Avoid This Visa Mistake That Almost Ruined My Trip, Traveler Warns

• I travel a lot, but my recent trip to Vietnam was the first time I had trouble entering a country.
• I was denied entry because the 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.

After nearly a day and a half of flying from Phoenix to Dallas to Tokyo to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, I was exhausted but excited to finally reach my destination.

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

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

When I got to the front, I handed in my two documents and waited for 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 never had a problem getting into any of them before.

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

Apparently the two documents did not match: the middle name was on the passport but not on the visa.

I couldn’t believe that such a mistake would cost me

Visa applications can be refused if your name does not match the name on your passport and we missed this discrepancy.

The employee told me I had two options: I could fly back to Japan, where I had just arrived from, or I could pay for a “very, very expensive” emergency visa.

I knew flying back to Japan was not an option as I was boarding a river cruise from Vietnam in less than 12 hours. So I chose the latter.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I learned that my new visa would cost $130 – I expected it to cost much more. But I panicked again when I pulled out my credit card and the employee told me they only accept cash.

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

I learned 2 valuable travel lessons that I will never forget

I still don’t understand how my visa application was approved in the first place – I had to send a photo of my passport to get it – but now I know I have to be very vigilant.

Later, I also realized why I forgot to include my middle name: the electronic visa application did not have a specific place labeled for it.

The form says “First Name” and “Last Name”. I didn’t think to include my middle name in the same place as my first because I’m used to seeing a separate place for it in apps.

From now on, though, I’ll remember that the name on the passport and visa must match perfectly, including every detail – even if the application doesn’t ask for them in a way you’d expect.

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