Do Hong Kong passport holders need a visa for Vietnam?

Hong Kong SAR passport holders need a visa to visit Vietnam for tourism. BN(O) passport holders also need a visa: the exemption for British citizens does not cover the BN(O) passport. If you are planning a trip from Hong Kong, start with the passport you will actually use for travel, then match your visa application to that document.

Vietnam's e-visa is available to citizens of all countries and territories. It allows a stay of up to 90 days, with single-entry and multiple-entry options. For most readers planning a mainland holiday, the useful question is therefore how to prepare the correct application. This guide walks through that decision without assuming that every Hong Kong resident holds the same passport.

Start with your travel document#

Living in Hong Kong and holding a Hong Kong passport are different things. Read the type of passport on your own document before following advice intended for another traveller. A friend's visa experience can be a useful reminder to prepare, but it does not establish the requirements for your passport or your itinerary.

If you hold both an HKSAR passport and a BN(O) passport, decide which one you will use for this journey before entering the application details. Keep that passport beside you while completing the form. The name, passport number and other identity details on the issued e-visa must match the passport exactly; using information from two different documents makes that check unnecessarily difficult.

For the broader overview, see our Vietnam visa guide for Hong Kong citizens. If your travel document is different, tell us its type when asking for help instead of describing it simply as a Hong Kong passport.

Choose an option around the whole journey#

An e-visa can cover a stay of up to 90 days and can allow single or multiple entry. Think about the entire journey, including any plan to leave Vietnam and return. A simple itinerary that stays in Vietnam throughout raises different entry questions from a trip that includes another country before coming back.

Write down your intended entry and exit dates, then mark every planned crossing of the Vietnamese border. This gives you a clear basis for comparing options. Do not choose a longer stay or a different entry type just because the label sounds more flexible: choose the option that corresponds to your actual plans and check the dates shown on the final document.

Our e-visa overview explains the available entry options. Keep the duration and number of entries as separate checks. A longer validity period is not, by itself, a reason to assume that a single-entry document permits repeated arrivals.

Understand the Phu Quoc exception#

Foreigners arriving directly at Phu Quoc through its international airport or seaport may stay visa-free for up to 30 days if they stay on Phu Quoc. Travel to mainland Vietnam requires a visa. This is an itinerary-specific exception, not a general visa exemption for Hong Kong passport holders visiting the whole country.

Read your route from beginning to end before relying on this arrangement. A holiday that includes Phu Quoc and a mainland stop needs a different visa discussion from an island-only stay. When contacting us, share the arrival route and any onward plans so that the conversation is about your actual journey.

Avoid turning an island exception into a shortcut for a different itinerary. If you intend to explore mainland Vietnam, prepare the relevant visa instead of treating the name of your first holiday destination as the only detail that matters.

Gather the documents before opening the form#

Your passport needs at least six months of validity from your intended entry date, with blank pages. Prepare a scan of its biographical page and a recent portrait photo in a 4×6 cm style: white background, front-facing and without glasses. Keep the images together with your itinerary information so you can review the application as one set.

You also need your entry and exit dates, intended port of entry, address in Vietnam and email address. The port matters: travellers must use the port chosen in the application and a port permitted for e-visa holders. Check the permitted-port list on the official portal when preparing the application rather than relying only on the destination name in a booking.

A short preparation checklist is easier to use than several scattered messages:

• The passport you will carry, with validity and blank pages checked.
• A clear passport bio-page scan and a recent portrait photo.
• Intended entry and exit dates, plus the entry port.
• Your address in Vietnam and the email address for the application.

See the full document requirements before you submit.

Separate government fees from service prices#

The government e-visa fee is US$25 for single entry or US$50 for multiple entry, and is non-refundable. Those figures describe the government charge. When comparing an assistance service, read its total price and what it includes so that you are comparing the same thing.

Our pricing page lists service options and their included government fee. Check the entry type, processing option and currency together. Saving a note of the selected option is a practical way to keep your application and your cost comparison aligned, especially if several family members are organising their own travel.

Leave room for processing and a final check#

Official processing is about three working days after a complete application. Peak periods and holidays, including Tết, Golden Week and Christmas, can make it longer. Treat that timing as a planning guide and leave room for preparation and checking, rather than counting backwards to the latest possible moment.

Once issued, the e-visa comes as a PDF to print or show on arrival. Open it and compare the details against your passport and journey before departure. Check the identity details carefully instead of assuming that receiving a file means every entry is correct. Keep the PDF somewhere you can find easily alongside your other travel documents.

You can apply through the official Vietnam e-visa portal, or use our private application assistance service. We help you organise and check the documents; we are not the Vietnamese government. If you would like help choosing your next step, send us your passport type and intended dates first.