The United States Embassy in Hanoi announced that as of October 3, all Vietnamese visa applicants with the new blue-covered passports must have their place of birth stated in their passport before being allowed a visa interview.

This move means that all applicants who do not have their place of birth added into their blue-cover passports will not be permitted to undergo an interview and will now need to reschedule their appointments.

“After thorough review, the Department of State determined that for visa application purposes, the new Vietnam passport, issued starting July 1, 2022, which does not contain a birthplace, must include a Vietnam government endorsement page that states place of birth information,” the Embassy stated on its official fan page.

The US Embassy also urged all individuals with upcoming appointments already scheduled to get the endorsement ahead of their appointment to avoid disruption to their plans.

The Embassy added that it will continue to interview applicants whose passports lack the endorsement until September 29. This comes after Germany, Spain, and the Czech Republic declared that they will not recognize Vietnam’s new passports.

However, Spain has altered its initial decision and agreed to accept the new Vietnamese passport. It outlined that those who wish to apply for a visa must bring both their new passports and valid identity cards in order to verify their places of birth. The Spanish Embassy in Hanoi also warned that a Spanish visa on the new-style Vietnamese passport would not be valid for entry into countries which do not accept these passports, even if those countries are part of the Schengen Area.

Source: VOV