Vietnam has expanded its digital arrival card to two of its busiest gateways, Hanoi (Noi Bai) and Da Nang, joining Ho Chi Minh City and Phu Quoc. If you are an Indian traveller heading to Vietnam in 2026, you can now complete part of your immigration formalities online before you board, and walk off the plane with a QR code instead of a paper slip to fill at the counter. One thing has not changed, and it is the part most travellers get wrong: the arrival card is not a visa. Indian passport holders still need a valid Vietnam visa to enter.
Here is exactly what the update means, how to complete the card correctly, and where it fits alongside your Vietnam visa.
The digital arrival card, officially called the Pre-Arrival Information (PAI) system, is a free online declaration run by Vietnam’s Immigration Department under the Ministry of Public Security. You submit your passport, flight, and accommodation details on the official portal up to three days (72 hours) before you land. Once it is approved, the system issues a QR code that you save on your phone or print, and present at immigration if asked.
It replaces the old paper arrival slip that travellers used to fill out after landing. The goal is simple: let officers pull up your details electronically so the queue moves faster, especially during peak holiday arrivals when several international flights land together.
The official portal is prearrival.immigration.gov.vn. The form is free. Be careful of look-alike third-party websites that charge a fee to “submit” the arrival card for you, there is no need to pay anyone for this step.
The PAI system now covers four international airports. Vietnam launched it at Ho Chi Minh City in April 2026 and has been extending it gateway by gateway since:
Between them, these handle the overwhelming majority of arrivals from India. Because Vietnam is rolling this out in stages and the exact rules at each gateway are still settling, the safest approach is to complete the card before you fly regardless of your arrival airport, and check the current status for your entry point on the official portal a day or two before departure. Filling it out when it is not strictly required costs you nothing; arriving without it when it is required can mean a slower passage through immigration.
This is the single most important point for Indian travellers, so we will be blunt about it. The digital arrival card does not give you the right to enter Vietnam. Your visa does. The two are completely separate steps handled by different systems.
Vietnam does not offer visa-free entry to Indian passport holders. India is not on Vietnam’s 45-day visa-exemption list, which means every Indian traveller needs a valid visa before boarding, whatever the purpose or length of the trip. Your main options are:
A common and costly mistake is assuming a US, UK, or Schengen visa lets you skip the Vietnam visa. It does not. You still need a Vietnam e-Visa or VOA.
If you would rather not navigate name-matching rules, entry-port selection, and photo specifications yourself (the small errors that most often delay Indian e-Visa approvals), our visa desk handles Vietnam visas end to end. You can reach our visa team for Vietnam visa support and we will get the documentation right the first time.
The process takes a few minutes. Here is the sequence:
Each traveller, including children, needs their own QR code linked to their own passport. So a family of four completes four separate forms.
For travellers flying from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and other Indian metros, this is a small but genuinely useful upgrade. Vietnam has become one of the fastest-growing destinations for Indian holidaymakers, and flights from India tend to land in clusters, which is exactly when immigration queues build up. Submitting your information before departure rather than scribbling a form after a five-hour flight means less time standing in line and more time starting your trip.
It also reflects a wider shift across Asia, where countries are moving arrival paperwork online before passengers even board. Thailand and Cambodia have introduced similar pre-arrival tools. Getting comfortable with the pattern now will serve you well across the region.
The practical takeaway for your Vietnam trip planning is a clean three-step order: visa first, flights and hotels next, arrival card last (in the final 72 hours). Sort the visa well ahead, because it has the longest lead time and is the one document that can actually stop you from boarding.
We have been arranging Southeast Asia holidays for Indian families and couples for over a decade, and Vietnam, with Halong Bay, Hanoi’s old quarter, Da Nang’s beaches and the Hoi An lanterns, is one of the trips our Southeast Asia desk is asked about most. When you book your Vietnam package with us, the visa and the arrival logistics are not an afterthought you handle alone at midnight before your flight; they are part of the plan.
A few specifics worth knowing:
As an IATA-accredited agency with 334+ five-star Google reviews, we are not the cheapest option, and we do not try to be. What you get is one coordinator from quote to homecoming, and someone reachable on WhatsApp if anything needs sorting while you are on the ground in Vietnam.
Planning Vietnam for this year? WhatsApp our Southeast Asia desk on +91 99597 77776 with your travel dates and group size, and we will send a custom Vietnam quote with the visa handled for you.
Yes. Vietnam does not offer visa-free entry to Indian passport holders. Every Indian traveller needs a valid visa, most commonly the e-Visa (US$25 single entry, valid up to 90 days), applied for online before travel. A visa on arrival with a pre-approved letter is also available for air arrivals.
No. The digital arrival card (Pre-Arrival Information) is only an immigration declaration that generates a QR code to speed up your entry. It does not grant entry. You still need a separate, valid Vietnam visa.
As of June 2026 the system covers four international airports: Ho Chi Minh City (Tan Son Nhat), Phu Quoc, Hanoi (Noi Bai) and Da Nang. Vietnam is expanding the rollout in stages, so complete the card before you fly and confirm the current status for your airport on the official portal.
You can submit it within three days (72 hours) of your scheduled arrival. The portal will not accept earlier submissions. Complete it before leaving for the airport and save the QR code offline.
No. The arrival card is free on the official government portal, prearrival.immigration.gov.vn. Any website charging a fee to submit it is a third-party reseller, not the official channel.
No. Holding a US, UK, Canada, Australia or Schengen visa does not exempt Indian passport holders from needing a Vietnam visa. You must still obtain a Vietnam e-Visa or visa on arrival.
Yes. Our visa desk processes Vietnam e-Visas for Indian travellers as part of a package or as a standalone service, and we handle the details (name matching, entry-port selection, photo specs) that cause most independent applications to be delayed.
Last updated: 18 June 2026 (IST). Entry rules and the rollout of Vietnam’s Pre-Arrival Information system can change at short notice. Always confirm the current requirement for your arrival airport on the official portal, prearrival.immigration.gov.vn, before you travel.
