https://www.businessinsider.co...e-almost-ruined-trip


I traveled 33 hours to Vietnam but was denied entry because of a common travel mistake I'll never make again

Jill Schildhouse Oct 1, 2024, 8:14 AM CDT


I travel often, but my recent trip to Vietnam was the first time I had issues entering a country.

I was denied entry because my visa didn't have my middle name but my passport did.

I was able to buy an emergency visa because I had cash on hand.

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After spending 33 hours traveling from Phoenix to Dallas to Tokyo to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, I was exhausted but thrilled to finally reach my destination.

It'd been six months since I last visited Vietnam, and I was looking forward to exploring new cities in the beautiful country.

Upon deplaning, I headed to the passport-control area with my passport and a printout of the visa I'd applied for and been granted about six weeks earlier.

When I got to the front, I handed over my two documents and awaited the inevitable stamp of approval. Instead, the employee handed them back to me and said, "Denied."



I was so confused — I've traveled to 46 countries and had never had issues gaining entry to any of them before.

After bouncing around the airport and waiting in lines, I found an employee who would review my documents to tell me what the problem was.

It turns out the two documents didn't match: My middle name was on my passport but not my visa.

I couldn't believe such a tiny error would cost me

Visa applications can be denied if your name doesn't match the one on your passport, and I'd missed this discrepancy.



The employee told me I had two choices: I could fly back to Japan, where I'd just arrived from, or pay for a "very, very expensive" emergency visa.

I knew flying back to Japan wasn't an option, as I was embarking on a river cruise out of Vietnam in less than 12 hours. So I chose the latter.



I let out a sigh of relief when I learned my new visa would be $130 — I'd expected it to cost much more. But I panicked again when I pulled out my credit card and the employee told me they accepted only cash.

I found some $20 bills shoved in my bag. After a stressful wait, I had my new visa and was free to go.



I learned 2 valuable travel lessons I'll never forget

I still don't understand how my visa application was approved in the first place — I had to submit a photo of my passport to get it — but I now know to be extra vigilant.

Later, I also realized why I'd forgotten to include my middle name: The electronic visa application didn't have a specific spot labeled for it.

The form says "Given name" and "Surname." I didn't think to include my middle name in the same spot as my first because I'm used to seeing a separate spot for it on applications.

From now on, though, I'll remember that names on a passport and visa must match perfectly, which includes every detail — even if the application doesn't ask for it in a way you'd expect.



I'm glad I was able to continue on my trip, and I'll never travel again without money on hand for emergencies. Cash is still king in most places, and I'm lucky this mistake only cost me a few bills and a few hours.

Good thing to know.

I had a problem about 20 years ago with being called multiple times per year for jury duty. I figured out that my driver's license had my middle name on it and my voter registration just had my middle initial. I was being called for jury duty from both lists.

You faced a common problem in Southeast Asia. The employee doing the actual job has the ability to say 'no' but is afraid to make the decision to say 'yes'. I faced a like problem on getting a work permit in Thailand. My university diploma had an initial instead of my middle name as my passport does. As this was not a perfect match, no work permit would be issued. I was fortunate in that my official university transcripts had my middle name on them and as they were acceptable as proof of graduation could be used instead. It is quite the paperwork nightmare here.

Bet you know why a credit card wasn’t accepted, only cash. Cash went right into their pocket.

After making 100+ trips to many bad places, I learned that no matter how perfect you are on your paperwork, there is often a “problem” that $100 solves.
Worst was Nigeria - made 10 trips there and had issues every time. Next was Central African Republic - got shaken down 5 times just trying to get out of the country.

Not having your name correct on a visa is newbie mistake however.

Thank God for this warning.

I would never have realized that I should use the same name on my visa as I do on my passport.

Do I have to spell these tricky names the same way?

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
After making 100+ trips to many bad places, I learned that no matter how perfect you are on your paperwork, there is often a “problem” that $100 solves.
Worst was Nigeria - made 10 trips there and had issues every time. Next was Central African Republic - got shaken down 5 times just trying to get out of the country.

Not having your name correct on a visa is newbie mistake however.

CAR was the best. taxe (welcome tax) de bienvenue to enter and taxe de sortie (exit tax) to exit. but the amount was really nothing especially in CFA ...

What a surprise. Able to get a visa with cash on hand!

Who’d have thought it