Vietnam's New Digital Arrival Card: What Families Need to Know
If you've travelled to Vietnam before and don't remember filling in any "arrival card" — you're not forgetting. It's new. Vietnam switched on a digital pre-arrival form on 15 April 2026, so any trip before then didn't involve it.
It's officially called the Pre-Arrival Information system (PAI), though you'll see it called the Digital Arrival Card too. Here's what it is, where it applies, and whether your family actually needs to worry about it.
What it is
It's a free online form you complete before you fly. You enter your passport, visa, flight, and accommodation details, and the system gives you a QR code. When you land, immigration scans the code instead of typing everything in by hand. The whole point is to move the queue along faster.
It's a separate step from your visa or e-visa. It doesn't replace anything — it sits alongside whatever entry approval you already need.
Where it applies (and where it doesn't)
This is the bit most families get wrong, so read this part carefully.
Right now the arrival card is only mandatory at two airports:
Tan Son Nhat (SGN) — Ho Chi Minh City, since 15 April 2026
Phu Quoc (PQC) — since 1 June 2026
It is not currently required if you fly into:
Da Nang (DAD) — the gateway for Hoi An
Noi Bai (HAN) — Hanoi
Cam Ranh (CXR) — Nha Trang
So if you're joining one of our camps in Hoi An, you'll most likely fly into Da Nang — and the arrival card isn't required there yet. Good news, one less form for now.
The honest caveat: the official portal already has fields built in for other provinces and for land and sea borders, which points to a nationwide rollout down the track. No date has been announced. So if you're flying into Da Nang or Hanoi, it's worth a quick check before you travel in case the rules have caught up.
Who needs it
If it applies at your airport, then it covers nearly every foreign arrival.
Every traveller needs their own declaration — including children. Parents can fill it in on behalf of each child using the child's passport and details. So for a family of six, that's six forms.
Vietnamese citizens travelling on a Vietnamese passport are exempt.
Passengers in direct airside transit who don't clear immigration are exempt.
Having a visa or e-visa doesn't get you out of it. They're two different things.
How and when to do it
The official portal is prearrival.immigration.gov.vn. That's the one to use.
It's free.
You can only submit within 72 hours of your scheduled arrival — the system won't let you do it earlier, so don't try to knock it out weeks ahead.
Save your QR code once you've finished. If you turn up without it, you'll be redoing the form at the airport, which defeats the purpose.
Don't confuse it with the health declaration
There are two separate forms floating around for 2026, and people keep mixing them up:
The Digital Arrival Card (this one) — Immigration Department, currently SGN and Phu Quoc only, QR code at the counter.
The Health Declaration — Ministry of Health, starts 1 July 2026, applies at every border gate in the country.
Different departments, different forms, different rules. Filling in one doesn't cover the other.
A word of warning
As with the health declaration, third-party sites have sprung up offering to "do the arrival card for you," sometimes for a fee. The real form is free and lives on the government immigration portal. Don't pay a lookalike site or hand over your family's passport details to one. If it isn't prearrival.immigration.gov.vn, give it a miss.
Our take
For most of our Hoi An camp families flying into Da Nang, this one's a non-event for now — you don't need it there yet. If your route takes you through Ho Chi Minh City or Phu Quoc, it's a five-minute job per person, done inside the 72-hour window, with the QR code saved to your phone.
We'll keep watching the rollout. The moment Da Nang or Hanoi gets added, we'll let you know — and if you've booked a trip with us, we'll spell out exactly what you need before you go.
Official sources
Only use the government portal. Everything else is unofficial.
Official arrival card portal:prearrival.immigration.gov.vn
Vietnam Immigration Department — for current rules at your specific airport
Your airline — confirm requirements at check-in
The form is free. Avoid any third-party site offering to file it for you.
