Visa & Arrival

Important: visa rules change often and depend on your passport. This page only states what the destination guides verified. Anything else is marked not verified — check the official Vietnamese government visa pages and your embassy before you book.

What the guides say

Phu Quoc — 30-day visa exemption

Phu Quoc is the only place in Vietnam where most foreign visitors can stay visa-free for up to 30 days, arriving by air or sea directly to the island, without passing through the mainland. The exemption does not apply if you arrive via the mainland, and the rules change — check the current conditions for your passport before you book. (Source: Phu Quoc guide; the exemption is also listed as not verified for any specific passport in that guide's Unverified section.)

What you can't bring into Vietnam

Customs rules change, and this page only states what we checked on 6 November 2026. If you are carrying anything unusual, valuable or regulated, check with Vietnam Customs before you fly — the numbers below are the ones in force on that date.

Do not bring these in, in any quantity

Narcotics and illegal drugs, including cannabis in every form. Weapons, ammunition, explosives and military equipment. Fireworks, firecrackers and sky lanterns. Publications and cultural products banned from circulation in Vietnam, including pornographic material. Rhino horn, ivory and other products from protected wildlife without a CITES permit. Fresh or raw animal products in your baggage. Used consumer goods brought in for trade, such as used clothing, electronics and household appliances. E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products — see the vaping note below.

Vapes are banned — leave yours at home

Since 1 January 2025 Vietnam has banned the production, trade, import, storage, transport and use of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, and the ban applies to tourists too. Using one carries a fine of VND 3,000,000–5,000,000 and the device is destroyed. What it costs to simply arrive with a device in your luggage is not verified — no published fine for that was found, but confiscation is the realistic outcome.

Duty-free, for adults aged 18 and over

Under-18s get no alcohol or tobacco allowance at all. For alcohol, pick ONE: 1.5 litres of drinks at 20% alcohol or stronger, or 2 litres of drinks under 20%, or 3 litres of beer. The three do not add up. If a single bottle goes over the limit by no more than 1 litre, the whole bottle is still duty-free. For tobacco, pick ONE: 200 cigarettes, or 20 cigars, or 250 grams of tobacco. Personal effects in quantities that suit your trip are duty-free with no number attached. Everything else — goods that are not banned or conditional — is duty-free up to VND 10,000,000 in total. Allowances do not carry over between trips, and you cannot pool them across travellers, except for family members' personal luggage on the same trip. There is not verified to be a separate duty-free allowance for perfume or cosmetics; as far as the sources go, they fall under the VND 10,000,000 cap.

You must declare

Foreign-currency cash over USD 5,000 (or the same value in another currency), or Vietnamese-dong cash over VND 15,000,000 — two separate thresholds, and the same figures apply when you leave. Traveller's cheques, bank cards and savings books do not count. Even foreign cash of USD 5,000 or less must be declared if you plan to deposit it into a foreign-currency account at a Vietnamese bank. Gold jewellery or gold art totalling 300 grams or more must be declared. Do not bring gold bars or raw gold: a foreign visitor must leave them in a customs warehouse until departure, at their own expense. Cheques, precious metals and gemstones worth VND 300,000,000 or more must also be declared.

Medicine

Carry prescription medicine in your hand luggage with a copy of the prescription, and declare it if it is worth more than USD 100 in total. Without an import licence you may bring up to 30 days of ordinary medicine on prescription (or up to USD 200 in value), up to 7 days of narcotic or addictive medicine, and up to 10 days of psychotropic or precursor medicine. UK government advice is stricter — no more than 7 days of addictive or psychotropic medicine without checking first — so if in doubt, ask the Vietnamese embassy before you travel. Cannabis and THC products, including medical cannabis and CBD oil containing THC, are banned outright.

Food, plants and animals

Fresh or raw animal products in your baggage are prohibited. Processed animal food is allowed up to 5 kg for personal use, subject to animal quarantine at the border. You may bring up to 2 pets, with a veterinary health certificate from your home country, registered with the animal quarantine office on arrival. Whether fresh fruit, seeds and plants need a phytosanitary certificate, and whether ordinary sealed packaged snacks are fine without declaring them, is not verified from an official source — the safe move is to declare anything borderline at the red channel rather than risk confiscation.

On the way out

Vietnamese law restricts the export of antiques, and the rules are vague and unevenly enforced. If you buy anything that might be considered an antique, keep the receipt and get the export paperwork from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism — without it, customs may confiscate the item.

If you break the rules

Vietnam's drug penalties are among the harshest anywhere: heavy fines, jail sentences or the death penalty, and you can face charges even if the drugs were consumed outside Vietnam before arrival. For goods over the duty-free limit that you do not declare, Vietnam Customs says only that they are treated as illegal imports and handled "in accordance with laws" — no fine amounts are published. For anything else, the fine is not verified.

Sources checked 6 November 2026: Vietnam Customs, VisaHQ, Government of Canada travel advice, Singapore MFA and UK FCDO advice. Check the current rules at customs.gov.vn before you travel.

Not verified

• Which passports are visa-exempt for mainland Vietnam, and for how many days — not verified.
• Vietnam e-visa: eligibility, fee, processing time and how to apply — not verified.
• Visa on arrival and approval letters — not verified.
• Airport arrival procedures (immigration, SIM cards) — not verified beyond what the individual guides say about each airport below.

Arrival airports in the guides

In Hanoi

In Ha Long

In Ninh Binh

In Phong Nha

In Hue

In Da Nang

In Nha Trang

In Da Lat

In Ho Chi Minh City

In Can Tho & Mekong Delta

In Phu Quoc