Major General Phạm Đăng Khoa, Director of the Ministry of Public Security's Immigration Department, speaking at the dialogue on Friday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The visa policy of Việt Nam continues to be reformed to make entry into Việt Nam as smooth as possible, said an official of the Ministry of Public Security on Friday.

At a dialogue on administrative procedures on November 4, Major-General Phạm Đăng Khoa, Director of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS)'s Immigration Department, said the department had created favourable conditions for all Vietnamese citizens to enter and exit the country, and for foreigners to come to visit Việt Nam for tourism, investment, and trading purposes.

He noted the reforms had also improved the detection of law violations to safeguard national security.

Compared to other countries, Việt Nam's visa procedures are simple and quick and can be handled in different forms to meet foreigners' needs, according to the official.

Việt Nam has expanded e-visas to citizens of 80 countries and territories. In addition, visas have been unilaterally exempt for citizens of 13 countries and bilaterally exempt for 12 other countries.

The reception and settlement of exit and entry procedures have continued to be reformed and decentralised, especially the application of online public services at Level 4 - the highest level - in 2022 under the Prime Minister's and MPS Minister's direction.

Khoa added the Immigration Department would press on with IT applications in visa granting for foreigners to attract more foreign investors and tourists to Việt Nam.

Concerning the new passports, the official noted that the MPS had granted the new passport on July 1. 

However, from July 27, some European countries decided to suspend granting visas to new passport holders as the 'place of birth' was absent. This issue affected Vietnamese citizens' entry into the Schengen countries.

At the request of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Government ordered the MPS and Việt Nam's overseas representative bodies to include the 'place of birth' in passports' appendixes, allowing these countries to admit new passport holders once again. 

According to Khoa, to ensure the rights and legitimate interests of Vietnamese citizens, the Immigration Department had proposed that authorities supplement the birthplace information to exit and entry papers of Vietnamese citizens. — VNS