fiona!
this information,maybe out of date.
we travelled in 2001 & had to apply for the visa before we went.
we had to send our passport off & it was stuck in it.practically the same,as we just recieved for bali,apart from that was upon arrival.
not much help i know,as it might have changed.
my sister is going in april,so i will ask her & let you know
tracy

thanks tracy. I think we are just going to send our passports off. I was hoping I wouldn't have to! We go in April as well by the way.

Hi

I travelled to Vietnam in 1999 and used a travel agent. At that time I was informed that you had to have a visa before you entered Vietnam and but this may have changed since then.

I was working in ealing (London) at the time and I recall the travel agent was based somewhere around there and he did it all for us. If I remember correctly it was quite pricey, but I loved Vietnam (especially the north) so it is well worth it.

Seems that there have been no changes. The embassy website don't seem to want to tell anyone how much visas costs. This is a bit ridiculous as you can download the form and then have to phone or email them for the info. Maybe they don't have enough to do!!
From other sites though it looks like it is going to cost £43 for a visa. (add £35 if you want someone else to do it for you!)
Thanks Gooner. ( afraid we are only going to Saigon this time as time was limited)