In brief

On December 7, 2021, the Ministry of Transport (MoT) has just proposed to pilot immigration policy to the Prime Minister, specifically:

• Proposal to restart regular international flights since December 15, 2021 (applied for 15 countries)
• Proposal to remove medical quarantine regulations for passengers who are either fully vaccinated, or have recovered from COVID-19, or tested negative via rapid antigen testing or RT-PCR within 72 hours before their flight.

1. Proposal to Restart Regular International Flights since December 15, 2021 (applied for 15 countries)

• Phase 1 – starting from Dec 15 to Dec 31, 2021: restarting regular flights between Vietnam and the destinations with high safety will be conducted, namely Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (the Republic of Korea), Taipei (Taiwan, China), Bangkok (Thailand), Singapore, Vientiane (Laos), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), and San Francisco or Los Angeles (the US). The flights in this phase will connect with the Noi Bai international airport in Hanoi and Tan Son Nhat international airport in Ho Chi Minh City. There will be 4 flights per week per every route for each side
• Phase 2 – starting from Jan 1 to January 31, 2022: there is a plan to restart regular flights between Vietnam with: Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Hong Kong (China), Paris (France), Frankfurt (Germany), Sydney (Australia), and Moscow (Russia). The international airports of Da Nang, Cam Ranh, Phu Quoc, and Van Don are also proposed to host those flights in the second phase, in addition to Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat. The frequency will be raised to 7 flights per week per route for each side.

At the end of the pilot phases, the MoT will organize a review and evaluation to advise the Prime Minister on the restoration of normal international operations as before.

2. Proposal to remove medical quarantine regulations for passengers who are either fully vaccinated, have recovered from COVID-19, or tested negative via rapid antigen testing or RT-PCR within 72 hours before their flight.

Self-quarantining and monitoring their health at home will be applied for a period of time to ensure disease safety.

The MoT has also made a proposal to the Prime Minister to consider assigning the Ministry of Health to guide and announce the conditions and time for implementing quarantine exemption for people entering Vietnam; assigned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to preside over negotiations to soon reach an agreement with countries and territories on mutual recognition of “vaccine passports,” with priority given to countries and territories to implement in the two pilot phases mentioned above.

Nova Law will keep you updating the latest news on the immigration policies.