Vietnam Visa for Remote Workers — Da Nang Guide 2026

Visa options for Vietnam — no digital nomad visa, the 90-day e-Visa is your main route

Vietnam does not offer a dedicated digital nomad visa as of 2026. Unlike Thailand’s DTV or Portugal’s D8, there’s no special category for remote workers. Your two practical options:

1. 90-day e-Visa — Single or multi-entry, introduced in its current form in 2023. Applied online in 3 business days, 25-50 USD. This is the default route for most remote workers.
2. 1-Year Tourist Extension via visa agency — Some Da Nang and Hanoi agencies arrange longer stays by stacking visa renewals and visa runs. Legally grey, widely practiced, 300-600 USD per year.

The grey zone: working remotely for a foreign employer on a tourist or e-Visa is not explicitly authorized under Vietnamese law, but it’s widely practiced and not enforced. You’re not competing with the Vietnamese labor market, and immigration has no interest in pursuing remote workers on foreign income. That said — no legal guarantee.

90-day e-Visa (the default)

The simplest option. Since August 2023 Vietnam offers a 90-day e-Visa with single or multi-entry to citizens of 80+ countries. Apply online at evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn — no embassy visit required.

Cost: 25 USD single-entry, 50 USD multi-entry. Unchanged since 2023.

Validity: 90 days from the entry date you selected. Multi-entry lets you leave and return as often as you want within that 90-day window — useful if you plan a weekend trip to Cambodia or Thailand.

Extension: Technically allowed, practically difficult in 2026. Most remote workers do a visa run instead (exit to Thailand, Cambodia, or Laos and re-enter on a new e-Visa).

1-Year Tourist Extension via visa agency

For stays over 90 days without leaving Vietnam, local visa agencies offer a service that stitches together multiple renewals or arranges a 1-year tourist visa through business-sponsored channels. It operates in a legal grey zone.

How it works: You hand your passport to the agency. They process renewals or a new category visa through an in-country sponsor. You get back a passport with a visa or sticker valid for 6-12 months.

Cost: 300-600 USD for a year, depending on nationality and the method used.

Risks: Rules change. An agency method that worked in 2024 may not in 2026. Some “1-year tourist visas” are actually stacked 3-month visas with mandatory border crossings. Ask for the exact mechanism before paying. Use an agency with visible reviews in the Da Nang nomad Facebook groups.

Visa runs (the common default)

Most remote workers staying 6+ months simply do visa runs. Fly Da Nang → Bangkok (2-hour flight, 80-120 USD return), spend 2-3 days, come back on a new e-Visa applied from Thailand. Budget 200-300 USD for a round trip including flights, accommodation, and the new e-Visa fee.

Popular visa-run destinations from Da Nang:

• Bangkok — 2h flight, cheap hotels, easy online e-Visa application
• Phnom Penh — 2.5h flight, very fast visa-run destination
• Kuala Lumpur — 3.5h flight, good for a longer break

Cost comparison

Practical tips

For stays under 3 months: Just get the 90-day e-Visa. No paperwork beyond the 15-minute online form. Travel light, stay flexible, leave before day 90.

For stays of 3-12 months: Combine visa runs with an agency-assisted extension. Set a calendar reminder at day 75 — you need to decide by then whether to extend or run.

Don’t overstay. Vietnam fines overstayers at the airport. Small overstays (1-3 days) run 20-50 USD and a warning. Longer overstays (7+ days) trigger entry bans. At Da Nang airport they check methodically — don’t gamble.

Tax implications: Vietnam taxes residents who stay 183+ days in a calendar year. If you’re close to that threshold, consult a local tax advisor. Foreign-source income is rarely enforced against remote workers on tourist visas, but formally it can be taxable.