Vietnam launched its mandatory digital pre-arrival card on April 15, 2026, starting at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. In its first 15 days, 161,596 passengers registered. Nationwide expansion to Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport and Da Nang is confirmed (timing not officially published), but the rollout is moving fast.

The card is free. Entirely free. Takes about five minutes. Yet scam sites are already appearing in search results charging processing fees for the same form that costs nothing at the official government portal.

Americans also need a separate Vietnam e-Visa — that one costs $25 and is entirely different. The digital arrival card doesn’t replace the e-Visa. The two requirements coexist. If you have a summer trip to Vietnam booked and haven’t heard about either of these, you’re not alone. Most travel guides haven’t updated yet.

Quick Facts — Vietnam Digital Arrival Card 2026

Detail	Info
Mandatory since	April 15, 2026 (Tan Son Nhat/Ho Chi Minh City)
Nationwide rollout	Hanoi (Noi Bai) and Da Nang — confirmed, timing imminent
Who needs it	All foreign visitors entering Vietnam
Submission window	Within 72 hours before scheduled arrival
Cost	Free
What it generates	QR code verified at immigration
Official portal	prearrival.immigration.gov.vn
First 15 days	161,596 passengers registered (April 15–30, 2026)
Does this replace a visa?	No — Americans still need a separate e-Visa ($25)
e-Visa official portal	evisa.gov.vn
Scam sites	Already active, charging processing fees for the free form

In one sentence: Vietnam’s new digital arrival card is a free, five-minute pre-arrival form at prearrival.immigration.gov.vn, submitted within 72 hours before landing — separate from and in addition to the $25 e-Visa Americans already need.

What Is the Vietnam Digital Arrival Card?

Vietnam’s digital pre-arrival card is the replacement for the paper arrival card that used to be filled out on the plane. Same data, different timing. You submit it before you board rather than filling it in with a borrowed pen at 30,000 feet.

The form is run by Vietnam’s Department of Immigration (Cục Quản lý Xuất nhập cảnh) through the portal at prearrival.immigration.gov.vn. You enter your passport details, your visa information, your flight details, and your address in Vietnam. The portal generates a QR code. Immigration checks the QR code on arrival. That’s the complete chain.

It launched April 15, 2026 at Tan Son Nhat, Vietnam’s busiest airport and the main gateway for international travelers arriving in Ho Chi Minh City. The 161,596 registrations in the first 15 days reflects how quickly the system took hold, and the rate gives you a sense of how much traffic that airport handles. Hanoi and Da Nang come next. By the time summer travel season peaks, the requirement will almost certainly be in place nationwide.

The Two-Requirement Setup for Americans

This is the part that catches people. There are two separate forms, two separate portals, two separate requirements.

1. Vietnam e-Visa — required before travel

Americans need a visa to enter Vietnam. The e-Visa costs $25, applied for through evisa.gov.vn — that’s the official portal run by Vietnam’s Department of Immigration. It grants a single-entry or multiple-entry visit for up to 90 days. Apply before you travel. The processing time is typically 3 business days, though it can run longer in peak season. This is not new — the e-Visa system has been in place since 2017.

2. Digital Arrival Card — submitted within 72 hours before arrival

The arrival card at prearrival.immigration.gov.vn is the new piece. Free, quick, submitted close to departure. It’s not a substitute for the e-Visa and doesn’t affect your visa status in any way. You get the visa first (days or weeks before travel), then submit the arrival card within 72 hours of landing.

Two separate portals. Two separate processes. One costs $25. One costs nothing. Both are required.

If you see a site that bundles them together and charges a combined fee, that’s a scam site or an unauthorized intermediary. The e-Visa has a legitimate government fee. The arrival card does not.

The 72-Hour Window

Submit within 72 hours before your scheduled arrival in Vietnam. Too early and the system won’t accept the submission. Too close to departure and you’re scrambling.

The practical approach: the evening before your flight departs, after online check-in has opened and your flight number is confirmed. Takes about five minutes. The QR code comes through immediately — save it to your phone and screenshot it to your camera roll so you have it offline.

Connecting itineraries: the 72-hour window is measured against your scheduled arrival time in Vietnam, not when you leave your home airport. A long routing with an overnight layover in another country is fine. Submit against the Vietnam landing time.

If your flight changes after submission — reschedule, missed connection, new routing — submit a fresh arrival card with the updated details. The QR code from the original reflects old flight information.

How to Apply for the Digital Arrival Card

The entire process at prearrival.immigration.gov.vn runs about five minutes:

1. Go to prearrival.immigration.gov.vn. Confirm the URL before entering anything. Vietnam’s official government domain is .gov.vn — the direct equivalent of .gov in the US. Any other domain is not Vietnam’s immigration authority.
2. Enter your passport details — full name exactly as printed, passport number, nationality, date of birth, and passport expiry date.
3. Enter your visa information — your e-Visa number and validity dates.
4. Enter your travel details — airline, flight number, scheduled arrival date and time, port of entry.
5. Enter your accommodation in Vietnam — hotel name and city for your first night.
6. Submit. No payment. No fee. If a payment screen appears, you’re on the wrong site — close the tab immediately and go back to prearrival.immigration.gov.vn.
7. Save the QR code displayed on-screen and sent to your email. Screenshot it. Keep it accessible offline.

That’s everything. No documents to upload. No biometrics. QR code is generated on submission.

Why the Scam Sites Are Already Here

The arrival card launched six weeks ago. Scam sites are already ranking for Vietnam arrival card terms.

The pattern is identical to what appeared around Malaysia’s MDAC and Singapore’s SGAC and India’s e-Arrival Card: third-party sites on .com or .org domains that look official, mirror the government form, and insert a payment step that doesn’t exist on the real portal. They charge a “processing fee” or “service fee” ranging from $15 to upwards of $60 to submit a free form.

Some deliver a QR code. Some deliver a QR code that won’t clear Vietnam’s immigration system. Some take the payment and go quiet. None charge less than the government’s actual price, which is zero.

The tell is the domain. prearrival.immigration.gov.vn ends in .gov.vn. The e-Visa portal is evisa.gov.vn — .gov.vn again. Vietnam’s official government portals end in .gov.vn. Any URL that doesn’t is not the Vietnamese government. If a site is asking you to pay for the arrival card, it’s not the official portal. Close the tab.

The Vietnam arrival card is also more exposed to this pattern than many equivalents because it’s new — launched April 15, 2026 — and most travelers searching for it now are encountering “help” sites before the official portal. The six-week age of the requirement and the summer booking surge create exactly the conditions scam sites count on: unfamiliar travelers searching urgently for a form they’ve just heard about.

The Broader Pre-Arrival Picture

Vietnam isn’t alone in moving toward mandatory pre-departure registration. It’s part of a consistent shift across Southeast Asia and beyond in 2026.

Malaysia’s MDAC has been mandatory since January 2024 — free, 72-hour window, QR code, same enforcement model. Singapore’s SGAC tightened enforcement on January 30, 2026, with No-Boarding Directives and fines up to SGD 10,000 per non-compliant passenger. The UK’s ETA is £20 for Americans, checked at boarding. ETIAS for Europe is coming later in 2026 at €20.

Vietnam’s version is free. The only cost in the pre-arrival setup is the e-Visa, which at $25 is among the cheaper visa fees in the region. The arrival card is pure administrative registration — Vietnam wants the data before you board, same as every other major destination implementing these systems.

What’s different with Vietnam’s current rollout: it’s still in early-stage expansion. As of late May 2026, Tan Son Nhat has the requirement active. Hanoi and Da Nang are next. If your summer trip flies into Hanoi or Da Nang rather than Ho Chi Minh City, the arrival card may not yet be technically required at those airports specifically — but it will be, probably soon, and submitting it regardless costs nothing. Don’t plan your compliance around a rollout timeline that hasn’t been publicly dated.

What About Visa-on-Arrival?

Some travelers enter Vietnam on a visa-on-arrival rather than an e-Visa, typically with a pre-approval letter from a visa agency. That system still exists for some nationalities and scenarios. But the US State Department guidance on Vietnam entry recommends American travelers apply for the e-Visa before departure rather than relying on visa-on-arrival.

The digital arrival card applies regardless of what entry permission you hold. Visa, e-Visa, visa-on-arrival pre-approval — all foreign visitors submit the arrival card within 72 hours before landing.

Vietnam Is Still Worth the Paperwork

None of this changes what Vietnam actually is.

Ha Long Bay in the morning fog — one of the more affecting geographical formations accessible to travelers who aren’t mountaineers or expeditioners. Hoi An’s old town at night. The food in Hanoi, specifically the pho and bun cha. Sapa’s rice terraces in late summer. Quy Nhon if you want a beach destination the crowds haven’t found yet. Vietnam has one of the highest concentrations of genuinely distinct regional food cultures of any country its size, and the gap between tourist prices and local prices makes it one of the better-value destinations in Asia for travelers willing to leave the resort corridor.

Two forms and five minutes of prep work shouldn’t dent that.

The travelers it catches are the ones who’ve done everything right — booked flights months out, sorted the e-Visa, arranged accommodation — and then learn about the arrival card at check-in. That scenario is entirely preventable with the right URL and a few minutes the evening before departure.

The Bottom Line

Vietnam’s digital arrival card launched April 15, 2026 at Tan Son Nhat Airport. 161,596 people registered in the first 15 days. Nationwide rollout to Hanoi and Da Nang is confirmed and coming.

The card is free at prearrival.immigration.gov.vn. Submit it within 72 hours before your scheduled Vietnam arrival. Save the QR code offline. If a site asks you to pay for this form, it’s not the Vietnamese government.

Americans also need a separate $25 e-Visa from evisa.gov.vn — apply that one before travel, allow 3+ business days for processing, and have it sorted well before you’re in the 72-hour arrival card window.

Two portals. Five minutes total. Don’t skip either one.

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Digital arrival card: prearrival.immigration.gov.vn. Vietnam e-Visa: evisa.gov.vn. US State Department Vietnam entry requirements: travel.state.gov. Information current as of May 2026 — verify requirements with Vietnam’s Department of Immigration before travel.