Travelers who are interested in living among Vietnam’s tropical rainforests, bustling street food scenes, and ornate pagodas will be glad to know the Southeast Asian nation is introducing a new golden visa program.
The Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board has made a recommendation to the government that the new program have three tiers, according to a report in Financial Express. The first tier is a golden visa, offering a stay of 5 to 10 years with the possibility to then extend for a longer period. The second option is an investor visa, also valid for 10 years, with the option to start the process of becoming a permanent resident after 5 years. The third is a talent visa, which is aimed toward professionals in specific fields and lasts five years with an easy renewal process.
The exact eligibility requirements for each of the three new visas have yet to be released. And although applications haven’t opened yet, the entire process is expected to be digital, simplifying the paperwork and eliminating the need to visit an embassy in person.
Golden visa programs are typically launched to bring more investors and professional expertise to a nation’s borders in order to stimulate its economy. Currently, Vietnam has a strong and fast-growing economy, one it is looking to expand even further. The nation has transformed “from one of the world’s poorest countries to a middle-income economy in a single generation,” according to the World Bank. This means it’s an attractive place for high-net-worth investors. The country also “aspires to become a high-income country by 2045,” the World Bank says.
The Tourism Advisory Board has also recommended the program be piloted in large cities that already accommodate millions of tourists, including Phu Quoc, Ho Chi Minh City (one of the Best Places to Visit in 2025), Hanoi, and Da Nang, before rolling out countrywide, according to Skift.
The new visas are also part of a larger push to drive more tourism to Vietnam. The country has an ambitious goal of attracting 23 million tourists by the end of 2025. Vietnam saw a total of 17.6 million international visitors in 2024.
Golden visas and other long-term resident programs are growing in Southeast Asia. Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia offer similar long-term visa programs for visitors who want to stay for a decade or longer.
The schemes are becoming more popular in these areas while in other regions, like Europe, officials are winding down long-term visas. Malta’s golden passport program, which offered EU citizenship in exchange for various investments that added up to more than 525,000 euros, was just ended by EU courts. Spain also just terminated its program—which required a real estate investment of 500,000 euros in exchange for three years of residency—in early April, because it had become too popular.
In Europe, the programs are especially appealing as they offer access to the entire Schengen region. Greece and Portugal still offer residency for certain investments, though those programs have also gotten more strict in recent years with higher required investments and more rules on the types of real estate applicants can purchase.
