Repeated Vietnam e-Visa returns asking to fill in all blanks

Hi everyone,
I am an Iranian passport holder living in Australia, and I am applying for a Vietnam tourist e-Visa for my upcoming holiday.

Hello Mehrnoush SA, and welcome to the expat.com Vietnam forum.

My application has been returned several times with the message asking me to “fill in all the blanks”, even though I have carefully checked the application and all required fields appear to be completed.

The issue is likely due to the passport you are applying under.

I have contacted the e-Visa support team by email, but no response. My application currently shows “Processing”.

Of the literally hundreds of expat.com members who have emailed immigration, none have ever reported receiving a reply. This isn't to say that emails are not read and considered, just that a reply should not be anticipated.

I would really appreciate hearing from anyone, especially Iranian passport holders living in Australia or other countries, who has experienced the same issue and eventually received their e-Visa.

* Did you change anything in your application that helped?
* Did you submit a new application or keep using the existing one?
* Did you contact immigration or use an agent?
* How long did it take to receive approval?

Any recent experiences or practical advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! - @Mehrnoush SA

This is a situation with which we are very familiar. There was a recent thread started by an Iranian member experiencing the same trouble as you, here. Take a few moments to read through the thread, especially post #12 in that thread and the links contained therein.

I wish we could offer you a clear workaround.

Have you considered using the services of a proven and reliable local Vietnam visa agency?

Hi everyone,
I am an Iranian passport holder living in Australia, and I am applying for a Vietnam tourist e-Visa for my upcoming holiday.

My application has been returned several times with the message asking me to “fill in all the blanks”, even though I have carefully checked the application and all required fields appear to be completed.

I have contacted the e-Visa support team by email, but no response. My application currently shows “Processing”.

I would really appreciate hearing from anyone, especially Iranian passport holders living in Australia or other countries, who has experienced the same issue and eventually received their e-Visa.

* Did you change anything in your application that helped?
* Did you submit a new application or keep using the existing one?
* Did you contact immigration or use an agent?
* How long did it take to receive approval?

Any recent experiences or practical advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! - @Mehrnoush SA

Everything Aidan has written is spot on.

I highly recommend that you contact a trustworthy Visa agency to help you submit a more extensive visa application.

Your passport is almost certainly the problem.

Citizens of any nation experiencing political instability or economic depression OR, people from any nation with a significant record of their citizens having violated visa restrictions in the past "seem to be" routinely held in limbo.

There are certainly political reasons why Vietnam doesn't want to bar all citizens of certain nations, so instead it seems that the government wants well-motivated foreigners to engage the services of an agent who will investigate your situation more thoroughly, with you shouldering the added expense through your inflated fee to the agent.

Best of luck to you 🙏

@Aidan in HCMC

Thanks so much for getting back to me.

actually I’m so confused does that mean my application could stay pending forever, or will they eventually approve or reject it?

Also, my partner finally received a different email asking for return flight ticket, insurance and travel expenses while I keep getting the same “fill in the blanks” message. Could this be a good sign for my partner’s application, or does it not necessarily mean anything?

@Aidan in HCMC
Thanks so much for getting back to me.

Your quite welcome, of course.

actually I’m so confused does that mean my application could stay pending forever, or will they eventually approve or reject it?

Your application will continue to show as "Processing" until such time as it is approved, assuming you've no prior immigration infractions. I've only once heard of an application being outright rejected, and that was from a tourist in Hanoi who arrived without his travel companion. Their companion's application was rejected, from what I was told, due to a prior visa over-stay (11 months over-stay!).

If you're confident that your application contains no errors, resubmit it without making any amendments/corrections. There is no limit to the number of times an application can be resubmitted. Several members had resubmitted their application more than 12 times before receiving approval. If you'd like, you can tell us what information you've submitted in each field of the application, and we'll review it here on the forum and check for errors.

You didn't mention when your expected (hoped for) arrival date is. If soon, you'd be well advised to follow member OceanBeach92107's suggestion to contact the local trusted agency successfully used by many of our members.

Note: No member of expat.com has any financial interest in referring applicants to that agency. We do so only in an effort to help applicants receive their eVisa application approval.

Also, my partner finally received a different email asking for return flight ticket, insurance and travel expenses while I keep getting the same “fill in the blanks” message. Could this be a good sign for my partner’s application, or does it not necessarily mean anything? - @Mehrnoush SA

Safe to assume that your partner is also applying under an Iranian passport? If not, please tell us the passport with which they'll be travelling under. The request for additional information/amendment they've received suggests that their application, like yours, is being subjected to enhanced scrutiny. I say this due to "proof of onward travel" (i.e. return flight ticket) not being required to enter Vietnam. Nor is travel insurance a prerequisite for approval.

Again, if your partner is confident that their application contains no errors, have them resubmit it as is with no changes. You'll likely find it being rejected again, possibly with a different/new reason for it not being approved.  You can also let us know what information your partner provided in each of their application's fields and we'll take a look at it to check for errors.

We're well aware of just how incredibly frustrating this is for people wishing to visit.