Travel to Vietnam is expected to become slightly cheaper after the Southeast Asian nation on Monday night announced that all foreign visitors — including Taiwanese — are eligible to apply for a multiple-entry electronic visa, of which the validity has been extended to 90 days from 30 days.
The policy took effect yesterday after the National Assembly of Vietnam on June 24 passed amendments to the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam.
Before Taiwan was included in the e-visa program, Taiwanese who traveled to Vietnam needed to have a travel agency file visa applications on their behalf, which only permitted a single entry and was valid for 30 days.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The visa cost NT$1,300 to NT$1,500 per person, but travel agencies charged service fees, with the total cost ranging from NT$2,000 to NT$6,000.
Under the new policy, Taiwanese passport holders pay US$25 for an e-visa, without having to go through a travel agency.
An e-visa would normally be approved in about three work days after an application is submitted at https://dichvucong.bocongan.gov.vn/bocongan/bothutuc/tthc?matt=26277.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security Web site has Vietnamese and English-language versions.
Pin Kuan International Travel Service Co assistant manager Kevin Hsiang (向建倫) said that the new policy would make it more convenient to apply for a tourism visa, but business travelers would benefit the most, as an e-visa allows them to enter the country multiple times.
Visa application fees skyrocketed when Vietnam reopened borders for tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic, but that was only for people on tourist visas who were not part of a group tour, Hsiang said.
People on package tours paid NT$1,300 per person for visas, so the e-visas mean they would save about NT$500, he said.
Vietnamese government data for this year show that 6.6 million international tourists had visited the Southeast Asian nation as of last month, on track to reach its target of 8 million.
Vietnam had 18 million visitors in 2019, with Taiwan its fourth-largest source, the data showed.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS