“I have a Cambodian friend, who is an exchange student in Japan for 1 year. Next month, he will come back to his country. However, before that, he plans to travel to Vietnam for 4 days. In this case, where should he apply for a visa, at Vietnamese Embassy in Japan or at airports? If so, which documents are required?”

Currently, there has been a visa exemption agreement for ordinary passport holders signed by Vietnamese Government and the Kingdom of Cambodia on 04 November 2008, taking effect from 05 December 2008. Accordingly, citizens of visa-exempted countries are allowed to enter and stay within 30 days if their ordinary passports are valid for at least 06 months from the date of entry.

In this case, your friend wants to travel to Vietnam for 04 days; thus, he meets the requirements about the duration of stay. You didn’t provide us information about his passport validity, so two cases can occur as follows.

 It’s valid at least 06 months left from the date of entry

Your friend already meets the visa exemption requirements, so he just shows his passport to the custom officer at the airport on arrival.

It’s valid under 06 months left from the date of entry

In this case, he must apply for a visa via an inviting agency, organization or individual in Vietnam, who will directly send a notice to the Immigration Department to process his application.

After receiving a reply from the Department, they will inform your friend to get visa at Vietnamese Embassy in Japan (According to Article 16, Law No. 47/2014/QH13). At that time, the followings must be brought along:

- 01 visa application form with a 4x6cm photo stamped, can be applied online via the website: http://visa.mofa.gov.vn or done directly on paper form;

- Valid passport or other travel document

- Approval Letter issued by the Immigration Department

Besides, if he enters Vietnam in a tour organized by an international travel agency in Vietnam, he will be granted a visa at Vietnamese international border gates according to the provisions of Item C, Clause 1, Article 18 of Law No. 47/2014/QH13. In this case, his documents must include:

- 01 visa application form with 4x6 cm photo stamped;

- Valid passport or other travel document

The immigration officer at the international border gate will compare those with the Immigration Department's notice to issue a visa to your friend.