Covid test certificate for airport arrival

carl-saigon wrote:

Does anyone know if immigration at the ho chi minh airport will accept a 'Lamp covid certificate' or does it have to be a 'PCR' test certificate?

I see from your profile you are currently here in Vietnam.

So you are apparently talking about a flight out of Vietnam?

Pretty sure it's not just immigration that's involved.

I believe the airlines have something to do with this too.

US citizens just received an email from the US Embassy stating that--because of US CDC requirements--people boarding airplanes for the United States are going to have to meet certain requirements and the airlines are going to be responsible for enforcing those requirements.

It seems you need to figure out where you are flying, what the regulations are there and what airline you will use.

Then check directly with your airline.

Because if you don't meet the requirements of your destination country, they are not going to let you on a plane.

Also, let's assume that you don't have a direct flight.

Many flights these days are connecting through Japan or Korea.

Let's say hypothetically that the requirements in Japan or Korea are not as stringent as your ultimate destination country.

Airlines will still enforce the requirements for your ultimate destination before you board your plane in Vietnam.

That's because they don't want to be responsible for you getting to your connection country and being refused further travel to your ultimate destination.

Good luck, and please update here when you have more information from the airline for your specific itinerary.

No sir
I am stuck in England and want to return to Vietnam.

So my question is, does anyone know if the Vietnam airports only accept the PCR covid test or will they let you through if you have the 'Lamp' covid test certificate instead.

Which is a lot more convenient, as the PCR test takes 48 hours to get the result and there is a 72 hour window requirement of acceptance by the airlines.

You get the Lamp test result back in 90 mins

carl-saigon wrote:

No sir
I am stuck in England and want to return to Vietnam.

So my question is, does anyone know if the Vietnam airports only accept the PCR covid test or will they let you through if you have the 'Lamp' covid test certificate instead.

Which is a lot more convenient, as the PCR test takes 48 hours to get the result and there is a 72 hour window requirement of acceptance by the airlines.

You get the Lamp test result back in 90 mins

if you have a confirmed Airline reservation and an approved Visa, then your airline should be able to help you.

But as you may or may not know right now, the borders are almost totally closed with few exceptions.

If you don't have an Airline reservation this is just an exercise in theory, but again, contact the airline.

and whatever they accept, you're still going to have to go into quarantine for 14 days when you get here

I flew to Vietnam in September last year. Both Vietnam and the airline insisted on PCR.  Obviously worth checking what the latest situation is.

matthanoi wrote:

I flew to Vietnam in September last year. Both Vietnam and the airline insisted on PCR.  Obviously worth checking what the latest situation is.

So what did the airline for your current ticket say?

The only obvious thing I see is that the standard will probably be the same.

So it doesn't sound like you're actually asking a question.

It looks like you're making a statement (framed in the form of a question) about what you think SHOULD happen...when and if you purchase another ticket...

Sorry for the confusion. It was meant to be a reply to the original poster. The airline was very insistent on PCR, I thought that information might be helpful to him.

matthanoi wrote:

Sorry for the confusion. It was meant to be a reply to the original poster. The airline was very insistent on PCR, I thought that information might be helpful to him.

Oops. My bad. I jumped the gun and thought you were the OP

You need the pcr

Test report must indicate:

RT-PCR method
Negative result
Validity within 5 days before arrival
Your ID information (name, dob, passport no….)
All in English

It's not 72 hours, it's 5 days from the arrival in Vietnam.

Erikji wrote:

Test report must indicate:

RT-PCR method
Negative result
Validity within 5 days before arrival
Your ID information (name, dob, passport no….)
All in English

It's not 72 hours, it's 5 days from the arrival in Vietnam.

You obviously didn't read everything in context, and you didn't quote the person to whom you were replying.

The 72 hours mentioned is a requirement of the United States government for people departing Vietnam and flying to the United States.

It's possible that people arriving in Vietnam only need to have their test results within the last 5 days, but since you also didn't quote any Authority we'll wait and see if someone else has better proof.

"Authority": Singapore Airlines, Saigon office.

carl-saigon wrote:

No sir
I am stuck in England and want to return to Vietnam.

Even with the "right" certificate, I don't think you're allowed to enter the country at the moment. 

According to VGP (VN Government Portal):

"To deploy the Standing Secretariat's program on strengthening epidemic prevention and control, to best protect the safety of people's health and lives, to ensure a safe and joyful celebration of Tết Tân Sửu (Tết, Year of the Ox), the Prime Minister requests that the government temporarily suspends all flights to Vietnam from countries and territories (England and South Africa above all) that are infected with a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and are undergoing complicated epidemics. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is assigned to assume the prime responsibility to coordinate with the Health Ministry and the Transport Ministry in those countries to apply this measure."

Actually the special flights for experts/investors are not suspended (even from the UK!  ), only rapatriement flights for Vietnamese are temporarily suspended.
I know because I'll go with Singapore Airlines on 7th February, and they have 4 flights in February. Other companies have also some flights (Qatar, Cathay...).

My great-niece, a Vietnamese student in Canada, will fly in on Korean Airlines on Feb 18.  She's required by the government to have a negative result on a PCR test taken in Canada 72 hours before departure, and another PCR test upon arrival in Saigon. 

I just verified that information with her this very minute.

I checked and it depends on the airline, Vietnam’s requirement is 5-7 days prior to arrival but airlines have more strict requirements:

Emirates: within 96 hours before departure
Qatar Airlines: 5-7 days prior to arrival
Turkish airlines: 3-5 days prior to arrival
Singapore Airlines: 5 days prior to arrival
...