The Vietnam Digital Arrival Card: What Tan Son Nhat Now Expects Before You Land

Last updated: June 2026 · Written by the GoVietVisa processing team

If you've flown into Saigon in the last couple of years, you know the evening immigration hall at Tan Son Nhat can be brutal — peak-hour queues running several hundred people deep, an hour or more on your feet after a long flight. The digital arrival card is Vietnam's attempt to thin those lines by getting your details into the system before you land. For you, it means one more box to tick before you fly. Miss it, and you don't get fined, but you do get sent to the slow lane while everyone with a QR code moves ahead.

What the Digital Arrival Card Actually Is

It's the online replacement for that little paper form crew used to hand out on the plane. You declare your passport, visa, flight, and hotel details on the official portal before arrival, and the system spits out a QR code. At the counter, the officer scans the code and pulls your information up instantly instead of typing it in by hand. That's the whole point — fewer keystrokes per passenger, shorter lines.

Who Needs It — and Who Doesn't

If you're a foreign passport holder walking through immigration at Tan Son Nhat, you need it. Full stop. That includes:

• Every nationality, on any airline.
• Children and infants — each person needs their own declaration, completed by a parent or guardian.
• Visa-free travelers. No eVisa required doesn't mean no arrival card.
• Overseas Vietnamese traveling on a foreign passport.

The only people who skip it are Vietnamese citizens traveling on a Vietnamese passport, and passengers transiting without clearing immigration. If you're connecting onward to Hanoi or Da Nang after entering through Saigon, you still only file once — for your arrival at Tan Son Nhat.

Is the Arrival Card the Same as My eVisa? No.

This is the question we field most, so let's be clear: they are two different documents doing two different jobs. Your eVisa is the government's permission to enter the country. The arrival card is a declaration of who you are and where you're going on this trip. One does not replace the other. You can have a perfectly valid 90-day eVisa and still get held up at the counter because you skipped the arrival card.

How to Fill the Vietnam Digital Arrival Card (Step by Step)

The official form lives at prearrival.immigration.gov.vn. It's free, and it takes about five minutes if you have your documents in front of you. Don't use a lookalike site — there are plenty that charge you for a free government form.

1. Open the portal and pick your language.
2. Choose "Create & Submit Pre-arrival Information" and clear the CAPTCHA.
3. Enter your personal details exactly as printed in your passport — full name, date of birth, gender, nationality, passport number. (You can upload a photo of your passport to auto-fill some of these, which is faster and cuts typos.)
4. Add your visa or visa-exemption details.
5. Enter your flight number, arrival date, and the address where you're staying in Vietnam.
6. Review everything against your passport, submit, and save the QR code.

The one field people fudge is the accommodation address. Don't leave it blank and don't invent something — put the real name and address of your first hotel or stay. It needs to match what you'd tell an officer if asked.

The 72-Hour Window: When to Submit

You can't file weeks ahead. The form only accepts an arrival date that's today or within the next two days — a 72-hour window. So file it once your flight is locked, ideally the day before you travel. If your flight gets moved and the arrival date no longer matches your QR code, just resubmit once the new date falls inside that window. A QR code tied to the wrong date is no better than not having one.

What to Show at the Tan Son Nhat Counter

Save your QR code offline — a screenshot and a PDF, plus a printed copy if you can. There's often no usable mobile signal inside the arrivals hall, and you do not want to be digging through email on airport Wi-Fi with a queue building behind you. At the counter, have ready:

• The arrival-card QR code.
• Your passport (matching the details you entered).
• Your eVisa printout or visa-exemption document.
• Your return or onward ticket, if the officer asks.

Which Airports Require It (For Now)

Right now this is a Tan Son Nhat rule only. Noi Bai in Hanoi and Da Nang don't enforce it yet. But the portal already has fields for land and sea crossings and for other entry points, which is a strong hint the system is built to go nationwide. If you're flying into HAN or DAD, it's smart to glance at the official portal a few days before you travel in case the rule has moved.

When the Form Won't Cooperate

The portal is new, and it shows. The complaints we hear most are QR codes that won't generate, the accommodation field refusing valid entries, and the occasional "passport blacklist" error that's usually a data-mismatch glitch rather than an actual flag on your record. If it stalls, the fixes are the same ones that work on the eVisa site: switch to Chrome, turn off your VPN, and try again on a stable connection. You can also scan the QR posters in the arrivals area and file on the spot — but that defeats the purpose, since you'll be doing it in the very queue you were trying to avoid.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the arrival card the same as the eVisa?

No. The eVisa is your entry permission; the arrival card is a pre-arrival declaration. You need both, even if you're visa-free.

Who has to fill it out?

Every foreign passenger landing at Tan Son Nhat, of any nationality and any age. Vietnamese citizens on a Vietnamese passport and transit passengers are exempt.

Which airports require it?

Only Tan Son Nhat (SGN) for now. Not yet Hanoi or Da Nang, though an expansion is expected — check before you fly.

When do I submit it?

Within 72 hours of arrival — the form only accepts today or the next two days. Resubmit if your flight date changes.

This guide is for general information and reflects the rules as of mid-2026. Entry requirements change — confirm current rules at the official portals (evisa.gov.vn and prearrival.immigration.gov.vn) before you travel. GoVietVisa is a private visa assistance service, not the official government portal.