Vietnam has officially launched its new e-visa system, allowing citizens from a select number of countries to apply for a 30-day visa through an online form.

The pilot scheme announced last year, came into effect on Tuesday.

Citizens from 40 countries, including China, South Korea, Denmark, the US and the UK are all eligible, although Australia and Canada are not on the list.

That’s likely because both countries already make up a sizeable amount of Vietnam’s tourism sector.

Vietnam is hoping to attract more tourists from wealthy Asian nations, Scandinavia and Europe.

Foreigners applying for an e-visa will have to wait three working days for their applications to be processed.

– TiVi Tuan-san