HANOI - Vietnam shifted electronic foreign-guest declarations from provincial immigration authorities to local police today on July 24.
Hotels, guesthouses, homestays and other accommodation providers filing electronically now submit reports through a system managed by the Ministry of Public Security. The requirement covers foreigners staying overnight, including guests whose accommodation was arranged through a digital platform.
The newer Circular 87/2026/TT-BCA replaces procedures that had been in force since 2017. The obligation to report foreign guests is longstanding, and online declarations remain due when a guest arrives.
The Ministry of Public Security began moving accommodation providers to unified reporting software on May 21. The platform handles foreign temporary-residence declarations alongside notifications involving Vietnamese guests.
The circular also permits accommodation providers to use the prescribed NA17 paper form. The completed NA17 form must be delivered within 12 hours of a foreign guest’s arrival, or within 24 hours in remote areas.
Those deadlines have not changed, but paper users must now send the guest’s information immediately to local police through an appropriate communication method before delivering the form. Under the previous procedures, advance notification by telephone or fax was optional.
The establishment’s owner, legal representative or an authorised person is responsible for making the declaration. Accommodation providers must also contact local police immediately when a foreign guest cannot present a valid passport or international travel document, or when there are signs of an immigration or residence violation.
In border areas, providers must immediately notify local police or the nearest border guard post when a guest has no valid international travel document or staff identify signs of an immigration or residence violation.
