Vietnam Digital Arrival Card: How the PAI Pre-Arrival Form Works

What the Digital Arrival Card Actually Is

The Vietnamese name for it on the government portal is Pre-arrival Information, shortened to PAI. Travellers call it the digital arrival card, the pre-arrival declaration, or the arrival QR. All three describe the same online form at prearrival.immigration.gov.vn, run by the Immigration Department under the Ministry of Public Security.

It collects what immigration used to take off a paper card in the arrivals hall: who you are, which flight you are on, what visa you hold, and where you are staying. You fill it in before you fly, the system emails you a QR code, and an officer scans that code instead of typing your details by hand. The department's own statement describes the point as moving data collection ahead of the counter so the queue moves faster.

Three things it is not. It is not a visa. It does not accept applications, and no officer at the counter will treat it as permission to enter. It is not a fee: the form is free on the government portal, and any site charging you for it is selling you something you can get in five minutes yourself. And it is not the e-visa portal, which lives at a different address and produces a different document. It is also not the health declaration that Decree 165/2026 introduced at border gates, which is a Ministry of Health form and a separate system entirely.

That second one causes a lot of needless anxiety, so it gets its own page: Vietnam health declaration 2026 explains what the decree actually says, why no form is being filed at the moment, and why tokhaiyte.vn should be ignored.

Where the paper entry card still appears, mainly for visa on arrival travellers, the digital declaration is meant to take its place. Our NA5 form guide covers that paper process if you are getting your visa stamped at the airport and want to know what the officer will ask for.

Which Airports Ask for It

The rollout started at Tan Son Nhat on 15 April 2026 and widened through the spring. Five airports are on the list now, and they happen to cover most long-haul arrivals into Vietnam.

Airport	Code	Reported start
Tan Son Nhat, Ho Chi Minh City	SGN	15 April 2026
Phu Quoc International	PQC	1 June 2026
Noi Bai, Hanoi	HAN	8 June 2026
Da Nang International	DAD	15 June 2026
Cam Ranh, Nha Trang	CXR	June 2026

Airports outside that group, including Cat Bi in Hai Phong, Lien Khuong for Da Lat, Phu Bai for Hue, Can Tho and Vinh, are not collecting the declaration yet. If you land at one of those, nothing changes for you.

There is one honest wrinkle in the official language worth knowing about, because you will see both versions online. When the system launched at Tan Son Nhat, the Immigration Department described it as a pilot, run by encouraging passengers rather than penalising them. Over the first 15 days, from 15 to 30 April, roughly 70 percent of arriving foreigners filled one in, and about half of those submissions cleared on the first try. The failures were mostly flight numbers that did not match airline records.

Since then the messaging has hardened. Vietnam's missions abroad have told foreign travellers to complete the declaration before arrival, and airline and airport notices at all five airports now present it as required. US and Singapore embassy notices use the softer word "encouraged" and add that it can also be completed on arrival.

Practically, that means nobody is refused entry for skipping it, but nothing good comes of skipping it either. It is free, it takes about five minutes, and the alternative is doing it in a crowded arrivals hall while your queue moves on without you.

The 72-Hour Window

You cannot file the declaration months ahead, and you should not leave it to the boarding gate. The portal accepts submissions within three days of your arrival, which is the same as 72 hours. Try earlier and the date field will refuse you.

Two days out is the sweet spot for most people. It is inside the window, it gives you time to correct a rejected submission, and it is early enough that you are not filling in a passport number in an airport departure lounge with the gate already closing. If you are on a long-haul itinerary with connections, use the flight number of the flight that actually lands in Vietnam, not the first leg.

Sitting in a transit lounge at Tan Son Nhat or Noi Bai without clearing immigration, on your way to a third country? You are not entering Vietnam, so the declaration does not apply to you. If instead your itinerary means you clear immigration on the way through, then you are arriving in Vietnam for border purposes and you file like everyone else.

Filling In the Form, Step by Step

Open the portal. Go to prearrival.immigration.gov.vn directly rather than through a search result or an ad. Pick your language: Vietnamese, English, Chinese and French are all offered. On the landing page, choose the option to create and submit a declaration, then clear the CAPTCHA.

Passenger details. Name exactly as printed in your passport, passport number, date of birth, nationality. The portal can read a photo of your passport data page and fill most of this in for you, which is faster and less error prone than typing. Check whatever it reads. If it misreads a character in your passport number, you will be explaining that at the counter.

Visa details. Enter your e-visa number if you hold one, or the approval letter details for visa on arrival. Visa-exempt travellers record the exemption they are entering under. If you are not certain which category applies to you, the 2026 exemption list sets out who currently travels visa free and for how long.

Trip details. Flight number, arrival date, where you are flying in from, purpose of visit, and how you are arriving: air, land or sea. The form takes seat numbers badly, so leave them out. The flight number field is the one that causes the most failed submissions, because a typo there means the declaration will not match the airline's passenger record.

Address in Vietnam. Your hotel name and address, or a friend's address if you are staying with someone. Put the final destination you are travelling to, not the transit airport.

Email and confirmation. The system sends a one-time code to your email to verify it. Enter the code, confirm the summary looks right, and the portal issues a confirmation with a QR code and a file number. Screenshot the QR, download the PDF, and email it to yourself. Airport Wi-Fi drops, so do not rely on a live connection to load it at the counter.

Who Has to File (and Who Does Not)

Every foreign passport holder who passes through immigration, regardless of how they are entering. That covers e-visa holders, approval letter travellers getting a stamp at the airport, and visa-exempt arrivals from the 45-day countries. It also covers overseas Vietnamese travelling into Vietnam on a foreign passport with a visa.

Each person files separately. That includes children and infants: a family of four generates four QR codes, not one. You can add several passengers in a single session on one device, which is easier than starting over four times, but each traveller still ends up with an individual code.

Not covered: Vietnamese citizens travelling on Vietnamese passports, and passengers who stay airside in transit without clearing immigration. Airline crew and diplomats are handled under separate arrangements.

Mistakes That Cause Delays

A flight number that does not match. This was the single biggest cause of failed submissions in the first fortnight of the pilot, and it has not stopped being the classic error. If you file two days before flying, use the flight number on the ticket you will actually board. If your airline changes the flight number at short notice, file again.

Typing the passport number instead of copying it. A letter O read as a zero, or a transposed digit, puts your declaration out of step with your passport and your e-visa. Read the data page character by character, or use the passport photo upload and then check the result.

Filing too early. Submissions more than 72 hours ahead are rejected, and some travellers only discover this when they try a week out and conclude the portal is broken.

Assuming it replaces your visa. It does not. Arriving with a QR code and no e-visa is arriving with no visa. If your e-visa is still pending, our guide to the e-visa still processing stage covers what to do in the days before your flight.

Paying a third party for a free form. Several commercial websites now dress themselves up as the arrival card service and charge for filing it, sometimes $20 and up. The government form costs nothing. Any page asking for a card number for a compulsory "arrival card fee" is not the official portal.

Leaving it until the airport. You can declare on arrival at Tan Son Nhat, where kiosks and paper forms sit in the arrivals hall. It is legal and it works, but it puts you behind every traveller who did it in advance. At peak hours, when several long-haul flights land together, that can mean 20 to 40 minutes on top of an immigration queue that is already long.

Land Borders and What Is Still Unconfirmed

Everything above concerns airports, because that is where the system operates today. The Immigration Department has said it is working with other agencies on extending the declaration to land crossings, and the portal already lets you select land or sea as your mode of arrival. That is a strong hint about where this is going, not a rule you have to follow right now.

You will find travel sites claiming a land gate such as Dong Dang is already live. Treat that as unconfirmed until the portal or an official notice says so. If you are crossing overland from Cambodia or Laos, the entry rules that matter are the ones about your visa: there is no visa on arrival at land gates, so you need an e-visa or a visa arranged in advance. The Moc Bai crossing guide and the Lao Bao route cover those crossings in detail.

One more honest limitation. Coverage has changed four times in five months, and the per-airport start dates come from airport and airline advisories rather than one published decision document. Before you fly, open prearrival.immigration.gov.vn and check that your arrival airport is on the list. It is the only source that is current by definition, and it takes ten seconds.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Vietnam digital arrival card mandatory?

It started at Tan Son Nhat on 15 April 2026 as a pilot the Immigration Department described as encouraged rather than penalised, and it has since spread to four more airports. Airline and airport notices at all five now present it as required. File it. Skipping it cannot help you and can add time at the counter.

Does the digital arrival card replace my visa?

No. The Pre-arrival Information system only collects your details before you fly, and the department states plainly that it does not receive applications or approve visas. You still need a valid e-visa, approval letter or exemption. Our e-visa guide covers that side of the paperwork.

When can I submit the arrival declaration?

Within 72 hours of arrival, so three days before at the earliest. The portal will not accept a date further out. Filing 24 to 48 hours ahead is comfortable and leaves room to fix anything that fails verification.

Which airports use the digital arrival card?

Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City, Cam Ranh for Nha Trang, Noi Bai in Hanoi, Da Nang and Phu Quoc. Smaller international airports such as Cat Bi, Lien Khuong, Phu Bai, Can Tho and Vinh are not on the list yet. Land and sea gates are still under study.

Do children and infants need their own arrival card?

Yes. Every foreign traveller who passes through immigration needs a separate declaration and a separate QR code, including babies. You can add several passengers in one session, but each traveller gets an individual QR.

What happens if I arrive without filing it?

You are not turned away. At Tan Son Nhat there are QR kiosks and paper forms in the arrivals hall so you can declare on the spot, but you join a slower line and the wait can add 20 to 40 minutes on top of the immigration queue. Filing before you board takes about five minutes.

The Short Version

The digital arrival card is a free online declaration at prearrival.immigration.gov.vn, filed within 72 hours of landing at Tan Son Nhat, Noi Bai, Da Nang, Cam Ranh or Phu Quoc. You get a QR code by email, you show it to the immigration officer, and you still need a visa or an exemption to enter. Copy the details from your passport rather than typing them from memory, use the flight number of the aircraft that lands in Vietnam, and file a day or two before you fly. That is the whole job, and it takes less time than reading about it.

If the part before the airport is what worries you, our airport arrival walkthrough covers what happens from the jet bridge to the taxi rank, and travelling with children explains the extra documents minors need on top of their own arrival card.

Already in Vietnam and working out your next border crossing? HCMC Visa Run handles the Moc Bai route from Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi Visa Run covers the northern gates, and Nha Trang Visa Run works out of Cam Ranh and the central coast. All three are part of the same Vietnam visa network we run.