For Indians, Vietnam e-visa takes 3 to 5 working days on the official portal, excluding weekends and Vietnamese holidays. Apply at least 2 weeks before flying and allow 7 to 10 days in peak season.
Cover image: Ha Long Bay in Vietnam with limestone karsts and tourist boat — photo by Thomas Hirsch / User:Ravn, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
For Indian passport holders, the Vietnam e-visa takes 3 to 5 working days on the official portal evisa.gov.vn. That count excludes Vietnamese weekends and public holidays and the day you submit. In 2026 the e-visa is available to citizens of all countries including India, costs USD 25 for single entry and USD 50 for multiple entry, and is valid for up to 90 days. During Tet, April holidays and August peak, approvals often slip to 7 to 10 working days, and incomplete data or low-quality photo uploads add further delay. Apply at least 14 days before you fly from India.
The new official domains from 11 November 2024 are evisa.gov.vn and thithucdientu.gov.vn run by the Immigration Department under the Ministry of Public Security. Do not use .com agents that add USD 20 to 40 in service fees unless you need an urgent case. The fee is paid online at submission and is non-refundable even if you mistype your passport number.
Indian planners often combine visa timing with cost: Vietnam e-visa requirements 2026 lists the photo and passport specs, do Indians need a visa for Vietnam covers who can use e-visa versus visa on arrival, how much a Vietnam trip costs from India gives 7-day budget tiers with flights, and do Indians need a visa for Thailand helps if you are pairing Vietnam with Bangkok.
How long does the official Vietnam e-visa actually take for Indians?
The Immigration Department states 3 working days as the standard. In practice the trade sites that track thousands of Indian applications report about 70 percent are approved in 4 to 6 working days and about 20 percent in 7 to 10 working days, with the rest delayed by errors or extra checks.
- Day 0: submission day does not count. A Monday evening IST submission is Tuesday morning in Hanoi, so day 1 is Tuesday.
- Working days: Monday to Friday excluding Vietnamese public holidays. Saturday, Sunday and Tet closures do not count.
- Indian timing tip: submit on Sunday or Monday IST to avoid losing a weekend in the count. A Friday night submission sits idle until Monday in Hanoi.
One short paragraph for clarity. If you travel on a Friday, submit no later than two Mondays before.
What options exist if you need the Vietnam e-visa faster?
| Channel | Indicative time | Extra cost beyond USD 25/50 | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official evisa.gov.vn standard | 3 to 5 working days | USD 0 | Planned trips with 2-plus weeks buffer |
| Official urgent via .com agent 8 hours | 8 working hours | USD 30 to 50 | Flight within 72 hours and clean documents |
| Agent 4-hour service | 4 working hours | USD 60 to 90 | Last-minute change of entry port |
| Agent 2-hour emergency | 2 working hours | USD 90 to 140 | Only for error-free scans, high rejection risk |
| Embassy sticker visa Delhi/Mumbai | 5 to 7 working days | Single 80 to 110 USD via VFS | When e-visa is not suitable |
Urgent services are private agents that refile on the same portal with priority handling. They cannot force approval. If your photo is blurred or your name has a hyphen mismatch, even a 2-hour filing will bounce. The Vietnam Embassy in Delhi advises that overstay after e-visa expiry triggers fines and future entry issues, so an urgent refile is better than travelling on a pending file.
What delays Indian applications most often in 2026?
The top reasons are preventable. The Immigration Department and Vietnam Embassy in Delhi both warn against these:
- Incorrect personal data: a single letter difference between the form and the passport MRZ, wrong passport number or date of birth, or swapped given and surname fields. India passports have the surname first in the MRZ, so copy exactly.
- Low-quality uploads: portrait photo must be recent, white background, no glasses glare, 4x6 ratio, under 1 MB, and the passport data page must be scanned at 300 dpi without cut corners. Phone photos of screens are rejected.
- Entry port mismatch: the e-visa is issued for a specific port such as Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat or Da Nang. Arriving at a different port can mean refusal to board. Check airline handling at DEL and BOM, which cross-check port.
- Payment failure: Indian debit cards that block USD transactions or 3D Secure failures. Use a card enabled for international payment and keep the payment receipt PDF.
Apply in a single session on a stable connection. If you need to correct after payment, you must file a new application and pay again.
When should Indians apply before their flight in 2026?
For travel in 2026 the safe window is 14 to 21 days before departure from India. For Tet (late January to mid-February 2026), the Reunification Day period in late April and the National Day week in early September, add a full week. The department advises “at least 3 weeks” in holiday periods, which matches the 7 to 10 working day tail reported by agents during high demand.
Build your timeline from your actual flight date. Count backwards excluding weekends. If you fly on 25 September, 14 days before is 11 September, but with weekends that leaves about 10 working days, which is tight if a correction is needed. Submitting on 4 September gives a 15 working day cushion.
Frequently asked questions
Does Vietnam e-visa take 3 days or 3 working days for Indians?
It takes 3 working days as the official target, which excludes weekends and Vietnamese holidays. For Indians that means a Monday to Friday count in Hanoi time. Plan for 4 to 6 working days in practice and 7 to 10 during Tet and April holidays.
How much does a Vietnam e-visa cost for Indians in 2026?
USD 25 for single entry and USD 50 for multiple entry, each valid up to 90 days. Payment is online on evisa.gov.vn at submission and is not refunded for errors.
Can Indians get the Vietnam e-visa in 24 hours?
Not via the official standard queue. Private agents advertise 24-hour, 8-hour and 2-hour handling that refile on the same portal for an extra USD 30 to 140. Approval is not guaranteed and depends on clean data and photos.
Should Indians use the old evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn portal?
Use the new domains evisa.gov.vn or thithucdientu.gov.vn. The old address now redirects. Always check that the URL shows gov.vn and that payment goes to the Immigration Department before entering passport data.
Sources
- Immigration Department — evisa.gov.vn / thithucdientu.gov.vn official portal (from 11 Nov 2024)
- Wikipedia — Visa policy of Vietnam (e-visa for all countries including India, USD 25/50, up to 90 days)
- Vietnam-visa.com — 3 working days standard, 4-6 and 7-10 day bands, Tet advice
- VietnamImmigration.com — Vietnam e-visa 3-5 days for Indians, delay reasons, 2-8 hour urgent
