In case you decide to travel to the embassy location, you will have to incur travel cost and stay expenses. At the embassy, you will be asked to fill the Visa application form. Along with the duly filled form, you will be required to submit one recent passport size photograph, one self-addressed envelope and your original passport. Besides submitting these documents, you will also have to submit the Visa fees, which can be paid to the Embassy of Vietnam by way of money order or cashier’s cheque.
The embassy will take at least five days to process your documents. Once your documents are processed, you will be issued a fully stamped Visa. Although this process allows you to get hold of a fully stamped Visa before your departure to Vietnam, it is expensive and time consuming.
In case you decide to apply for Visa through correspondence, you will have to send in all your documents, including your original passport, through postal mail. In this case, you stand to lose your passport if your package is lost in transit or misplaced.
Hence, the best way to option available to the citizens of Benin is to apply for Visa on Arrival. To apply for Visa on Arrival, you will have to get in touch with a travel agent in Vietnam. You will be required to fill an online application on the travel agent’s website. You will have to key in details such as name, occupation, purpose of visit, duration of stay etc. While filling in the purpose of visit section, you will have to pick from options such as business, tourist and transit. A business Visa comes with a validity of one month, three months or six months. A tourist Visa comes with a validity of one month and a transit Visa comes with a validity of less than five days.
Online application forms are usually processed in a couple of days. After your form is processed, you will be issued a letter of approval. Your travel agent can collect this letter of approval on your behalf and have it forwarded to you. On reaching Vietnam, you will be required to submit this letter of approval at the Visa on Arrival counter of the airport you arrive in, along with the Visa stamping fees, to collect your Visa on Arrival document.
It is to be noted that the Visa on Arrival facility is extended only to those travelers who arrive in Vietnam by air. For those traveling to Vietnam by land routes, it is mandatory that they carry their documents with them while traveling.
