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Guide

Vietnam E-Visa vs Special Visa Exemption Card for US Citizens

Most US citizens can get Vietnam's 90 day e-visa, but only nominated people can get the 5 year Special Visa Exemption Card. This guide compares fees, eligibility, multiple entries, and the 183 day tax line for each.

Tower karsts in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.
Photo by Jakub Hałun, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Published: 2026-10-16 · Last verified: 2026-10-16 · Numbers apply to US passport holders

Rules change. Confirm the current rules with the official sources linked below before you apply, pay a fee, or book travel around a date in this guide.

The short answer

A US citizen going to mainland Vietnam needs a visa. Vietnam's 45 day visa exemption covers 25 countries, and the United States is not one of them. No bilateral agreement exempts US ordinary passports either. The one exception is Phu Quoc Island: you can stay up to 30 days there without a visa if you fly straight to the island and stay on it. For everyone else, the normal document is the 90 day e-visa (EV).

The Special Visa Exemption Card under Decree 221/2025/ND-CP allows up to 90 days per entry, with multiple entries, for up to 5 years. You cannot apply for it on your own, though. A government agency or organization has to nominate you, and you have to meet benchmarks set in the decree's annexes. For most readers, the card is not something to plan around. The full set of Vietnam routes is on the Vietnam country page.

Side by side: the numbers

The 90 day e-visa

The 90 day e-visa replaced the old 30 day version on August 15, 2023, under Law 23/2023/QH15. Apply only on the official portal, evisa.gov.vn; the second official address is thithucdientu.gov.vn. Many lookalike sites charge a markup on top of the government fee. Processing takes 3 working days, but the portal advises applying at least one to two weeks before you travel, in case you need to make corrections.

Single or multiple entry: the 90 day limit is the same either way. A multiple entry e-visa costs USD 25 more and lets you leave and come back within the dates printed on it. It does not add any days. If you plan side trips to neighboring countries, USD 50 covers your whole 90 day window. If you make one continuous stay, USD 25 is enough.

Cost over a year: a USD 25 single entry e-visa works out to about USD 8.33 per month of stay, and a USD 50 multiple entry e-visa to about USD 16.67 per month. To cover days in Vietnam across a year, you pay the fee once per 90 day stay.

Once you reach day 90, you cannot extend or renew the e-visa. If a Vietnamese agency, organization, or individual sponsors you, you can be granted a new visa without leaving the country (Article 16 of the immigration law, as amended in 2019). Without a sponsor, you must leave and apply for a new e-visa. If immigration instead extends your certified stay, the official fee is USD 10 per filing.

The Special Visa Exemption Card

The government issued Decree 221/2025/ND-CP on August 8, 2025, and it took effect on August 15, 2025. The Immigration Department issues the card in two forms: electronic, or a physical card with a chip. Both forms have the same legal validity. Each time you enter, you receive a temporary residence certificate for 90 days. If the card has fewer than 90 days left, the certificate runs only until the card expires.

Who can be nominated:

There is no income test and no investment threshold. Except for leaders' guests, each category must meet the criteria in Appendix 1 of the decree. You also need a valid passport, and you must not be barred from entering Vietnam or under a temporary exit suspension. The request has to come from a competent ministry, agency, or organization; you cannot send an application yourself. The Immigration Department can cancel the card if you stop meeting the criteria, or if the nominating body notifies it in writing.

Nationality: the decree does not use a country list. It applies to foreigners in the named categories, so a US passport does not exclude you. Your professional standing and the nomination decide eligibility.

Card validity may also be limited by your passport expiry date. If you hold or expect a card, renew your US passport well before it runs short.

After the card expires, you need a new nomination. You can also request a visa, a stay extension, or a temporary residence card in the normal way. The card is the only enacted part of the golden visa package officials discussed in 2025. Vietnam has no digital nomad visa.

Tax residency math

Neither document makes you a resident for immigration purposes, but both put you in Vietnam long enough to reach the tax test. Under Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC, you become a tax resident if any of these applies:

One full 90 day stay does not trigger residency. Two full stays in the same calendar year total 180 days, which is 3 days under the line. On day 3 of a third stay, you reach 183 days and become a tax resident. The 12 month test catches stays that cross a year end. For example, 90 days from October to December plus 90 days from January to March counts as 180 days within 12 months of your first arrival. A third stay before that 12 month window closes would push you over the line.

The lease test can trigger residency even when your day count is low. If you sign leases totaling 183 days or more in the tax year, you can have a regular residence even if you spend fewer days in the country. Card holders are not exempt from any of this: repeated 90 day entries on the card can cross 183 days the same way.

Neither one leads to permanent residence

Time on an e-visa or on the card does not count toward permanent residence. Under Article 39 of the immigration law, Vietnam grants permanent residence in only four cases:

Citizenship requires 5 years or more of permanent residence, counted from the date the permanent residence card is granted, plus Vietnamese language ability and proof of livelihood (Article 19 of the nationality law, as amended in 2025). If you want residence that counts toward these goals, look at the work, investment, family, and study routes on the Vietnam country page.

Before you apply

Confirm the current e-visa fee, processing time, and entry options on evisa.gov.vn just before you apply, and pay only through that portal. The card has no public application route. If you think you fit a Decree 221/2025/ND-CP category, ask the Vietnamese agency or organization that would nominate you to confirm the current criteria with the Immigration Department (xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn). Check your Vietnamese tax position before any calendar year in which you expect to spend more than 180 days in the country.

Country pages

Official sources

Facts in this guide last verified against the sources: 2026-10-16