- Vietnam will suspend e-visa processing from February 14 to February 22, 2026, during the Tet holiday.
- Applicants should submit documents with a 7-10 day buffer to avoid post-holiday backlogs in late February.
- Same-day emergency processing options remain available through authorized services for urgent travelers during the closure.
(VIETNAM) — Vietnam suspended standard e-visa processing during the Tet Lunar New Year holiday from February 14 to 22, 2026, closing immigration offices, embassies and the Vietnam Immigration Department and pausing reviews and approvals for travelers worldwide.
The suspension affects all applicants, including tourists and business travelers. The e-visa portal remains online for submissions, but applications lodged before or during the closure stay in processing until offices reopen around February 23, 2026.
Authorities set 18:00 Vietnam time on February 14, 2026 as the last point before the holiday shutdown when applicants could secure approval before offices closed. Files that miss that point face delays stretching into late February and early March as the post-holiday backlog builds.
Tet is the most important holiday on Vietnam’s annual calendar, and the 2026 pause halts the normal workflow for a system that usually moves quickly. Standard e-visa processing normally takes 3 working days, excluding weekends and holidays.
That timetable applies to tourist, business and other e-visa submissions worldwide. During the 9-day closure, however, no manual reviews or approvals take place.
Applicants can still submit forms while offices are shut, but the online filing option does not change the status of the review queue. An application can sit in processing until staff return and restart standard handling.
Travelers planning February and March trips have been urged to apply well ahead of departure, with a buffer of 7-10 days to absorb the holiday pause and the heavier traffic that follows it. In peak periods, the more common turnaround can widen to 4-7 working days.
That advice carries extra weight for people flying in late February, when resumed processing collides with applications that piled up during Tet. Business-to-business agents and group organizers face the same pressure and have been advised to build extra time into late-February departures.
Vietnam’s e-visa processing calendar matters because airlines and border officers expect approved documents at check-in and arrival, not proof that an application has been filed. A traveler who submits during the Tet Lunar New Year closure can still hold a pending case on the day of departure if approval does not clear after offices reopen.
Standard processing resumes after February 22, but the restart does not mean immediate clearance for every pending file. High application volumes after the holiday can extend waits to 5-7+ days in peak periods.
Urgent applicants have a narrower path during the holiday period. Emergency or overtime processing remains available through authorized services for time-sensitive cases, including on holiday dates such as February 18-20.
That route follows a same-day timetable. Applicants submit the request before 13:00 Vietnam time, pay the fees, and receive approval by 18:00 the same day through email or WhatsApp for printing.
The expedited approval is issued directly on the official portal and can be presented at check-in and immigration. That makes it the only stated option for travelers who cannot wait for ordinary reviews to restart after Tet.
The holiday suspension also serves as a reminder that Tet is not the only date on the 2026 calendar that interrupts visa processing. New Year’s Day on January 1 and the Reunification Day holiday period on April 30-May 2 also pause services.
Those pauses can affect processing in the same way, with online submissions continuing while approvals stop until offices reopen. Anyone planning travel around public holidays has been told to check Vietnam’s full holiday schedule before relying on the normal 3 working days timetable.
February travel often attracts both leisure and business demand, which leaves little room for late applications when Tet falls in the middle of the month. The gap between filing and approval can widen quickly once offices close and the queue carries over into the reopening week.
Agents handling multiple passengers face a compounding problem because one delayed approval can disrupt an entire itinerary. Group travel scheduled for the end of February can therefore require a wider planning cushion than an individual trip outside a holiday window.
Business travelers face similar timing risks because the suspension applies across the same e-visa system used by tourists. The closure does not distinguish between routine visitor travel and work-related entry needs.
Vietnam has directed official applicants to use [the e-visa portal](evisa.gov.vn). Travelers seeking faster handling during Tet have also been advised to rely on official holiday schedules and authorized expedited services when checking deadlines and approval options.
The central deadline remains fixed: secure approval by 18:00 Vietnam time on February 14, 2026, or expect the application to wait through the holiday closure and into the post-Tet queue that can run into early March.
