DECISION

ON THE PROMULGATION OF THE REGULATION ON VISA EXEMPTION FOR VIETNAMESE RESIDING OVERSEAS

PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on the Organisation of the Government dated December 25, 2001;
Pursuant to the Ordinance on the Immigration and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam dated April 28, 2000;
At the request of the Ministers of Public Security and Foreign Affairs,

DECIDES

Article 1. Promulgate the Regulation on Visa Exemption for Vietnamese Residing Overseas.

Article 2. The decision will come into force on September 01, 2007.

Article 3. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of governmental agencies and chairmen of the people’s committee of provinces and central-level cities are responsible for implementing this decision./.

REGULATION

ON VISA EXEMPTION FOR VIETNAMESE RESIDING OVERSEAS
(Attached to Decision No 135/2007/QD-TTg dated August 17, 2007 by the Prime Minister)

Article 1: Individuals entitled to visa exemption 

Vietnamese residing overseas and foreigners who are spouses and offspring of Vietnamese citizens or Vietnamese residing overseas are entitled to visa exemption if they meet following requirements:

1. Foreign passports or passport-equivalent documents (referred hereby as passports) are valid for at least six months since the date of entry. In cases Vietnamese residing overseas does not have a passport, he/she must have residence permit issued by foreign authorities and valid for at least six months since the date of entry.

2. Visa exemption document is issued by Vietnamese competent agencies.

Article 2:Individuals not entitled to visa exemption

1. Do not meet the conditions prescribed in Article 1

2. Those who are “not entitled to enter Vietnam” in accordance with Paragraph 1, Article 8 of the Ordinance on Immigration and Residence of foreigners in Vietnam in following cases:

a. Using false documents and deliberately making false declarations when applying for entry into Vietnam;

b. For purposes of epidemics prevention;

c. Having seriously violated Vietnamese laws during their previous entries;

d. For reasons of protecting the national security or other special reasons as decided by the Minister of Public Security.

Article 3.Visa exemption document

1. Authorized agencies to issue visa exemption documents are:

- Vietnamese representative missions overseas;

- The Immigration Department, Ministry of Public Security.

2. Visa exemption documents are valid within 5 years and expire at least 6 months before the expiration date of passports or residence permits issued by foreign authorities.

3. Visa exemption document is issued for each individual. Visa exemption document for children under 14 years old travelling on parental passports is issued attached to the parental passports.

4. Authorized agencies shall issue visa exemption documents within 07 working days since receipt of eligible application dossier.

5. Holders of visa exemption documents shall pay a fee for application processing in accordance with regulations of the Ministry of Finance.

Article 4. Application dossier of visa exemption document comprised of:

1. Foreign passport or residence permit issued by foreign authorities in cases applicants do not have foreign passports and a copy of this document for the purpose of archiving.

2. A document proving that the applicant is a Vietnamese residing overseas in accordance with Vietnamese laws or international treaties, to which Vietnam is a party; or any document that helps assume the original nationality or Vietnamese nationality of the applicant. In cases the applicant does not have any documents to prove that he/she is a Vietnamese residing overseas, he/she may present a guarantee document of Vietnamese associations in his/her residing country or of other Vietnamese citizens showing that the applicant is a Vietnamese residing overseas.

Foreigners who are husbands, wives or offspring of the Vietnamese residing overseas or Vietnamese citizens shall present documents proving their relationship with Vietnamese residing overseas or Vietnamese citizens (marriage certificate, birth certificate, or documents certifying the parental relationship and other valid documents in accordance with Vietnamese laws).

3. In cases the applicant has no document as prescribed in paragraph 2 of this Article, he/she may present documents issued by foreign competent authorities, which write that the applicant has the Vietnamese original nationality or of Vietnamese origin, to Vietnamese competent agencies for considering and granting visa exemption documents.

4. Application form for visa exemption document (as provided)

Article 5.Revocation of visa exemption documents

1. Holders of visa exemption document, if later on found out not to meet the requirements prescribed in Article 2 of the Regulation, will have their visa exemption documents revoked.

2. Vietnamese representative missions overseas are authorized to revoke visa exemption documents of holders residing overseas. The Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security, Immigration Control Units of the Ministry of Defence (Border Guards) at border check-points are authorized to revoke visa exemption documents to those who are temporarily residing in Vietnam or at the border checkpoints.

3. Application fee is not refunded in cases of revocation of visa exemption documents.

Article 6. Duration of temporary residence in Vietnam

 Individuals entering Vietnam on visa exemption documents are allowed to stay up to 90 days for each entry. Those who wish to stay for more than 90 days shall apply for visas in accordance with existing regulations before or after entering Vietnam.

Article 7. Implementation

1. The Ministry of Public Security, in coordination with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defence, is responsible for implementing the Regulation. The Ministry of Public Security is responsible for issuing a format for visa exemption document, application form and guarantee document after consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall notify foreign representative missions in Vietnam and, in coordination with the Ministry of Transportation and Communication, notify international airlines to create favourable conditions for visa exemption document holders to travel to Vietnam.

3. The Ministry of Finance is responsible for issuing guidelines on the collection, surrender and use of application fees.

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