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Every card says why to go, what to know before you do, and what catches people out.
Visa-free entry — 45 days must
Russia · Korea · UK · most of the EU
Russia, South Korea, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Japan all get 45 days visa-free for any purpose, valid to March 2028.
Worth knowing. Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland also get 45 days, but for tourism purposes only — a real difference if you are coming to work.
Careful. The USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China and India are NOT exempt and need an e-visa. Several travel sites list them wrongly. This is information, not legal advice — verify at evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn.
E-visa — up to 90 days
evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn
$25–50
single / multiple entry · checked
Open to every nationality since 2023, up to 90 days. Multiple entry at $50 is usually the sensible buy if you plan any regional travel.
Worth knowing. Processing takes about three working days; apply at least a week ahead. The entry port on the visa must match where you actually arrive.
Careful. The e-visa cannot be extended from inside Vietnam. The fee is non-refundable even if you are refused. There is no retirement visa in Vietnam.
Xuan Huong, the town centre
This is where a foreigner in Da Lat goes for anything involving their stay: extending a visa, applying for a temporary residence card, dealing with a lost passport or a registration problem. Applications are handed in and documents collected at the province's one-stop administrative centre at 19 Tran Phu, in the middle of town — you do not need to go anywhere else for ordinary matters.
Viettel SIM card must
Official stores in town
150k₫
$5.70
30 days, 5 GB/day · checked
Viettel has the most consistent coverage in the highlands. On the passes and farm roads the other networks drop out and Viettel does not.
Worth knowing. 7 days is 60k, 15 days is 80k. Passport registration is legally required for a physical SIM — buy at an official store, not a phone stall, and skip the airport kiosks which charge 20–30% more. eSIM from resellers usually needs no passport.
ATMs and cash
Khu Hoa Binh · Tran Phu · GO!
0–66k₫
$0–2.50
fee per withdrawal · approx.
VPBank and Eximbank are usually the cheapest for foreign cards — VPBank has been reported as free with a 10,000,000₫ per-transaction limit. Vietcombank is the most common and the worst value at 50–66k with a 2–3M cap.
Worth knowing. Always decline conversion into your card's currency and choose VND. Withdraw the maximum in one go to spread the flat fee — it is charged per transaction, not per amount. You need cash daily: street food, markets and small cafes do not take cards.
Careful. VietQR, which everyone local pays with, needs a Vietnamese bank account. Tourists cannot use it, and there is no support for European or Russian home systems. Korean visitors can pay via GLN.
A gold shop that changes cash — standard practice in Vietnam and usually the best rate in town: a bank gives less, an airport counter gives far less. They take dollars and euros, and they inspect the notes: torn, creased or written-on bills may be refused or taken at a worse rate. Bring your passport, though they do not always ask.
A bank account for a foreigner and paying by QR
city-wide
With an account at a Vietnamese bank you can go almost cashless in Da Lat: you pay by scanning the merchant's QR code inside your banking app. It works in cafes, shops, with taxi drivers and at the market — say "QR" and they will show you the code. This is the national VietQR standard, nothing to set up separately: every major bank app has it.
Worth knowing. The central bank rules ask a foreigner for a valid passport and a visa or a visa-exemption document. No minimum visa length is set by law — the "twelve months" is an internal bank policy and differs from bank to bank. Banks add proof of address: the police temporary-residence paper or a rental contract. At VietinBank we were asked for the passport and the paper registration.
Careful. On a 90-day e-visa the outcome is decided not by the bank but by the branch and even the clerk — the one thing everyone who takes foreigners to banks agrees on. Online lists of "this one opens, that one doesn't" contradict each other and go stale within months: in the summer of 2026 some sources say the big banks stopped opening accounts on an e-visa, while others report the opposite in the same weeks. So go with the full set — passport, printed visa, proof of address and a local SIM in your own name for the codes — and if refused, do not argue, try another branch. With a temporary residence card, a one-year visa or a work permit the account is opened the same day, no lottery. Plan a branch visit for the biometrics: without them online transfers have not worked since 2025, and a transfer over 10M VND at once or 20M VND a day needs face confirmation; a foreigner can only be enrolled in person. Headlines about banks refusing passports from 2026 do not apply to you — that rule is about Vietnamese citizens.
all over Da Lat, delivered to you · 07:00–22:00
A private money changer we use ourselves, and more than once. He swaps roubles and USDT for dong and delivers the cash anywhere in Da Lat free of charge — that is the difference from a bank or a street counter: the money comes to you, not the other way round. Cash is optional: he can transfer to a Vietnamese account, or hand it over by QR code through BIDV and Vietcombank ATMs anywhere in the country. On request, Thai baht through Bangkok Bank ATMs in Thailand.
departs from Da Lat
A border run by car with your own group, instead of the night bus and instead of flying. It suits the people the other two options fail: you cannot put a cat or a dog in a coach cabin, for a family of three or four the flights cost more than the car, and the drive itself turns into a short trip with stops rather than a day in a seat. It is run by the same person who delivers currency exchange around Da Lat.
Police registration (tam tru) must
Ward police · lamdong.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn
Every foreigner's address must be declared within 12 hours of arrival. It is your landlord's or hotel's legal duty, not yours — but it is your problem if they skip it.
Worth knowing. On your first day in a new rental, ask your landlord for proof they filed it and photograph it. Undeclared residence causes problems later at extension or residence-card stage.
Careful. Since 15 Dec 2025 the fines on the accommodation provider run from 3M to 25M₫. Since May 2026 filing goes through a unified national platform. District-level police no longer exist — go to ward police.
If the landlord ignores the filing, it is you the police come to. They turn up at the rented place — sometimes at five in the morning — and wait there until the owner appears.
Do not pass the place on to friends without the owner’s agreement, which means without registering the new residents with the police. Somebody will complain, the police will come and move them out, and your relationship with the owner will most likely end there.