Vietnam’s March 2025 visa waiver: the 12-country framework
Check the March 2025 twelve-country visa waiver, its 45-day stay and March 2028 policy horizon without confusing it with later tourism-only exemptions.
Cat Ba Connect3 min read
The short answer
Resolution 44/NQ-CP provides a 45-day visa exemption for citizens of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, subject to Vietnam’s entry conditions. Its policy period runs from 15 March 2025 through 14 March 2028. This is a renewal framework for those twelve countries, not evidence that every European passport or every document associated with the United Kingdom receives the same treatment.
Identify the twelve-country group
Start with the citizenship shown on the passport you will actually present, then compare it with the twelve countries named in Resolution 44. Residence in one of those countries is a different fact from citizenship. A traveller living in Germany on another country’s passport should therefore check the rules for that passport rather than treating a German address or residence permit as a German nationality exemption. Keep the relevant passport visible when discussing the booking.
Separate a policy horizon from one visit
The framework applies from 15 March 2025 to 14 March 2028, while the stated stay is 45 days from entry. Those are different clocks: the multi-year policy window does not give an arriving tourist permission to remain until its final date. Plan the actual visit around the permitted stay recorded at immigration. If your itinerary is longer, establish a suitable alternative entry basis before travel instead of dividing a long holiday into informal assumptions about the policy’s expiry.
Read the purpose wording accurately
Government News describes this group as covered regardless of passport type and entry purpose, provided legal entry conditions are met. That wording must not be copied across to every later exemption programme: another resolution can have a tourism-only scope. It also does not resolve separate requirements governing employment or regulated activities. For a mixed business and leisure visit, tell the inviting organisation what you intend to do rather than treating visa exemption as a substitute for every other permission.
Check the particular travel document
Nationality headlines can hide important document distinctions. MOFA’s exemption list specifically notes that British National Overseas passports are not covered by the exemption. Someone holding more than one travel document should decide which will be used for entry and check that document’s treatment before booking. Do not interchange passport numbers across the airline record, any visa application and the actual journey merely because both documents belong to the same person or share a familiar country association.
Build the itinerary from the admitted stay
Keep the official policy reference with your entry documents, but inspect the stay actually recorded on arrival before leaving the checkpoint. An exemption removes a visa requirement within its scope; it does not remove passport checks or grounds for refusal. Leave enough flexibility to resolve an apparent date error immediately. A short first-night plan in Hanoi is easier to adjust than a tight onward connection arranged on the assumption that no immigration questions or document checks will occur.
Questions travellers ask
Does living in an exempt country qualify me?
Not by itself. Check the citizenship and document actually used for travel.
Is March 2028 the end date of my stay?
No. It is the policy horizon; each admitted visit has its own permitted stay.
