Getting a Vietnamese Visa in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The best advice I have about getting your Vietnam visa in Kuala Lumpur is: don’t do it if you don’t have to. Vietnam now permits visas on arrival if you are flying into Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, or Danang via an international flight. You simply find an agent to get you a letter of approval (Google ‘Vietnam visa on arrival’ and you’ll find a bunch of companies to choose from), print out the letter, and bring it (along with the visa fee in USD cash, your passport, a completed copy of the Entry and Exit form, and one passport size photo) to the “Landing Visa” counter when you arrive in Vietnam.
The cost depends on what type of visa you get – $45 for a one month or 3 month single entry visa, $65 for a less than 30 day multi-entry, $95 for a 30 day or more multi-entry. On top of that you’ll have to pay the visa agent… usually about $10. The only downside is, there may be a long wait at the airport. Some people get through in 15 minutes, for others it takes an hour. It all depends on how many people are doing it, and what airport you go to (HCMC is busier and will take longer).
So far, this article has been a little off-topic. If you need to get your Vietnamese visa in Kuala Lumpur it costs more, and requires a couple trips to the Vietnamese embassy, but here’s how to do it:
The embassy is located at 4 Persiaran Stonor, about a 20 minute walk from the Kuala Lumpur City Centre Park, the Petronas Towers, or Suria KLCC (a giant mall). If you are staying in Chinatown, it’s not a very convenient location, but it won’t cost you much to get there. From Pasar Seni bus station take the free(!) Purple Line bus to StarHill. From there, it’s about a 15 minute walk. If you decide to walk the entire way, it’ll take about the same amount of time (about 50 minutes), but you’ll sweat a lot more. Currently, sweatiness isn’t a factor when determining whether someone is granted a visa to Vietnam.
The embassy is open Monday to Friday from 9AM to 5PM, but is closed for an hour for lunch at 1PM. From the street there is a ticket booth that has a sign that says, “Please take a number”. It was unmanned when I was there, so I walked right in to the very unimpressive building.
In order for them to grant you a visa, you’ll need to bring your passport (and it must be valid for at least 6 months), a photocopy of your passport, and a passport-sized photo of yourself. Conveniently, there is a restaurant across from the embassy that can take care of all these things for you (it would most likely be cheaper to get them done elsewhere though).
Bring everything to the middle window where you’ll get a form to fill in. When that’s completed, you take it back to the middle window, you’ll be told when your visa will be ready, then you line up at the third window to pay the fee.
Vietnam Visa Fees in Kuala Lumpur
- 1 month single entry – 320RM (1 working day processing), 300RM (2 working day processing), 260RM (3 working day processing)
- 1 month multiple entry – 400RM
- 3 months single entry – 400RM
- 3 months multiple entry – 650RM
*The 1 month multiple, and both 3 month visas take 2 working days.
When picking up your visa, go to the 2nd window and give them your receipt. Assuming it’s ready, they’ll hand it over and you’ll be out of there in no time.
In the end, it wasn’t a difficult process, but getting a visa on arrival will be half the price and will take less time when you factor in the multiple trips to the embassy in Kuala Lumpur. If your trip through Southeast Asia includes a trip to Cambodia, you can head to the Vietnamese embassy in Sihanoukville for the quickest (15 minute) Vietnamese visa. Of course, make sure you check your country to see if you even need a visa for Vietnam. Also, lucky citizens of Australia, France, Germany, India and the UK may soon be allowed to enter Vietnam without a visa. Laws in Vietnam change quickly and without much warning, so be sure to check before heading to the embassy.
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September 4, 2016 @ 7:48 pm
Your article is most useful and well explained in simplest language. Thanks!
December 6, 2016 @ 8:32 pm
We were going to get our visa through Kuala Lumpur’s embassy, because they raised the fees for on arrival visas. The prices you have given for the embassy are much better then doing on arrival, but when did you write this? The fee for on arrival visas are now135.00 for US citizens.
December 7, 2016 @ 7:37 am
They’ve changed the law for US citizens. For some stupid reason you guys can only get a 1 year visa now and the stamping fee is $135. The service fee from the company should only be about $10. The embassy might be a tiny bit cheaper but I kind of doubt it. If you do go to the KL embassy, please let me know. I would love to update the prices on the post. Good luck!
May 11, 2017 @ 7:12 am
omg thanks so much that was the most informative site ive seen wrt getting a vietnam visa in kl. there are a million agent sites that all try to sound like they are govt sites and the govt site has no useful info on it in english regarding visas! its particularly useful knowing what the time frames are for the embassy option and the costs as its hard to find this info online. there is plenty of info on agent visa online services though. it would be helpful to have your opinion on whether the service operators are all much the same or are there some rogue operators to look out for. thanks again!
May 11, 2017 @ 8:42 pm
I’m glad you found it useful. I’m assuming you are talking about the agents that set you up with a visa on arrival..? They are the best way to get a visa for Vietnam, assuming you are entering via the airport in Saigon, Hanoi, or Danang. They are all pretty much the same – I haven’t heard of any rogue ones – but some charge a lot more than others. This is the one that I usually use: http://vietnamvisacentral.com/?page_id=30
September 25, 2018 @ 5:56 am
Very clear description, one question: Is the date you arrive in Vietnam flexible on the visa or you have to give the exact date of arrival?
September 27, 2018 @ 7:03 pm
I’m pretty sure you can arrive anytime after the date that it’s good for.
December 3, 2019 @ 7:10 am
What is the visa fee for tourist visa single entry, around 7 days. intend to apply in vietnam embassy in kualalumpur
December 3, 2019 @ 8:20 am
I think the minimum you can do is 30 days, which was 320RM (1 working day processing), 300RM (2 working day processing), 260RM (3 working day processing), but prices may have changed.