Foreigners married to Vietnamese nationals or to Vietnamese people who reside overseas will be entitled to a visa-free policy when entering Vietnam from mid-November onward.

The foreign wives, husbands or children of Vietnamese who reside in other countries, or of Vietnamese nationals who live in Vietnam, will be eligible for the visa waiver, to be in place on November 15, according to a government decree.

Overseas Vietnamese will also be freed from visa requirements upon entrance to their home country.

Those who want to benefit from such a visa-free policy will need to present documents proving that they are either overseas Vietnamese; foreigners married to overseas Vietnamese; or foreigners married to Vietnamese nationals who reside in Vietnam, according to the decree.

They will also be required to have a passport with at least one year of validity.

Those who are not allowed to enter Vietnam and those who are prohibited from leaving the Southeast Asian country as per the law on immigration are not eligible for the visa waiver.

People in other countries should apply for the visa exemption at the Vietnamese agencies in charge of visas there, whereas those who temporarily reside in Vietnam must complete the procedures at the Vietnam Immigration Department.

The visa exemption has a maximum validity period of five years and must be at least six months shorter than the remaining validity of the passports of the policy beneficiaries.

The visa-free policy was finally approved by the government, after Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh urged the Ministry of Public Security to speed up the preparation of the decree in July.

“The visa-free policy should create favorable conditions for Vietnamese who live overseas to return to Vietnam easily,” Deputy Prime Minister Minh, who also leads the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said.