DECREES:

Article 1.- To amend and supplement a number of Articles of Decree No.24-CP of March 24, 1995, of the Government on the procedures on entry and exit:

1. Item 3, Article 1, is amended as follows: "The jurisdiction over the consideration and decision on granting exit visas to public officials, workers and employees under the management of the offices of the Party and the central agencies of people's organizations (formerly referred to as mass organizations) is applied in accordance with the provision of the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee."

2. The second hyphenated paragraph of Item 4, Article 1, is amended as follows: "The members of the social and professional organizations (except the public officials and workers under the management of the central agencies of people's organizations) who are assigned to make overseas business trips by their own organizations."

3. Point (c), Item 2, Article 3, is amended as follows: "The maximum time for the completion of the issuance of the passport and visa:

- 10 days from the reception of the full and valid dossier for an exit trip to study and explore markets and to carry out an economic or trade, tourist, training, labor expert... contract.

- 15 days from the reception of the full and valid dossier for an exit trip for other personal purposes."

4. Item 3, Article 4, is amended as follows: "The invitation of foreign guests to come and work with the offices of the Party and the central agencies of people's organizations is done in accordance with the provision of the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee."

5. Article 5 is amended as follows: "For visitors who belong to the categories exempted from visas as stipulated below:

a) Visitors who are exempted from entry visas as provided for by the Treaty or Agreement on Visa Exemption signed between the Vietnamese Government and the foreign Government;

b) Officials and officers of the Secretariat of ASEAN (regardless of what kind of passport they bear, provided that their names are included in the list notified in advance by the Secretariat), and officials and officers of the member countries of ASEAN who bear diplomatic and service passports and who will be in Vietnam for not more than 15 days from the date of entry;

c) Citizens of ASEAN member countries who bear popular passports and who are invited by the ASEAN Secretariat or a Vietnamese agency or organization to attend ASEAN-organized activities in Vietnam for not more than 15 days from the date of entry.

The detailed procedure on entry is defined as follows:

- The host office or organization is responsible for notifying the Ministry of the Interior at least three days prior to the visitor's entry, of the visitor's personality, his/her purpose and schedule of the visit and the duration of his/her temporary stay in Vietnam.

- The Ministry of the Interior can deny the entry, or force the exit, of the visitor if it discovers that the person concerned belongs to the categories that are banned from entry for security reasons or for his/her previous extradition from Vietnam;

- The Security Station at the international port is responsible for checking and writing down the length of the visitor's temporary stay in Vietnam on his/her passport or visa, which shall not exceed the maximum time stipulated in the bilateral treaty or agreement, or the time provided for in Points (b) and (c) of this Article."

6. Article 8 is amended as follows: "The overseas representation of Vietnam is authorized to shortcut the processing of visa (within 1 to 2 days) in the following cases:

a) Citizens of the member countries of ASEAN who bear popular passports (outside the categories which are exempted from entry visas as stipulated in Point (c) of Article 5) and who enter Vietnam for not more than 15 days for visits, participation in conferences and seminars, surveys of the investment and trade markets, deployment of projects or contracts on investment, aid and tourism (in groups of five or more persons) as part of tours organized by Vietnamese tourist companies for international travel;

b) Foreign nationals and overseas Vietnamese settlers who are invited by authorized Vietnamese agencies to come to work with their partners in Vietnam for a period of less than 15 days to accelerate the implementation of economic or investment, trade, technology transfer or tourist contracts (in groups of five or more persons organized by Vietnamese tourist companies for international travel), if the visitors produce one of the following valid documents:

- A letter or cable of invitation extended by the authorized Vietnamese agency;

- The investment or joint venture license or the economic, trade, technology transfer, tourist... contract;

- Document which proves that the visitor's latest entry into Vietnam took place less than 12 months earlier.

c) Overseas Vietnamese settlers (including those who bear passports issued by a foreign Government) who request entries for the purpose of visiting relatives for not more than 90 days, and who can produce documents which testify that their latest entry took place less than 36 months earlier.

d) A number of applicants whose entries are requested urgently in Notes by the foreign Government or its representation.

After issuing the visa for a visitor as provided for in this Article, the Vietnamese representation is responsible for notifying in a timely manner (the full name, passport number, number and date of issue of the visa, the date of the entry and the length of the temporary stay) to the Ministry of the Interior and the host organization in the country for monitoring and management.

The Ministry of the Interior can deny an entry, or force the exit, of a visitor, if it discovers that the visitor belongs to the categories that are banned from entry for security reasons or for having violated Vietnamese law in the last entry."

7. Item 1 of Article 9 is amended as follows: "The Vietnamese entry visa is issued directly into the visitor's passport. The issue of separate visas should be restricted, except for special cases which are required for foreign relations or security or technical reasons under unified management of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs."

Article 2.- The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is responsible for officially notifying the ASEAN Secretariat and the Governments of the ASEAN member countries of the decision of the Vietnamese Government to exempt entry visas for visitors stipulated in Points (5b), (5c), and to apply simplified visa procedure to visitors stipulated in Item (6), Article 1, of this Decree and, at the same time, propose the Governments of the ASEAN member countries to apply visa exemption or simplified visa procedure for similar Vietnamese applicants.

In case the Government of an ASEAN member country does not agree to apply visa exemption and simplified visa procedure for similar Vietnamese applicants, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs shall report to the Government to guide the negotiation for a bilateral treaty or agreement to apply to this matter.

Article 3.- This Decree takes effect from the date of its signing. The earlier provisions which are contrary to this Decree are now annulled.

The Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs are responsible for guiding the implementation of the provisions of Decree 24-CP, and the amendments and supplements provided for in this Decree.

Article 4.- The Ministers, the Heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the Heads of the agencies attached to the Government, and the Presidents of the People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government, are responsible for the implementation of this Decree.

On behalf of the Government,

For the Prime Minister

Deputy Prime Minister