Charged for a Vietnam eVisa But Didn't Get One? (or Charged Twice)

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

It's one of the most stressful messages we get: "My card was charged but I never received my Vietnam eVisa." The fear is understandable — money left your account and nothing came back. The reassuring news, after seeing this play out across hundreds of applications, is that the money is almost always fine. Here's exactly what's happening and what to do, step by step.

First: Were You Actually Charged?

This is the question that resolves most cases. When you pay on the official portal, your bank often places an authorization hold — it reserves the money before the merchant confirms the sale. If the portal then fails to complete the transaction (which it does often with foreign cards), you see an error and a deduction at the same time. But that reserved amount isn't a real, settled charge. Here's how to tell them apart in your banking app:

• Pending / authorization hold: labelled "pending" or "processing", not yet a final charge. It releases automatically, usually within 3–7 days.
• Posted / completed: a settled charge that has actually left your account.

If the amount is still only pending, treat it as not charged — and crucially, don't pay again until it clears, or you risk turning one hold into two real charges.

"Charged But No Visa" — What Usually Happened

In practice, "charged but no visa" almost always traces back to one of these:

• The payment never settled. The hold appeared, the transaction failed, no application was actually submitted — so there's nothing to receive yet. This is the most common scenario. Our payment failed guide covers how to complete it cleanly.
• The payment worked but it's still processing. The visa simply hasn't been issued yet. Standard processing takes days, not minutes.
• The eVisa was issued but landed in spam or went to a mistyped email address.

How to Check If Your Visa Is Actually Coming

Before worrying about the money, confirm whether an application exists at all. Do these three checks:

1. Find your registration code. If the application went through, you'll have received a confirmation with a code. No code usually means no submission.
2. Check your status. Use the code to look up your application — here's how to check your eVisa status correctly, including what "no record found" means.
3. Search your email and spam for anything from the immigration portal or your service, and confirm the email address on the application was spelled correctly.

If there's a valid application in processing, the answer is simply to wait — the visa is coming. If there's no record and only a pending hold, nothing was submitted and the hold will reverse.

Double Charged? Why It Happens — and How to Avoid It

A genuine double charge nearly always comes from the same move: the first attempt showed an error, so the traveler immediately tried again — sometimes several times — while earlier holds were still sitting on the card. When one or more of those attempts later settles, you end up paying more than once. The way to avoid it is simple but counter-intuitive when you're anxious: after a failed attempt, stop and check your bank first. Wait for pending holds to clear before retrying, and never submit the same application twice in quick succession.

How to Get a Refund for a Duplicate or Failed Charge

If you've confirmed a real, settled duplicate charge, here's the order to work through:

1. Give holds time to clear. Many "duplicates" are just two pending holds, one of which will vanish. Wait the 3–7 days before treating it as a real double charge.
2. If you used a service, contact them. A reputable service can see your transactions and sort a duplicate or failed payment directly — this is one of the main advantages over going it alone.
3. If you paid the government portal directly, be aware its support is slow and limited, and refunds aren't guaranteed. Keep both transaction references and any error screenshots.
4. As a last resort, open a bank dispute. With proof of two identical charges, your bank can usually reverse a clear duplicate.

One honest note: a government fee tied to an application that actually did process is generally non-refundable, since it's paid straight to immigration. A failed transaction, by contrast, isn't a real charge and reverses on its own — see also what happens to your fee if an application is rejected.

The Safer Way to Avoid Payment Limbo

The whole "charged but no visa" problem comes from one weak link: the official portal's payment step failing while your bank holds the money, with no human to ask. When you apply through us, you pay once through a gateway that actually accepts foreign cards and PayPal, we confirm the payment before submitting, and if anything looks off you have a real person to message — so you never end up staring at a mystery deduction wondering whether your trip is at risk.

Frequently Asked Questions

I was charged but didn't get my eVisa — what happened?

Usually you weren't truly charged — it's a temporary hold that reverses within a few days. Check pending vs posted in your bank, look in spam for the eVisa, and check your status by registration code before assuming the money is gone.

How do I know if it's a real charge or just a hold?

A hold shows as "pending" and releases on its own in 3–7 days. A real charge shows as "posted" or "completed". If it's still pending, treat it as not charged and don't pay again yet.

I paid twice — can I get a refund?

If both were real settled charges, you can request a refund for the duplicate. Through a service, contact them directly; on the government portal, support is slow and refunds aren't guaranteed. A bank dispute is the last resort with proof of both charges.

Why was I charged when the payment "failed"?

What you saw was an authorization hold, not a settled charge. The gateway can fail to confirm even after your bank reserves the funds, so the error and the deduction appear together. The reserved amount is released automatically.

How long does a pending hold take to disappear?

Usually 3–7 days, after which the funds return automatically. If it hasn't cleared after about ten days, contact your bank with the date and amount.

This guide is for general information. Vietnam visa rules and the government payment system can change — always verify current requirements. GoVietVisa is a private visa assistance service, not the official government portal (evisa.gov.vn).