Can I attend a conference on a tourist visa in Vietnam?

Visa policies for Vietnam are confusing. Many tourists get the VOA – the process is described here. However, some Vietnamese embassy websites state that the VOA is not legitimate and even tourists should apply for visas directly from the relevant embassy. (See for example the embassies in Britain and Australia.)

The reason the embassies do this is simple – the more visas they process directly, the more revenue they get. The fact that VOAs were instituted to make the visa process easier and increase tourist numbers as part of general government policy doesn’t seem to faze them.

Generally, academics going to conferences in Vietnam use VOAs without problems. However, a recent case discussed on the Vietnam Scholar Group email discussion board shows that there is a certain risk involved.

VSG discussion

In this case, an academic from Australia presenting at a conference was not allowed to board his flight from Manila to Hanoi, even though he had the letter that would allow him to get a VOA. The airline pointed to an embassy directive like the ones you find on their websites. He had used VOAs several times before without problems. It may be that Manila is not a common entry point for westerners going to Vietnam, so the airline wasn’t used to dealing with VOA letters. If you are coming from China, this might be a concern.

On the business visa question, it seems that to get this sort of visa, the sponsoring agency must provide you with an “entry clearance” letter contain your passport info etc – an invitation letter isn’t enough. The organizers of your conference might go to the trouble of doing this for you if you asked them. Alternatively, you might want to consult the relevant embassy directly and see if a tourist visa is an option – I doubt anyone will bother you about it once you are in the country.

Conferences fall into a gray area, while they are technically business related, they are more about exchanging ideas and education rather than making business deals. As such, there is no etched in stone policy and each county treats them differently. As the conference organizers in Vietnam are suggesting a tourist visa, it would seem that the government does not view this conference as 'conducting business in Vietnam'.

As a complement to the other answers, I can offer my personal experience that I made it in and out of the country (and the conference) without any trouble, using a visa-on-arrival letter.

Of course, this is not authoritative information, just anecdotal.