Border control at Vietnam airports: what happens to travellers and their data

Arriving: the steps at the border

Foreign visitors usually clear immigration at a staffed counter, where officers stamp the passport. Autogates, which do not stamp passports, were not open to arriving foreign visitors as of May 2024 ⁵.

The Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security started a pilot of its Pre-arrival Information (PAI) system for foreign passengers at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on 15 April 2026. Passengers can file trip details online within three days before arrival, so officers can analyse the data and process entry faster ⁷.

In the first 15 days, 161,596 passengers opened the system and 119,854 completed a declaration. The pilot was voluntary. The department said some declarations failed when flight codes did not match airline PNR data ⁷.

The department said on 11 May 2026 that it would roll PAI out nationwide and study its use at land border gates ⁷. How far the rollout had gone by 19 October 2026 was not confirmed in the sources reviewed for this guide.

Entry permission: e-visa, visa exemption and fees

On 14 August 2023 the government issued Resolution No. 127/NQ-CP, which extended e-visas to citizens of all countries and territories. It took effect on 15 August 2023. The same change lengthened the e-visa from a maximum of 30 days with single entry to a maximum of 90 days with single or multiple entry ¹.

E-visa holders must enter and leave through designated border gates. The 2023 resolution listed 13 airports, 16 land border gates and 13 seaports. The airports are Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, Cam Ranh, Da Nang, Cat Bi, Can Tho, Phu Quoc, Phu Bai, Van Don, Tho Xuan, Dong Hoi, Phu Cat and Lien Khuong ¹.

The fee is paid through the e-payment gateway of the e-visa portal and is not refunded if the visa is refused ².

Under Resolution No. 44/NQ-CP of 7 March 2025, citizens of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland can stay up to 45 days without a visa. The exemption runs from 15 March 2025 to 14 March 2028, for any passport type or purpose of entry ³.

Resolution No. 229/NQ-CP of 8 August 2025 grants 45-day visa-free tourist stays to citizens of Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. It runs from 15 August 2025 to 14 August 2028 ⁴.

Vietnam has visa exemption agreements with over 90 countries. Foreigners flying to Phu Quoc island can stay up to 30 days without a visa ³. Where a treaty exempts visas but sets no stay, the default stay is 30 days ². A decree of 8 August 2025 created visa waivers for special categories such as invited guests, scientists and investors ⁴.

Biometrics and autogates

The Immigration Department put autogates into use at Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, Da Nang and Cam Ranh airports on 1 August 2023, and at Phu Quoc from 15 August 2023 ⁶.

Each gate has two stages. First the passenger scans the passport photo page and boarding pass. Then the gate takes a portrait photo and scans fingerprints. Passports are not stamped. The process takes about 30 seconds, against 2 to 4 minutes at a counter ⁵.

As of May 2024 all Vietnamese citizens could use the gates to enter. On departure they were open only to diplomatic and official passport holders and flight crew. Foreign nationals with permanent or temporary residence cards could use them to leave after registering. The department said it planned to open the gates to other groups of foreign visitors ^5,6.

Vietnamese citizens with chip passports do not need to register. Those with older passports must register first ⁶.

Passenger data: API and PNR

Decree No. 27/2011/ND-CP, signed on 9 April 2011 and in force from 1 June 2011, governs advance passenger information for flights into Vietnam. Airlines supply flight details and each passenger's and crew member's name, sex, date of birth, nationality and travel document details at the time of check-in ⁸.

Agencies allowed to use the data include the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, airport authorities, the Immigration Department and border gate police under the Ministry of Public Security, and customs supervision and anti-smuggling units under the Ministry of Finance ⁸.

The decree requires airline business data and personal details to be kept secret. Receiving agencies may not pass API data to others without consent from the airline that supplied it ⁸. Whether later rules have replaced this decree was not confirmed in the sources reviewed for this guide.

The PAI pilot matches traveller declarations against airline PNR data, as shown by the failed matches the department reported ⁷.

Watch lists and checks

The 2011 decree names the customs anti-smuggling investigation department among the users of passenger data ⁸. The PAI system lets immigration officers analyse traveller data before arrival ⁷. Published lists of entry bans were not found in the sources reviewed for this guide.

Your data: the law and how to ask for records

Vietnam's Law No. 91/2025/QH15 on Personal Data Protection was passed by the National Assembly on 26 June 2025 and took effect on 1 January 2026 ⁹.

Decree No. 13/2023/ND-CP, the earlier personal data decree, is being replaced. The Ministry of Public Security regulates and enforces the data rules through its Department for Cybersecurity and High-tech Crime Prevention and Fighting, known as A05. Data subjects may withdraw consent at any time ⁹.

The same ministry runs immigration through its Immigration Department ^5,9. The pages reviewed for this guide did not state how long e-visa, autogate or PAI records are kept.

Who runs the systems

The Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security runs border checks, autogates and the PAI system ^5,7. The government issues visa policy through resolutions, such as Resolutions 127, 44 and 229 ^1,34.

Under the 2011 decree, customs units under the Ministry of Finance and the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam receive advance passenger information alongside immigration ⁸.