Do Australians need a visa for Vietnam in 2026?

Whether you need a visa for Vietnam in 2026 comes down to one thing: your passport. There are three groups.

Group one: 45 days visa-free, any purpose

Resolution 44/NQ-CP, in force from 15 March 2025 to 14 March 2028, waives visas for citizens of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. You get 45 days from the date of entry, on any passport type and for any purpose. No form, no fee.

Group two: 45 days visa-free, tourism only

Resolution 229/NQ-CP, valid from 15 August 2025 to 14 August 2028, adds Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. Same 45 days, but the exemption is tied to a tourism stimulus programme, so it is for tourism only and your passport must be valid for at least six months.

Group three: everyone else needs the e-visa

If your passport is not on either list, you apply for the e-visa before you travel. Since 15 August 2023 it is open to citizens of all countries, allows stays of up to 90 days, and comes in single-entry (USD 25) and multiple-entry (USD 50) versions. The Immigration Department states three working days for processing once the application and payment are complete. Apply only on evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn, which is the only government site; lookalike agencies rank above it in ads and charge several times the official fee.

Two things people miss

First, a handful of other nationalities have their own shorter exemptions (for example 30 days for most ASEAN passports), so check your specific country with the Visa Check tool rather than assuming.

Second, being visa-exempt does not stop you from applying for the e-visa anyway. If you are on the Resolution 44 list but plan to stay longer than 45 days, the 90-day e-visa is often the simpler option, because the exemption itself cannot be extended in practice.

Australia is not on either exemption list, so the e-visa is the only route, and it is a common enough question that we wrote a longer answer on it: Vietnam visa exemption: Americans and Australians are not on the list.

Full context, including visa runs, overstay fines and long-stay routes, is in our Vietnam visas guide for remote workers.