Vietnam eyes expansion of eligible countries for e-visa issuance

Vietnam currently offers 30-day single-entry e-visas for citizens from 80 countries and territories, including major economies such as Australia, India, the U.K. and the U.S.

The government also instructed the Ministry of Public Security to simplify e-visa procedures to help foster tourism.

Though Vietnam allows quarantine-free entry and resumed pre-pandemic e-visa and visa exemption policies on March 15, the number of foreign visitors has remained disappointing.

In the first seven months of the year there were only 733,000 foreign arrivals, or 15 percent of this year's target.

Vietnam's target for this year of five million visitors is only equivalent to 30 percent of the pre-pandemic number.