On March 19, at the Government’s meeting with the FDI business community and the Vietnam Business Forum (VBF), Mr. Denzel Eades – Deputy Chairman of the British Business Association in Vietnam – stated that Vietnam’s visa policy has not been adjusted as quickly as its competitors in the tourism market.
Vietnam is expected to promptly relax visa rules in the near future.
To adapt to the post-COVID-19 context, the association representative hopes that our country will consider emergency measures to keep up with the growth rate of its competitors, including adding visa exemptions for key target markets such as China, India, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States.
Agreeing with the above proposal, Mr. Gabor Fluit – Chairman of the European Business Association in Vietnam (EuroCham) – emphasized the need to exempt visas for all EU member countries, issue special visas for conferences, exhibitions, or sports events, and streamline immigration procedures in general to enhance Vietnam’s attractiveness as a top destination for tourists and investors.
“With Vietnam’s current visa policy, the recovery speed of the tourism industry, as well as the supply chain such as restaurants and hotels, will be slower compared to other countries due to missed revenue and growth opportunities,” evaluated the Chairman of EuroCham.
Additionally, international tourism promotion organizations propose that our country needs to diversify the types of visas. Currently, investment visas for individuals contributing 50 billion VND or more have a validity period of 5 years. Therefore, business visas for long-term foreign residents only reach 2 years. At the same time, the documentation and procedures for visa extensions are quite complex. Therefore, the associations propose that the Vietnamese Government should promptly study the simplification of documentation and procedures.
In fact, on March 18, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son stated that the management agency is negotiating with many countries on reciprocal visa exemptions. Besides the 13 countries that have unilaterally exempted visas for Vietnam, we are also negotiating with 15 countries to implement reciprocal visa exemptions, creating more “smooth” entry and exit conditions. If the expectations are met, Vietnamese citizens will be able to freely travel to 28 countries without the need for a visa.
