Vietnam Pre-Arrival Declaration at Da Nang Airport: Who Has to File
Since mid-2026 there is a form to fill in before you fly into Da Nang, and it is not the e-visa. Vietnam's Immigration Department has been rolling out an online pre-arrival information system, tagged PAI and also called the digital arrival card, and Da Nang International Airport joined it on 15 June 2026. You enter your passport and flight details on the government portal, and in return you get a QR code that the officer scans at the immigration desk instead of a paper form.
The point of it is speed. Immigration teams pre-screen arrivals before the aircraft lands, so the counter checks your QR code against a declaration that already exists rather than typing your details while a queue builds behind you. For a normal tourist arriving at DAD it is five to ten minutes of work at home and a shorter wait on the other side.
It matters differently for people who live in Da Nang. If you are here on a 90-day e-visa, the arrival form is not part of your Lao Bao visa run at all, because it is an airport-only system and the land border does not use it. Where it does catch you is the flight home and the flight back, and on a weekend bounce to Bangkok. This page explains the rule, who it covers at Da Nang, and where it sits next to the e-visa and the health declaration so the three never get mixed up.
How the rollout reached Da Nang
The system started small and moved fast. Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City was first, going live on 15 April 2026, followed by Phu Quoc on 1 June. Hanoi's Noi Bai joined on 8 June, and Da Nang on 15 June. Cam Ranh, serving Nha Trang, was added the same month. By late June the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam was telling travellers the declaration was being expanded to all airports in the country, with the Immigration Department confirming a nationwide rollout and a study into land border gates.
That last part is why a page like this needs a date on it. The list of covered airports keeps growing, so the honest advice is to open prearrival.immigration.gov.vn a few days before you fly and check whether your arrival airport appears. A blog list, this one included, is a snapshot. The portal is the live version.
Two things are settled. Da Nang is covered, and has been since 15 June 2026. And the requirement is free, filed on the government site, and separate from your visa.
Who files it at Da Nang, and who does not
The rule follows your passport, not your visa. If you are arriving on a foreign passport, you file. That covers e-visa holders, visa-exempt travellers from the UK, the EU, Korea and the rest, people on a Temporary Residence Card, and overseas Vietnamese arriving on a foreign passport with a visa. A retired expat flying back from a visa run in Bangkok files it too, on the way in.
Two groups are off the hook. Vietnamese citizens travelling on a Vietnamese passport do not file. And airside transit passengers who never clear immigration do not file, because they are not entering the country. The moment a transit passenger collects bags and passes through immigration for a domestic connection, they are entering Vietnam and the form applies.
Children are not exempt. Every traveller has their own declaration and their own QR code, so a family of four submits four. A parent can fill in a child's form on their behalf, but the system still issues a separate code per person. If you are on our private car for families and groups, the same logic we use for border paperwork applies here: sort the forms the night before so everyone clears together.
The 72-hour window, and how to file it
You can only submit inside the 72 hours before your scheduled arrival at Da Nang. The portal is date-locked. If your flight is more than three days out, the arrival date will not be selectable yet, and trying to get ahead of it just leaves you stuck with an error. Land on the 20th, and the earliest you can file is the 17th. The practical window is the day before you fly, or the morning of departure, while you are still on wifi you trust.
The form runs across four screens. First your passport details and your entry document: the e-visa, exemption, TRC or whichever applies, plus the document number and dates. Then your trip: country of departure, purpose of travel, flight number, and the point of entry, which for Da Nang is DAD. You also enter your accommodation address, so have the hotel or apartment booking in front of you. Then a review screen, an emailed six-digit code, and finally the QR code.
Three habits save trouble. Type the passport number by hand even if you upload a photo of the page to auto-fill, because the number and letter mix-ups (zero against O, one against I) are the most common error. Use an email inbox you can open on the spot, since both the verification code and the QR code arrive there. And save the QR code as a screenshot or a PDF before you leave home, because Da Nang airport wifi is not reliable enough to be loading a web page at the counter with a queue behind you.
Does the pre-arrival declaration apply to the Lao Bao visa run?
No. This is the part that causes the most confusion in Da Nang, because people hear "declaration" and assume a new border form. The pre-arrival information system is an airport system. It has not been deployed at Lao Bao or at any land crossing, and the Immigration Department has only said it is studying land gates. On a same-day run you exit Vietnam at Lao Bao, cross to Densavan, and come back, and at no point does anyone ask for a PAI QR code.
What does shape a Lao Bao run is different paperwork, and it is worth knowing the difference before you book. Your e-visa has to list Lao Bao as the entry port, or you risk being turned back with a fee you cannot recover. There is a Laos visa on arrival at Densavan for most nationalities, paid in cash. And the exit and re-entry stamps have to line up with your visa dates. All of that is covered on our Lao Bao visa run page and on the e-visa entry port page.
Where the airport form does touch a run-based life is the bounce. If instead of driving to Lao Bao you fly Da Nang to Bangkok for a few days and fly back into DAD, then the pre-arrival declaration applies to that return leg. It is one more minute of admin on the way home, not a reason to avoid the flight. The land run stays the cheaper, faster option for most people, and it skips this form entirely.
Three different forms, and how not to confuse them
There are three pieces of paper (or screen) that get muddled together at Da Nang in 2026. They are separate things with separate rules, and only one of them is a visa.
The pre-arrival declaration is the one this page is about. Free, filed at prearrival.immigration.gov.vn, within 72 hours of arrival, airport only, and it gives you a QR code. It is not a visa and does not decide whether you get in.
The e-visa is your entry permit. For a 90-day stay you apply at evisa.gov.vn ahead of time, pay 25 US dollars single-entry or 50 multiple-entry, and wait a few working days for approval. Most Da Nang residents run to Lao Bao when it expires rather than filing a second one, because you cannot file a new e-visa while an old one is still active. The timing of that paperwork has its own page, our e-visa approval letter guide.
The health declaration is the third, and the one most often misreported. Decree 165/2026 gave Vietnam the legal power to require a health declaration at border gates from 1 July 2026, but the Ministry of Health clarified the same week that it is not a blanket rule and no portal is active. Nothing is being handed to you at Lao Bao or at the airport for it right now. We wrote the whole sequence up on the health declaration page.
Pre-arrival declaration questions, answered
Do I need the pre-arrival declaration for Da Nang airport?
Yes, if you are flying into DAD on a foreign passport. The requirement began at Da Nang on 15 June 2026. Vietnamese passport holders and airside transit passengers who never clear immigration do not file it. If your flight connects onward within the sterile area and you never touch an immigration desk, you are not entering Vietnam and the form does not apply.
How far in advance can I file it?
Only within 72 hours of your scheduled arrival. The portal is date-locked, so an arrival date more than three days out cannot be selected. File the day before you fly, or on the morning of departure while you have reliable internet. Submitting too early is the most common reason the form will not go through.
Is the Vietnam pre-arrival declaration free?
Yes. The only official site is prearrival.immigration.gov.vn and there is no government fee. A number of third-party sites have appeared offering to file it for a charge. They are not doing the job on behalf of Vietnam's Immigration Department, and rule changes since April have shown plenty of them are working from stale information.
Does it apply to the Lao Bao visa run?
No. It is an airport-only system, not used at Lao Bao or any other land border. A same-day run does not involve this form at any checkpoint on either side. Only a fly-and-return bounce, such as Da Nang to Bangkok and back into DAD, brings it into play.
Does my child need a separate declaration?
Yes. Every traveller files one, children included, so a family of four submits four and gets four QR codes. A parent can complete a child's form on their behalf, but the codes are issued per person and the officer scans each one.
Is the pre-arrival declaration the same as a visa?
No. It is an immigration information form, not an entry permit. It does not grant or replace a visa, and it does not decide whether you are allowed into Vietnam. You still need your e-visa, visa exemption or other valid entry document. If you land at DAD you need both.
What happens if I do not file it before landing?
You will not be refused entry for missing it. You can still complete the declaration on arrival at the airport, by QR code or on a paper form at the counter. The catch is that you queue for it and slow your own clearance, which is the exact delay the system was built to remove. Filing before you fly is what buys the speed.
Questions about how the airport form fits with a specific run date or visa type: message WhatsApp at +84 33 410 3857 with your passport country, arrival airport and travel date. Pickup for Lao Bao runs goes 04:00 to 06:00 across Da Nang, and we check the border situation before every departure.
