From November 1, Japan issues e-visas for Vietnamese tourist groups

The Embassy of Japan in Hanoi and the Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City will issue electronic visas (e-visas) to Vietnamese tourist groups from November 1. At the same time, the issuance of traditional visas (pasted into passports) is still carried out normally by Japanese representative agencies and is still valid.

Under the new policy, Vietnamese citizens participating in package tours through designated travel companies (or other authorized agents) will be granted e-visas.

The announcement on the website of the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam said that the type of visa issued electronically is for short-term stay, single entry for tourism purposes within 15 days and is only issued to Vietnamese passport holders living in Vietnam.

Visa applicants need to present at the airport a "Visa issuance notice" displayed on their mobile phone screen, so an Internet connection is required.

Japanese immigration authorities do not accept PDF data, screenshots, or printed hard copies. The issuance of e-visas is being implemented gradually among designated travel agencies that organize package tours.

Initially, the new policy does not apply to independent travelers but is applied to authorized companies, and will later apply to designated companies.

According to travel companies, the new policy makes it easier to apply for group visas and will certainly attract more tourists, especially at the end of the year.

Recently, the number of Vietnamese tourists traveling to Japan has increased rapidly right after the country opened its doors to tourism. Tours to Japan are always "hot" tours, however, this country has also applied some stricter changes in visa application documents.

Although there is no interview required when applying for a Japanese tourist visa, there are still some cases where the embassy or consulate general randomly checks information related to the application and documents over the phone. Many people do not have a clear understanding of the information and answer incorrectly, so their visas are not granted or their approval is stopped.

"The visa rejection rate for this reason is quite high. Most visa applicants who authorize a service often have little information about the trip," explained the director of a tourism business.

According to the Japan Tourism Agency in Vietnam, in September 2023, the number of Vietnamese visitors to Japan reached 43,000, still up 12.2% over the same period in 2019 and up 39.3% over the same period in 2022.

In the first 9 months of the year, the number of Vietnamese visitors to Japan reached 439,600, an increase of 16.9% over the same period in 2019, and promises to soon reach and exceed the level of the whole year of 2019, the level before the COVID-19 pandemic.