Previously, the policy was subject to annual renewal. The current exemptions would have expired in June this year.
Tourists from five European countries – Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom – will continue to receive 15-day Vietnam visa exemptions for the next three years, as reported by VnExpress. This came to light during an exchange between the media and government officials at a press conference held last month.
"Following recommendations from the Vietnam Tourism Association (VTA), the Prime Minister [Nguyen Xuan Phuc] decided to continue [the] visa waivers," Mai Tien Dung, a minister and Chairman of the Office of the Government, said in Vietnamese at the conference.
"In 2015, there were 720,000 tourists from Western Europe; this figure increased to 855,000 in 2016, and in 2017 this number was 1.5 million," he continued.
Over 4.2 million international visitors arrived in Vietnam during the first quarter of this year, representing a significant increase of 30.9% compared to the same period last year, according to statistics from the National Administration of Tourism.
"Regarding proposals for staying periods to be increased from 15 to 30 days, alongside with proposals to extend visa waivers to more countries, the Prime Minister will further review them. Today, he has only approved granting visa waivers to those five European nations for three years, starting from July 1, 2018," Dung added in response to a question from Bao Du Lich at the conference.
This means the exemptions will be extended until July 2021. The program was renewed for one year in June 2017, so it would have expired at the end of this June. Currently citizens of 46 countries are eligible to use Vietnam's e-visa portal, with the UAE, Australia, India and more added last year.
[Photo via Vietnam Insider]
