HÀ NỘI — A two-year pilot project for the issuance of e-visas for foreigners will start on February 1, said Major General Lê Xuân Viên, director general of the Department of Immigration under the Ministry of Public Security yesterday.

Decree No. 07 issued by the Government yesterday regulates procedures for the project. A list of 40 countries applicable for the project and a list of border gates and airports that accept e-visa entries were issued together with the degree.

The decree does not require foreigners to be sponsored or invited by organisations or individuals in Việt Nam to be applicable for the e-visas, as long as they have valid passports and are citizens of one of the 40 listed countries.

Foreigners are not required to be present at representative agencies of Việt Nam in their countries, get interviewed or scan their fingers to apply for e-visas.

They can go directly to the website https://immigration.gov.vn and apply for e-visas themselves. The website will start working on February 1, according to Major General Lê Xuân Viên.

The applications will be processed within 3 working days. Each applicant will be provided with a digital code, with which they can check the application progress and print their e-visas once they have been issued.  

They can also present the codes at border gates and airports for scanning of their e-visas.

The e-visas are valid for 30 days. Each applicant must pay a non-refundable application fee of US$25 via bank transfer.

The 40 selected countries are those that have diplomatic relations with Việt Nam and are suitable for the socio-economic development and national security of the country, Major General Lê Xuân Viên said.

Answering concerns about the security of the project yesterday, he said the Ministry of Public Security “is confident” that they have enough capability, equipment and authority to control the applications.   

He said that in preparation for the project, the immigration department has developed and upgraded two systems, one to communicate with e-visa applicants and the other with international border gates for immigration management.

Both systems were tested two months ago and proved to be secure, stable and effective, he said.

Customs officials and airline staff will also be enabled to check whether a foreigner has been provided with an e-visa, he added.

He suggested that airlines register with the immigration department to be procided with such authority.

The project will be evaluated by the Government and reported to the National Assembly when it finishes in 2019. — VNS