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I just received my Vietnam visa today, I'm leaving on the 5th of December. I noticed that my visa was missing some information (in the big white space) while I was referencing a similar image online.

I'm now told the big white space is called the MRZ.

visa picture

Is this going to cause any problems?

I'm in Chicago and had to receive the visa by mail from New York. I doubt I'd be able to get a replacement before I depart on Tuesday.

My last trip I did the visa on arrival, and the visa I received looked different than this one. I just want to make sure I'm good to go before I begin my trip.

Is not having my passport information in the MRZ going to cause any problems?

EDIT:

I have contacted the Consulate in New York with this email:

Hello, I received my Visa on Saturday. I noticed that none of my passport information was included in the big white space at the bottom of the visa (which I believe is called the MRZ). I attached a picture of what I'm talking about. Is this going to cause any problems not having my information there? Thanks, OP

And I received this in reply

It's consulat of vietnam visa. Thanks

Not sure how to take that reply. But it seems like it won't matter.

To be safe, who can I contact further to reassure that this won't be a problem?

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  • The passport number is not the blacked-out number to the right of the "holding passport of country/territory: USA"? With the heading "no."? Dec 3, 2017 at 0:37
  • @RoddyoftheFrozenPeas I was just about to edit my post title. Yes it is there. I misunderstood what goes in the white space. On some images online the white space is filled with the information on the bottom of the passport information page. So for me it looks like P<USALASTNAME<<FIRSTNAME<<MIDDLE<<<<<<etc...
    – 23k
    Dec 3, 2017 at 0:39
  • @23k that is MRZ - Machine Readable Zone is used most for faster recognition of your visa data. I have not still found any restrictions here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine-readable_passport about whether it may cause problems having no MRZ or not.
    – pure_true
    Dec 3, 2017 at 7:17
  • @pure_true any suggestions on who would be the best to call? Like I said nothing is open until Monday and I'm leaving on Tuesday...
    – 23k
    Dec 3, 2017 at 19:31
  • @23k in that case I would call to Embassy of USA in Vietnam. One day I called to South Korea my country’s embassy and they gave me information I need. Can’t be sure about your case. Good luck
    – pure_true
    Dec 4, 2017 at 12:48

1 Answer 1

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My girlfriend got in contact with her brother in Vietnam, who has a close friend that works at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Long story short, this will not be a problem entering the country.

Ultimately it seems like it's up to each consulate to put information in the MRZ field or not.

UPDATE:

After entering Vietnam successfully, I can officially say that it's up to each specific consulate to decide to use the MRZ or not. It did not cause any problems when entering the country.

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  • So, empty MRZ for Vietnam Visa - is it pretty usual thing ?
    – pure_true
    Dec 4, 2017 at 12:49
  • @pure_true It seems common enough. He sent additional reference pictures with a blank MRZ. However, I'll make sure to update my answer if I do run into any issues.
    – 23k
    Dec 4, 2017 at 18:15

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