Vietnam: passport and entry requirements
Vietnam now lets UK families visit for up to 45 days without a visa, so a normal holiday needs nothing arranged in advance beyond your passports. Each of those, the children's as well as your own, needs six months left on it.
On this page
Your passport
Each passport needs at least six months left on the day you arrive, two blank pages and to be in good condition. It's the arrival date that counts, not your flight home, so a passport running out soon after the trip can still fall short on the way in. Border officers can turn away a damaged passport, so look over the cover and pages for anything loose or water-stained, not just the expiry date.
Check the whole family's passports when you book. A child's passport needs renewing more often than an adult's, so it's the one most likely to be close to expiry, and a new one takes several weeks to arrive.
Getting in
For a normal holiday there's nothing to apply for. British citizens enter as tourists and stay up to 45 days without a visa, and every member of the family is covered in their own right, children as well as adults. Enter and leave on the same passport you were admitted on.
A visa only comes in if your trip runs longer than 45 days, or you plan to leave Vietnam and come back partway through. That's the e-visa, a proper visa you apply for online ahead of time rather than a form you fill in on arrival. It allows a longer stay and multiple entries, though you have to enter and leave at the exact airport or border you name on the application. When a trip needs one, everyone applies separately, children included, at the same fee, about $25 (about £20) for a single entry or $50 (about £40) for multiple entries (last checked August 2026).
Every child needs their own passport, down to the youngest, valid as long as the adults' and with two blank pages. The 45-day visa-free entry covers children too. On a trip long enough to need an e-visa, every child needs an application of their own alongside the adults'.
Official sources
Last checked 11 August 2026. Passport and entry rules change, so always confirm on GOV.UK before you book or travel.
