Vietnam to Turkmenistan visa requirements

A Vietnamese ordinary passport holder needs a visa to enter Turkmenistan. There is no visa-free, eVisa, or true visa-on-arrival channel: you must first obtain a Letter of Invitation (LOI) through a licensed Turkmen travel agency, have it certified by the State Migration Service, then get the visa at a Turkmen embassy or, with the LOI in hand, at Ashgabat airport. Turkmenistan operates one of the world's most restrictive visa regimes and grants no general visa exemption to Vietnamese passport holders. Every foreign tourist must secure a Letter of Invitation (LOI) issued by a travel agency licensed in Turkmenistan; the agency files the request with the State Migration Service (SMS), which certifies the LOI. The LOI can be requested up to 6 months ahead but is valid for only 3 months once certified. With a certified LOI, the visa is issued either at a Turkmen embassy/consulate or on arrival at Ashgabat International Airport. The on-arrival option is not an independent visa-on-arrival scheme open to everyone; it still requires an approved LOI obtained in advance, so the practical verdict is visa-required. A 2025 presidential decree announced plans to introduce electronic visas and potentially relax invitation rules, but as of mid-2026 no public eVisa system for ordinary tourism is confirmed, so travelers must follow the LOI process. Vietnamese travelers should also note mandatory in-country registration with SMS for stays over three days and departure registration.