What is the  Vietnam Pre-Arrival Declaration?

Vietnam’s online pre-arrival declaration, filed on the Immigration Department’s own portal, where it is called Pre-Arrival Information.

• Passport, trip, and stay details, filed online before you land — the portal says it is there to cut waiting time at the immigration area
• It does not replace the temporary residence registration for foreigners; the portal’s own legal notice says so

Both lists come from an airport immigration office’s own announcement, not from a national text — we looked for a law, decree, or circular behind this system and found none published. Read the transit line narrowly, too: it covers passengers who never go through entry formalities. Clear immigration and travel on, and the official form treats that as an entry, with Transit as one of its purposes.

3 days

The Ministry of Public Security says within three days before entry, and the form itself offers only three arrival dates: today, tomorrow, or the day after. That the arrival day counts is spelled out by the US Embassy in Vietnam, not by Vietnam.

Missed it? The only consequence Vietnam states is that not declaring in advance may lengthen processing at the border. The US Embassy in Vietnam adds that the declaration is also available on arrival, by QR code or on paper at the airport — Vietnam has not repeated that.

1. Open prearrival.immigration.gov.vn and pick your language
2. Choose to create and submit a declaration, clear the CAPTCHA, then choose your nationality
3. Fill in Passenger Information, check the box saying you have read and understood the visa notes, then fill in Trip Information
4. Review, check the box saying the information is correct, and submit
5. Enter the six-digit code emailed to you — then save the QR code and your PAI Number

Three things on the portal stay with you however you get there: the CAPTCHA at the entrance, the six-digit code it emails you, and the Submit button at the end.

Rather not type it all out? visayes fills in the official form under your supervision — you review it, submit it yourself, and pay only after the official government site confirms it has your submission.

Something you filed is wrong

“Lookup & Update Declaration” on the portal — view, edit, or resubmit

Getting back in

Your PAI Number and passport number, then a code emailed to you

Lost the PAI Number

Look it up with your passport number, email, and arrival date

Never pay a third party to “fix” it.

prearrival.immigration.gov.vn

If the address bar does not say prearrival.immigration.gov.vn, you are not on the Immigration Department’s declaration site. The Ministry of Public Security calls that address the one and only link and warns that fake copies of it exist; Vietnam’s embassies add that you should not use third-party sites that ask you to pay for the declaration.

Every official instruction we found gives only the web address and a QR code; none of them mentions an app. The ones we found in the app stores are not the government’s — one of them says so itself.

Is it free?

The official form has no payment step and never asks for card details — which is also how you tell it from the fake copies the Ministry of Public Security has warned about.

Is it a visa?

No. The Ministry of Public Security says the system is not used to review or grant visas, and Vietnam runs its e-visa applications on separate government sites.

Just transiting?

An airport immigration office lists passengers who only transit, without going through entry formalities, as not covered. Clear immigration and fly on, and the form treats that as an entry with Transit as its purpose.

Family trip?

One submission can carry several travelers: the official form has an Add Passenger button. The portal itself states no limit on how many.

How current is this?

The last change we recorded on the official Pre-Arrival Information portal was 3 Sep 2026.