US dollars, equivalent to roughly £20-40.

Which documents do I need for the e-visa?

UK passport with 6+ months validity and blank pages, a scan of the bio page, a passport photo (4×6 cm, white background, no glasses), a valid card for the $25 fee, an email for the approval, and your planned entry date and port.

Is working remotely on the visa-free entry legal?

Technically no. The exemption and the e-visa both specify tourism or short business meetings — not employment. In practice, individuals working remotely for non-Vietnamese employers aren’t enforced against. If it’s a multi-month arrangement, get proper sponsorship rather than stacking back-to-back visa-free entries.

Is the Vietnam e-visa single-entry?

The $25 version is. The $50 multi-entry version allows multiple entries within 90 days, which is the right choice if you’re doing a Southeast Asia loop.

What happens if my e-visa gets rejected?

The $25 isn’t refunded. Most rejections are fixable — passport number typo, photo fails spec, wrong entry date. Correct the error and resubmit. If time is short, fall back on the 45-day visa-free exemption if your trip fits.

Immigration rules change. We check this page against evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office guidance quarterly. Confirm with the official portal before booking flights.