Yes, evisa.gov.vn is legit. It's Vietnam's official e-visa portal, run by the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security, and the government fee it collects, $25 for single entry or $50 for multiple entry, isn't refunded if you're refused.
What throws people is that the same portal also answers at thithucdientu.gov.vn, the UK government and Vietnam's own tourism authority still link to an older address, and plenty of private sites look government-made. Below are the checks you can repeat yourself, how the portal works from photo upload to PDF, and how a private filing service like Vietnam Visa by BDA differs, with the numbers side by side so you can choose.
Who Runs It: Vietnam's Immigration Department
The portal's footer names its operator as the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security, with a Hanoi phone line and a Ho Chi Minh City line. It describes itself as the "Vietnam National Electronic Visa system," built "For foreigners outside Viet Nam applying for an e-Visa personally." Nobody sits between you and Immigration on that site: the whole process is electronic, and you fill in the form, pay the fee and print the e-visa yourself.
The e-visa that Vietnam Immigration issues is a full visa, not a pre-approval or a travel permit. Vietnam's immigration law lists it as its own visa type, coded EV, and it's valid for up to 90 days, single or multiple entry. Resolution 127/NQ-CP opened it to citizens of every country and territory from August 15, 2023. So yes, Australians can get one, and so can everyone else. It's hardly a niche route: Vietnam issued more than four million e-visas in 2025, up over 30% on 2024.
Three Checks You Can Run in a Minute
You don't have to take the portal's word for it, or ours. These checks lean on VNNIC's rules, the portal's own footer and pages run by two foreign governments.
- Read the end of the domain. Vietnam's domain registry, VNNIC, reserves gov.vn for central and local state agencies and organizations. The domain has to end in .gov.vn. A web address that merely contains the words "evisa," "vietnam" or "gov" somewhere else proves nothing.
- Scroll to the footer and match the phone number. The evisa.gov.vn footer lists 024 3825 7941 for Hanoi. That's the same number the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam gives for the Immigration Department's Hanoi office, at 69 Mac Thai To Street.
- Arrive from your own government's page. Canada's travel advice for Vietnam, last updated October 13, 2026, links "Apply for an e-visa" straight to evisa.gov.vn. The U.S. Embassy page points applicants there too, along with the portal's support form.
Check three has one catch: the UK government's page still hasn't caught up with the portal's November 2024 move.
Thithucdientu.gov.vn: The Same Portal Under Its Vietnamese Name
Both addresses belong to Vietnam's Immigration Department. Its own notice says that from 8 a.m. Vietnam time on November 11, 2024, the e-visa portal runs on both domains, and it tells applicants to use those addresses to apply and to check results.
The name isn't a trick, just Vietnamese. Thithucdientu is "thị thực điện tử" without the accents, which means "electronic visa," and a redacted e-visa issued in 2023 carries both versions of the phrase in its heading. The press treats them as a pair too: VnExpress International names evisa.gov.vn and thithucdientu.gov.vn together as the domains of the system the Ministry of Public Security launched. Either address works for applying and for checking your result.
The Old Address: Why Some Government Links Lead to a Notice
Until November 2024 the portal lived at evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn. That address is still online, but it now opens with the Immigration Department's notice sending you to evisa.gov.vn and thithucdientu.gov.vn, and its link for applicants leads to the form on evisa.gov.vn.
Two respected pages, one British and one Vietnamese, still link to it. The UK government's travel advice for Vietnam points its e-visa link there, and so does the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism's e-visa page. Follow either one and you land on the Immigration Department's notice instead of a form, which looks a lot like a broken site or a fake one.
⚠️ An old bookmark isn't a scam, just a dead end. If a link lands you there, type evisa.gov.vn in yourself rather than searching and clicking an ad, because paid ads are one of the tools fraudsters use.
Fake E-Visa Sites: The Warning Signs Authorities Describe
The confusion is real, and the authorities say so. Before the Ministry of Public Security launched the e-visa system on its new domains, the Immigration Department had recorded many fake websites ranking prominently on search engines, according to a Vietnam News Agency report carried by VnExpress International on August 4, 2026.
In the same report, Nguyen Tien Nam, an officer from the Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention, said fraudsters build sites that closely resemble state portals, register misleading domain names or pay for online ads. Their pitch leans on speed and certainty, promising instant results, approval the same day or a sure yes. We don't use any of that language, and you should be wary of anyone who does, because approval is Vietnam Immigration's decision and nobody else's.
Mistakes cost time on the real portal too. In November 2024, officials said many tourists had used unofficial websites or submitted incorrect or incomplete information on the portal, and that both slowed processing.
⚠️ The .gov.vn ending is the test, not the design. A look-alike site can copy a portal's layout and wording. It can't put itself on a .gov.vn domain, which VNNIC reserves for state agencies and organizations. VnExpress International reports that authorities also advise care with personal information and online payments, so check the domain before you upload a passport scan or type a card number.
None of this makes every site outside .gov.vn a scam. Private filing services exist, ours included, and a legitimate one says plainly that it isn't the government, shows the $25 or $50 government fee next to its own price and makes no promise of approval.
How the Portal Works, From Photo Upload to PDF
The portal's English form is stricter than it looks, and each step depends on the one before.
- Upload your portrait and passport data page. The photo must be a recent 4x6 cm image in JPG or JPEG, under 2 MB, front-facing, with no hat, no glasses, formal attire and a white background. The system reads both images, fills in your passport details and won't let you submit if the passport image is invalid, so check every auto-filled field.
- Fill in the form. You give your intended entry date, the validity window you want and your intended border gates. The application form won't accept a window longer than 90 days. Pick the gate you actually plan to use.
- Pay the fee. Payment runs through Vietcombank's electronic payment gateway: choose a method, enter your card details, confirm the terms and verify a one-time password (OTP) from your card issuer. The screen shows the exchange rate and the amount in both USD and VND.
- Write down your e-Visa app no. The portal tells you to note it, because the status check asks for that number, the email you used and your date of birth. There's no search by passport number.
- Download the PDF. By law, Vietnam Immigration has 3 working days to decide once it has the complete application and the fee. Your e-visa is a PDF you download from the portal. Print it and keep a copy on your phone.
The fee is $25 for a single-entry e-visa and $50 for a multiple-entry one, set by Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC, and the portal lists no express option. Nationality doesn't change it, so Indian travelers pay the same as everyone else; our page on Vietnam e-visa rules for Indian citizens covers the rest. Before paying, you tick a declaration that reads: "I am aware that the application fee is not refunded if the application for e-Visa of Viet Nam is denied."
⚠️ A refusal costs you the $25 or $50, and a retry costs it again. Reapplying means a new application and a new fee. When your images are poor or don't match, the form warns "The profile may be rejected" and then lets you carry on anyway. Fix the photo before you pay instead.
How a Private Service Like Vietnam Visa by BDA Differs
Vietnam Visa by BDA is a private company. We're not affiliated with the Vietnamese government, and Vietnam Immigration issues every e-visa, including the ones we file. Our part is preparing, checking and submitting the application to Vietnam Immigration, then following it up. If you'd like to vet BDA the way you just vetted the portal, here's who runs vietnamvisa.govt.vn and how to check us.
The price gap is public. Our 1-month single-entry e-visa is $54 with the $25 government fee inside it, so $29 of that is our service. A 1-month multiple-entry e-visa is $84 against the $50 fee, a $34 difference, and our pricing page sets out our fee next to the government fee.
What the difference buys is a person reading your file before Immigration does. We review each application before it goes to Vietnam Immigration and email you to fix typos, mismatches or photo problems at no extra cost. We also sell speed tiers: Normal is 5 to 10 business days and included, Urgent is 2 business days for $45 more and Super Urgent is 1 business day for $85 more. Those times start when we submit to Vietnam Immigration, normally within 2 business hours of payment. Processing times are set by Vietnam Immigration, and so is the decision. We can file, chase and correct; we can't move an approval up the line or promise you a yes.
Our refund policy, published on the BDA pricing page, is narrower than money back on any refusal. You get a full refund if you cancel within 5 to 10 minutes of applying, if we spot a disqualifying problem before we submit, or if we can't help because we expect Immigration would deny the application, or can't deliver on time. Once Vietnam Immigration issues the e-visa it's non-refundable, and false information or a no-show gets no refund either.
Portal or Private Service: Who Should Use Which
If your paperwork is simple, evisa.gov.vn is the obvious choice, and Vietnam Visa by BDA would rather say so plainly. With a photo that meets the rules, a clear scan of your passport data page, a card that can complete the OTP step and a week or two before your flight, the $25 route works fine.
| What You're Comparing | evisa.gov.vn | Vietnam Visa by BDA |
|---|---|---|
| Who issues the e-visa | Vietnam Immigration | Vietnam Immigration (we file for you) |
| 1-month single entry | $25 | $54 (fee included) |
| 1-month multiple entry | $50 | $84 (fee included) |
| Speed options | None listed; 3 working days by law | Normal, Urgent (+$45), Super Urgent (+$85) |
| Who checks your photo and form | You | Our team, before filing |
| If you're refused | Government fee not refunded | No promise of approval; refunds as listed above |
| Help | Portal support form | Phone and email, seven days |
Help earns its fee in narrower cases: you're filing for a group (we take up to 10 applicants in one order, with no group surcharge), you'd rather have someone check your photo and form before anything is filed, or your flight is close. If you're traveling within 24 hours, call us at +84 832 320 320 before paying so we can tell you whether it's doable.
A Few Parting Notes
Whichever route you take, you end up with the same document: an e-visa issued by Vietnam Immigration, delivered as a PDF. Apply before you travel, because the e-visa is issued to people outside Vietnam, not to visitors already in the country. Give yourself one to two weeks and the Urgent and Super Urgent tiers stop mattering.
Check the PDF the day it arrives, whoever filed it. A redacted e-visa from 2023 shows the fields to check: full name, date of birth, passport number, single or multiple entry, and the dates on the "Good for entry valid from" line, along with the Vietnam Immigration Department's name. If any of those doesn't match your passport and your flights, sort it out before you fly, not at the airport.