Visa on Arrival in Vietnam

I arrived in Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City Airport – SGN) in Feb 2020. I availed the Visa on Arrival facility with my Indian Passport. Below are the steps taken:

1. Travel Agent in India got us a visa on arrival approval (apparently you can get this online)
2. Upon arrival, I went to the dedicated visa counter (not the immigration queue). This had a LOOOONG queue … lots of nationalities need visas for Vietnam I guess … there appeared to be a number of Russians and Australians there in the queue.
3. There is a Visa Form to fill (available at the airport)
4. You require two passport sized photos. Now, I didn’t have photos on me. The officer simply asked for “five dollars” — which I assume was a “fine” or a “fee” for a lack of photo.
5. Had to pay USD 25 fees (official).

Got the visa in about 10-15 mins, after submitting the passport. Had to wait in line for about 20 mins before I could submit the passport. So budget for 30-60 mins for the visa on arrival formalities, and don’t forget to take passport sized photos.

Sri Lanka – Free Visa on Arrival

There are many conflicting websites stating that you need to apply for an ETA before going to Sri Lanka, and these websites then offer to help you get that ETA.

In reality, we went to Sri Lanka last week on an Indian passport. No hassles at all. Trip was planned 1 day before leaving – so no time for visa or ETA applications.

We were allowed to board the plane without the need for any visas.

We got a free visa on arrival at the visa counter at Colombo airport (just before immigration, behind the big Buddha statue).

Super easy. This visa was limited to a stay of 30 days.

Singapore E-Visa

Some friends and I visited Singapore as a tourist recently in July 2019. We applied for an e-visa before going. We had taken printouts of the visa with us, but the immigration officers at Singapore didn’t even look at the printouts – I guess our details were on their computers. Though the Indian immigration officers and airline staff usually do want to see a physical visa before they let you leave the country, so you do need to take a printout.

Documents submitted via our travel agent were as follows:

• Passport copy
• Photograph
• Cover letter
• Filled out application form
• Bank Statement of 6 months
• Travel bookings

Easy process. Took about 4 business days to get the visa. We were issued a 1 month multiple entry visa.

Malaysia Business E-Visa

I went to Kuala Lumpur in June 2019 along with 2 colleagues on Business. The visa process was straight forward and handled by our travel agent. We were issued electronic visas (in PDF form). All our documents, including passport, were also submitted in electronic form.

Below documents were submitted:

• Passport scan copy
• Three photos (were send to the embassy by travel agent)
• Air ticket
• Covering letter stating intention of visit
• Invitation letter from client

Straightforward process. Took 4-5 days to complete.

Indonesia Visa on Arrival – Jakarta

I went to Jakarta in June 2019 along with 2 colleagues for a business trip. My wife also went along as a tourist.

For business visa on arrival, we followed the below process:

1. Shortly after leaving the plane, in the terminal there was a Visa on Arrival counter.
2. At counter 1 we paid US $15 per visa for a business visa
3. At counter 2, the officer pasted the visas in our passport and stamped us in
4. We were then allowed to bypass the immigration counters and go straight to baggage claim.

For tourist visa on arrival, my wife followed the below process:

1. She went direct to the immigration counter
2. No questions asked, no money charged
3. Visa stamped in passport and she was waved in

As simple as that.

Thailand E-Visa on Arrival (Update)

We are currently in Phuket and got here on an “E-Visa on Arrival” using our Indian Passports. The process for getting this e-visa was as follows:

1. No more than 30 days before travel, visit this link and fill in the application form: https://thailandevoa.vfsevisa.com/thailand/online/home/index
2. Do online payment for regular service
3. Visa is received via Email after 2-3 working days

I took printouts of this visa and arrived in Phuket.

At the Phuket Airport, I couldn’t go directly to the immigration counter. I had to first go to a separate E-Visa On Arrival counter (adjacent to the normal Visa on Arrival counter). I handed in the passports, arrival card and visa printout.

They took about 15 minutes to process the visa and stamp our passports. 2 or 3 flights had arrived at the same time (from India and China) – so the load on the E-Visa counter was high.

After getting the passport stamp, we had to go through immigration and follow the normal process.

Overall, it was a bit faster than getting a full visa on arrival, but still took some processing time upon arrival.

Dubai on a US Tourist Visa

Earlier this year (2019) I visited the UAE on my US Tourist (B1/B2) Visa. Pretty seamless process. At checkin I wasn’t asked any questions about visa. Indian emigration saw my US visa and waved me through.

On arrival in Dubai, these are the steps:

• Just before entering the immigration queue, there is a counter for Visa on Arrival.
• You have to go there and purchase the visa on arrival – it cost me about AED 120.
• If you go straight to the immigration counter, without purchasing the visa on arrival, they will send you back to purchase it.

Simple. No questions asked. And about half the cost of applying for the visa before traveling.