Arrival in Vietnam

All visitors must complete an Entry/exit Card. This should be submitted together with passport and visa to the Immigration Department officials at the point of entry. The Exit portion will be torn off and returned to the visitor, who should retain this for presentation upon departure. It is a good idea to staple this into your passport on the page that has your visa stamp.

Customs procedures

All visitors must complete a Customs Declaration Form. Both the copy and the original will be stamped. The Customs officers will retain the original copy while the copy (so called yellow paper) will be given back to the visitor, who must submit it upon departure.

hese forms will be passed to you on your flight to Vietnam . Every form asks for your contact address in Vietnam .

Airport Departure Tax

There is a international departure tax of US$ 14 in Saigon and US$ 14 in Hanoi . Domestic departure taxes are included in air fare.

Getting There & Away

Ho Chi Minh City's (Saigon) Tan Son Nhat Airport is Vietnam 's busiest international air hub, followed by Hanoi 's Noi Bai Airpot. A few international flights also serve Danang. Singapore, Hongkong, Bangkok have emerged as the principle embarkation points for Vietnam but it's still possible to get direct flights from a number of major Asian and European cities and a few American, Australian cities. Departure tax is US$14 in Hanoi and 14 US $ in Saigon, which can be paid in Vietnam Dong or US dollars.

There are currently six border crossings for travellers coming to Vietnam, but more may open soon. All crossing points suffer from heavy policing and often requests for 'immigration fees'.

For getting to from China, it's become very popular to cross the border at Friendship Pass or Dong Dang, 20km (12mi) north of Lang Son in northeast Vietnam , to get to/from Namning. There is a twice-weekly international train between Beijing and Hanoi that stops at Friendship Pass. The other popular border crossing with China is at Lao Cai (near Sapa) in northwest Vietnam, which lies on the railway line between Hanoi and Kunming in China 's Yunnan Province. There's also a seldom used crossing at Mong Cai, Quang Ninh Province.

It's possible to enter Laos from Lao Bao in north-central Vietnam; there's an international bus from Danang to Savannakhet ( Laos ). The other crossing is at Keo Nua Pass/Cau Treo, west of Vinh.

The only crossing to Cambodia is via Moc Bai; an international bus links Phnom Penh with Ho Chi Minh City .