The Vietnamese government has announced a 2-year pilot plan to launch an electronic visa system for foreign tourists visiting the country.

Tourists in Quang Nam Province’s My Son Sanctuary. Photo by Ha Phuoc Thanh/VnExpress Photo Contest

Under a government directive released on Wednesday, citizens from 40 countries will be eligible to apply for the e-visas starting on February 1.  Included on the list are China, Japan, South Korea, the USA, the UK, Germany and Sweden, all major target markets for Viet Nam’s tourism sector. For the full list of eligible nationalities, click here.

Applicants are required to complete a form available on 2 separate websites (one in Vietnamese and the other in English) run by the Ministry of Public Security. They will receive an application code and will be asked to pay a non-refundable fee online.

It will take 3 working days for tourists to find out if their applications have been approved or not, according to the directive.

Successful applicants will be able to print off their e-visas to present when they arrive.

Visitors can touch down at any of Viet Nam's 8 international airports, including Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City, Noi Bai in Ha Noi and Da Nang in the central region.  They can also arrive via land at 13 international border gates, and via sea at 7 ports across the country.

In November last year, Viet Nam’s National Assembly overwhelmingly approved the plan to allow foreign visitors to apply online for 30-day, single-entry e-visas.

Apart from visa exemptions for tourists from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Viet Nam offers 15-day visa exemptions for visitors from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Belarus.

Tourism authorities are expecting to receive 11.5 million foreign arrivals this year, up 15% against 2016.

(Source: VnExpress/International)