Hi All–
I am headed to Vietnam tomorrow from Phnom Phen and just got my e-visa. I realized that I put Hanoi as my Port of entry, failing to realize my plane had a stopover in HCMC. Anybody know if this will be an issue. I found a handful of posts saying they had no issues with a different entry point, but all from pre-pandemic times. I know lots of immigration / tourism stuff has gotten stricter so I wanted to see if anybody ran into this issue more recently, say in the last year or so.
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> But with the through ticket, I’m not so sure about that.
If you book the flight on vietnamairlines.com, you’ll get a flight into the INTERNATIONAL terminal at SGN followed by a flight out of the DOMESTIC terminal. @TrailBlazer can check with the airline, but it’s hard to see how it’s other than pass immigration on arrival at SGN since the plane isn’t segregated. Of course, you could just have flown direct with Air Asia and saved the worry.
Michael P
The general rule of thumb for international ait-travel is that you clear immigration at your first point of entry.
So, if you fly into HCMC from Phnom Penh you would clear in HCMC. But with the through ticket, I’m not so sure about that. 🤔🤔🤔
==============
Its the same. The wife and I have done a fair number of through tickets flights i.e. to Hanoi and then on the HCMC. Immigration and customs is always done in Hanoi. If one is on a through flight, one is given a sticker to wear. Then its follow my leader i.e. airline staff, for immigration and then on to customs. Bags are collected again at that point and get loaded onto the next flight. The next flight is treated as a domestic flight and you just walk out the terminal on landing, collecting any bags you might have on the way out.
Edited: 3 years ago
Thanks, these answers are helpful, as I find myself in a very similar situation. I am flying from Kuala Lumpur to Da Nang, Vietnam on Thursday, transiting through Ho Chi Minh, and I made the mistake of putting Da Nang as the port of entry. Luckily, we caught it just in time and are applying for a new evisa. There’s exactly 3 working days to spare, so it should be enough time to get a new evisa.
Edited: 3 years ago
File it away under mysteries of the universe 😉
> In the end, I decided to just preemptively cancel the Vietnam Air
But now we’ll never know what would have happened 🤓
Thanks both for the thoughtful responses! They were very helpful in informing my course of action.
In the end, I decided to just preemptively cancel the Vietnam Air flight and book the direct flight on Cambodia Angkor air that was suggested. A bit of extra $$ is worth the peace of mind (and evens out when I think about the other things I’ve already booked that would be sunk costs if I had to delay to wait for another e-visa).
Appreciate you both 🙂
Yeah, there seems to have been some tightening up and unfortunately, Vietnamese Immigration aren’t great at writing down the rules clearly and unambiguously, nor in answering questions.
I guess you have two options:
1) Ask your Airline (presumably Vietnamese Airlines) if they’ll let you fly and if not, change your flights until later so you can get a new E-Visa
2) Just turn up, and if you’re denied boarding, just buy a direct flight PNH-HAN with Cambodian Angkor Air and use the E-Visa you already have.
If there’s a problem, 1st is maybe cheaper and slower, 2nd more expensive but quicker.
It’s really pretty unsatisfactory that there is any doubt about these things. And, in 2022, what does it matter if you enter at SGN or HAN, it’s all online anyway.
Hello again,
“so I wanted to see if anybody ran into this issue more recently, say in the last year or so.”
Well, Vietnam only reopened to tourists on March 15th, so I’m not sure how many folks here will have had recent experience with this particular issue.
The concensous of opinion on the various travel groups I follow is that your point of entry on the e-visa must be correct. For example: when one files from Bangkok to Hanoi, the e-visa must show Hanoi as the entry point.
The general rule of thumb for international ait-travel is that you clear immigration at your first point of entry.
So, if you fly into HCMC from Phnom Penh you would clear in HCMC. But, with the through ticket, I’m not so sure about that. 🤔🤔🤔
Having said all that: you are pretty much out of options for tomorrow’s flight. I would just go to the airport and see how it goes. As a US passport holder you don’t qualify for a visa exemption (waiver). So, the staff at the airline’s check-in counter will be the gatekeeper and either allow you to board the flight or not.
Your question is very interesting and it would be great if you could come back here and tell us how you make out. Could be very helpful to travellers in a similar situation.
Take care & good luck 🤞🤞🤞
Edited: 3 years ago
Hey Michael–
Thanks for the response.
It is a single ticket booked through with Vietnam Airlines. I hold a US Passport.
Hello,
” I realized that I put Hanoi as my Port of entry, failing to realize my plane had a stopover in HCMC.”
“a stopover”
Are you booked on one single (through) ticket with the same airline?
What passport do you hold?