The Vietnamese immigration department recently announced a reduction in Visa on Arrival fees, applicable from November 23.
- One month single entry visa is now $25USD, down from $45USD.
- Three month multiple entry visa is now $50USD, down from $95USD.
More information can be found on the link above. The official announcement is in Vietnamese, but the link is here.
Certainly much better now, and we can only hope that Australian citizens will be on the list of countries that don't require a visa in the near future!
This will only change when Australia stops charging every other country for an Australian Visa (especially 2nd/3rd world countries).
FYI, Indonesia reviewed adding Australia to its Visa Free list but because we charge Indonesians for a Visa here and we wouldn't review our close neighbors fee, they didnt add us to their nearly blanket world wide list of countries.
Great example, and relevant to this post is that Vietnamese nationals can enter Bali free, but not Australians, Balinese can enter Vietnam as a result for free.
We charge Vietnamese tourists for a Visa, and as a result we are charged there.
Who should stop charging first? Australia.
Why? Because we are a 1st world country and can afford it.