Vietnam is set to drop visa requirements for Belgian citizens who want to visit the Southeast Asian country. The announcement, by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, came on 2 April 2025, during a Belgian state visit by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde.
Under the new visa exemption, Belgian nationals will join citizens of 11 European Union or Schengen Area nations who already benefit from visa-free travel to the socialist republic. Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland all enjoy visa waivers for Vietnam visits, Czechia, Poland and Switzerland until the end of 2025, and the others until 14 March 2028.
Catering to a surge in Belgian tourism
Belgium has been requesting similar for some time, according to its foreign minister Maxime Prévot, who hailed King Philippe and Queen Mathilde’s trip to Vietnam, the first in five decades, as a success, saying: “This is clearly one of the achievements of the state visit.” The pair’s itinerary featured a series of symbolic engagements, such as laying commemorative wreaths at Vietnamese independence memorials, supporting children’s hospitals, social projects, and the victims of chemical warfare, inaugurating the half-billion-dollar, 3,400-m2 Belgian infrastructure project, Deep C, and holding discussions on technology, climate change and biodiversity.
Prévot argues that the new visa scheme, the timing of which is yet to be confirmed, will smooth the way for both tourists and businesspeople to access what Vietnam has to offer. In 2024, nearly 32,000 Belgians went to Vietnam, a surge of 120% compared to the previous year, according to data provided by the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism.
Non-reciprocal
The fine details of the regime have not been fully hammered out. The Brussels Times and Belga news agency have reported that the deal will involve Belgians gaining up to 15 days visa-free access to Vietnam, while Visa Guide News has said the waiver will be for trips of up to 45 days, three times as long.
It is not expected that Belgium will provide reciprocal arrangements for Vietnamese visitors. Instead, Belgian authorities will undertake to help ease negotiations for Vietnamese counterparts at a European and international level. “Belgian attention to certain Vietnamese requests at the international and European level is of course always appreciated,” Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said.
As well as the European nations who have been granted Vietnamese visa exemptions, Vietnam has opened up to other nations around the world including Belarus, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the UK, as part of a drive to boost its tourism sector. The republic is seeking to “actively promote the position and brand of Vietnamese tourism globally”, targeting 23 million foreign visitors by the end of 2025 and revenues of between 130 and 980 trillion VND (€5.3 to €40.8 billion).
