Many people still say “entry ban”, but under current Vietnamese law the correct term is “entry not yet permitted” under Article 21 of Consolidated Document 62/VBHN-VPQH (consolidating Law 47/2014/QH13 on foreigners’ entry, exit, transit and residence in Vietnam, as amended by Laws 51/2019, 23/2023, 118/2025 and 103/2025). The consolidated document no longer contains a standalone “entry ban” article as the original Law 47/2014 did — the regimes have been merged. This article uses the current terminology and lists all cases with their applicable durations.
1. The 09 cases of entry not yet permitted (Article 21, Consolidated Document 62)
Article 21 lists 09 cases in which a foreigner is not yet permitted to enter Vietnam:
- Failing to meet entry conditions under Article 20 (see section 5);
- Children under 14 not accompanied by a parent, guardian, or authorized person;
- Forging documents or making false declarations to obtain entry/exit or residence documents;
- Suffering from mental illness or a dangerous infectious disease posing a risk to public health;
- Having been deported less than 03 years ago, counting from the effective date of the deportation decision;
- Having been ordered to exit less than 06 months ago, counting from the effective date of the exit order;
- Disease prevention and control reasons;
- Natural disaster reasons;
- National defense, security, social order and safety reasons — the law sets no fixed duration here; the decision and its lifting are made by the Minister of Public Security and the Minister of National Defense (Clauses 4 and 5, Article 22).
2. Duration for each case
| Case | Duration |
|---|---|
| Deported (Clause 5, Article 21) | Less than 03 years from the decision’s effective date |
| Ordered to exit (Clause 6, Article 21) | Less than 06 months from the decision’s effective date |
| Disease control (Clause 7) | As decided by the competent authority in each period |
| Natural disaster (Clause 8) | As decided by the competent authority in each period |
| National defense/security (Clause 9) | No statutory duration — decided and lifted case by case by the Minister of Public Security / Minister of National Defense |
| Remaining cases (Clauses 1–4) | Until the cause is remedied (conditions met, valid documents, recovery…) |
Note: current law provides no “5-year” or “10-year entry ban”. Any such figures circulating online have no basis in Consolidated Document 62.
3. Who decides? (Article 22)
- Head of the immigration control unit: cases under Clauses 1–6, Article 21;
- Minister of Health: disease prevention and control (Clause 7);
- Minister of Agriculture and Environment: natural disasters (Clause 8);
- Minister of Public Security, Minister of National Defense: national defense, security, order and safety (Clause 9).
4. “Ordered exit” vs. “deportation” — not the same thing
These two concepts are often confused but differ in legal nature:
- “Forced exit” is an administrative handling measure (Clause 8, Article 3 of Consolidated Document 62) — applied when a foreigner’s temporary residence expires without departure (Point a, Clause 1, Article 30);
- “Deportation” is a sanction (principal or supplementary) imposed on a foreign individual committing an administrative violation (Point b, Clause 11, Article 21 of Decree 282/2025/ND-CP).
Hence the different re-entry waiting periods: 03 years after deportation, 06 months after a forced exit.
5. General entry conditions and related consequences
Under Article 20 of Consolidated Document 62, a foreigner entering Vietnam must hold a passport or valid international travel document and a visa (except visa-exempt cases), and must not fall under any Article 21 case. For unilateral visa exemption, the passport must remain valid for at least 06 months.
Related consequence: no visa is issued to persons falling under the entry-not-yet-permitted cases (Clause 3, Article 10).
Need advice on entry conditions, visas, or handling an entry refusal? Contact FLAT Law Firm for support.
For reference only; not legal advice. Consolidated Document 62/VBHN-VPQH (issued 23 March 2026) is the latest version to consult; citations of the original Law 47/2014 should be re-checked against the consolidated text.
For reference only, not legal advice. Content quality-checked by the AI Legal Council; not yet reviewed by a human lawyer.
