visa info for vietnam and cambodia

bruiser

Hi,
We are going on the vietnam, cambodia, thailand trip in October, 2016. We live in NYC and we have access to the consulates of both countries at the UN. Has anyone done the visas in person at the consulates. If so, how does it work. I know that I can call the consulates, but I'd like to hear first-hand from someone who has done it. Thanks, Nancy

British

Here's a tip, since your are so close to your vacation and need to sort this. Note, I have not been on this tour. But it is helpful to go to the website of whatever visa company Tauck uses these days and look at the forms that you have to fill out to give you some clues on what needs to be provided for them etc, such as number of photos and size. Don't leave it too long, October will be here very soon.

joycesw

The visa services charge an exorbitant rate for something that is quite easy to do yourself. For our first Vietnam visa, we got it through the consulate in San Francisco. We left our applications and passports and picked them up 4 days later with visas attached. The second time we used the Visa On Arrival which was much easier and much cheaper. Just be careful to go to the consulate web site and get the forms there. Be careful,as there are a number of "extra charge" services that try to rope you in and charge more! Hint! hint! Previous poster is NOT a helpful Tauck traveler! All they want to do is charge you a fee for something you can easily do yourself.
As far as Cambodia is concerned, we sent our passports and applications, etc. to the consulate in Washington. It was painless. I think I have heard that they now use a VOA (visa on arrival). I'm not sure, though.
I have to be honest and very frank here...most Tauck travelers take the easy way out, bite the bullet and spend the outrageous fees to use a service. They don't seem to want to do the research to do it themselves. An outstanding source for visa questions is Trip Advisor...you will have to wade through some forums, but the information is there! I have run into a wall twice in my visa applications (Kenya, India), and a Trip Advisor member has responded and solved my problem! They can't be beat!
If you have any other questions, come back on the Forum, and I will look up my previous records.
Also, for many visas ( at least one of these, I believe) , there is a time element where you cannot apply until 30 days prior to your arrival, so don't be alarmed. Leaving in October leaves you quite enough time.
Joyce

Lexipupny

Hi- very timely. I live in NYC and I just went and got our visas at the Vietnam Consulate on Tuesday- very easy. Go to their website- you need to fill out the application online and then print it out. Bring the completed form and a passport photo (which I got done at CVS) to the consulate (49th street and 1st ave)- you don't need an appointment. It cost $80, (personal check, no cash or cc) plus an extra $30 to have them do it while I waited, so $110 per person total and I walked out 15 minutes after going in with visas for me and my friend.

There is no Cambodian consulate in NYC, but they have an online visa process- I haven't done that one yet, but again looks very simple to do, and pretty cheap compared to using the service Tauck recommends.