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American passport holders got good news recently for travel to three countries: China, Vietnam, and Brazil.
China allows Americans a 72 hour visit to several cities without a prior visa as long as you fly into China from one country and fly out to another country. My brother and I used this transit visa to hike the Great Wall of China near Beijing.
Soon (no exact date given) China will lengthen these transit visas to six days (144 hours.) That is great news as we would have loved a few extra days to see Beijing.
In October, Vietnam cut the price of a single entry visa from $45 to $25. Other visas are more expensive. Americans either need to get their Vietnam visa in advance of travel or pay a company to provide a letter that allows for a visa on arrival. I will have a review of a visa-letter company soon because I am going to Vietnam next week.
Last week, Brazil announced that Americas, Canadians, Japanese, and Australians do not need a visa for travel from June 1 to September 18, 2016 for stays up to 90 days. I am not sure if you just need to enter by September 18 and can get a 90 day stamp that runs through December or whether you need to exit Brazil by December 18.
The normal visa costs Americans $160.
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Scott – if you are going to Hanoi, the VOA (Visa on Arrival) works well. I used the Sheraton to take care of my letter. I’m sure there were cheaper options but I didn’t want to be sending copies of my passports and I could see the person face to face at the hotel if needed. It was very easy when we arrived at the airport. I hear that Saigon may have longer lines and VOA may not be as easy there but haven’t done that myself. More details here: http://therewardboss.com/get-vietnam-tourist-visa-faster-cheaper/
Scott – We just visited Danang in December. We used Vietnam Visa Pro and they worked very well for us. We paid extra for the arrival services and they did pretty much everything for us. I was really happy with them.
What did the arrival service consist of specifically?