Promote tourism and other sectors to develop
On the afternoon of June 2, continuing the program of the 5th Session, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens and the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam.
Notably, the draft Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam (amended) will increase the duration of e-visas from 30 days to 3 months, valid for single or multiple entries.
The draft Law increases the temporary residence period from 15 days to 45 days for citizens of countries that Vietnam unilaterally exempts from visas and will be considered for visa issuance and temporary residence extension according to other provisions of the Law.
Speaking, delegate Nguyen Thanh Phuong (Can Tho delegation) supported the need to amend two laws on entry and exit of Vietnamese citizens and foreigners in Vietnam.
Regarding visa issuance for foreigners and visa duration. Delegate Thanh Phuong agreed to increase the visa duration for foreigners granted EV visa code, i.e. electronic visa from 30 days to 3 months.
Delegate Phuong also informed that according to the report of the Ministry of Public Security, when restoring the entry and exit policy as before Covid-19, from March 15, 2022 to now, the number of e-visas issued has increased 46.6 times compared to the same period before the Covid epidemic. This shows the need and convenience of adding e-visas for foreigners.
National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Thanh Phuong speaks at the discussion session.
The Government has drafted a Resolution on the list of 156 countries and territories that issue electronic visas and the list of 13 river border gates, 13 land border gates and 13 sea border gates that allow foreigners to enter with electronic visas attached to this draft law.
Thus, it shows that we are creating very favorable conditions for foreigners to come to Vietnam in terms of the time and value of the extended visa, meeting the long-term vacation needs of foreign tourists, creating favorable conditions for foreigners who want to come to Vietnam to research, survey the market, seek, promote investment or other activities.
“Hopefully it will have a positive impact on tourism and other educational, scientific and economic activities of our country,” delegate Phuong expressed.
The draft law also mentions increasing the temporary residence period from 15 days to 45 days. However, delegate Phuong also gave reasons for proposing to increase the temporary residence period to 60 days.
“This is the right time for tourists who want to stay long enough. It is also suitable for the activities of Vietnamese and international tourism businesses. Therefore, we should consider increasing the temporary stay period to 60 days so that Vietnam's policy is similar to countries like Thailand or Singapore,” said delegate Phuong.
Delegate Le Nhat Thanh (Hanoi delegation) also said that the Government's proposal to increase the duration of e-visas to 3 months, valid for single or multiple entries, aims to meet the long-term vacation needs of international tourists from distant markets.
At the same time, creating favorable conditions for foreigners who want to enter Vietnam to research, survey the market, seek investment promotion, especially those who want to travel to many countries in the region and return to Vietnam to evaluate and compare the possibility of expanding business investment in Vietnam is very suitable to the practical situation.
Concerns about temporary residence period of foreigners
Meanwhile, delegate Nguyen Tam Hung (Ba Ria - Vung Tau delegation) still had concerns about the temporary residence period of foreigners in Vietnam and Vietnam's visa exemption in the draft law. According to the delegate, this issue is still not much compared to other countries in the region, there are some unclear regulations.
Specifically, in Clause 3, Article 2 of the draft law amending and supplementing Point c, Clause 4, Article 19a of the Law on allowing foreigners to enter and exit the country with electronic visas, the delegate requested the Drafting Committee to clarify the content that citizens of countries that Vietnam unilaterally exempts from visas will be granted temporary residence for 45 days. So, in the case of citizens of other countries, how many days will they be granted temporary residence?
On the other hand, through studying Vietnam's visa policy compared to some countries in the region, the delegate said that compared to some countries, Vietnam's temporary residence period is currently lower than some countries in the region, and many countries also unilaterally apply visa exemptions.
Delegates cited Vietnam's visa policy in the tourism sector compared to other countries in Southeast Asia.
Delegates attending the meeting on the afternoon of June 2.
According to the delegate, currently, among the 11 Southeast Asian countries, only Vietnam and Myanmar require a visa before arrival for most international tourists entering for 30 days or less; Cambodia, Laos and East Timor have also at least applied a visa-on-arrival policy for international tourists entering for 30 days or less;
Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia have exempted visas for 30 to 90 days for international tourists from most of their major markets.
Currently, Vietnam only applies visa exemption for short-term tourists, equal to 15 to 50% compared to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia. The number of countries with visa exemption for Vietnamese tourists is also only equal to 5 to 15% compared to ASEAN countries.
“From the above practice, comparing with the revised provisions on visas in the draft law, I see that the revision on the temporary residence period of foreigners in Vietnam and the visa exemption of Vietnam has not increased the time as much as other countries in the region.
Therefore, I suggest that the Drafting Committee consider this content further and need to increase visa exemptions, extend and strengthen temporary residence periods for foreigners in the draft law," said delegate Tam Hung .
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