We are heading to Vietnam and Cambodia for the holiday. I went to the Vietnamese Embassy in Holland Village, today, to get my Visa. I was completely surprised that they collected 105SGD from me! That's about 80USD! I was surprised because the fees for online visas were $20... so... I went back to check the fine prints.
The cost for a Vietnamese Visa varies by embassy. In Singapore, it's about 80USD, in Washington D.C., it's apparently slightly more (100USD?). I read in another blog that the embassy in Thailand screwed up his visas (http://www.renegadetravels.com/how-to-get-a-vietnam-visa-in-bangkok/).
Now, the online system is called a Visa on Arrival (VOA) and is only valid for air travel. You go online, enter all of your passport information, pay $20USD and someone in Vietnam obtains an entry letter for you. You then print this letter, and bring it along with 2 passport photos to Vietnam. There, you pay an additional $45USD for your basic single entry visa. This process totals to about 65USD, and saves you anywhere from 15 to 35 USD. Instead of spending time traveling to the Embassy to drop off and then pick up your passport, you spend time filling out online forms, printing, and then waiting in line at Immigrations in the airport. The latter can take as little as 15 minutes, to, what I assume is 45 minutes. I assume it's similar to general immigration waiting times.
Some online VOAs might be scams. Be careful, but, in general, I believe the Vietnamese government officially warns against the online VOA simply to get more money from "wealthy" tourists.
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