Renewing a Vietnamese passport from the US

An adult's Vietnamese passport is valid for 10 years and, in the law's own words, cannot be extended. What everyone calls "renewing" is actually applying for a new passport book. The good news: doing it from the US is manageable, the fee in the circular is 70 dollars, and while the old passport is still valid the Embassy targets 5 working days for a complete application. This guide covers where to file, what each post asks for in each case, and the fallback routes if the passport has already expired.

Where to file#

Four Vietnamese posts in the US handle passports: the Embassy in Washington DC, the Consulates General in San Francisco and Houston, and the Consulate in New York.

No passport page currently publishes a state-by-state split. The only split the Embassy ever published is its 2020 repatriation-flight guidance from the pandemic: San Francisco covering California, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming; Houston covering Texas; New York covering New York state; the Embassy covering the rest. Treat it as orientation, not a hard rule.

For a second or later passport, the law is more open still: file at the Vietnamese post "where convenient". So call the nearest post first, and only then assemble the file to that post's page.

Addresses and hours (checked September 19, 2026; call before going, hours change):

• Washington DC: the procedure page says intake runs 9:30 to 12:00, Monday through Friday, but the contact block on the same site lists the consular counter as Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Call first.
• San Francisco: 1700 California St, Suite 580, San Francisco, CA 94109; the homepage lists reception 9:00 to 12:00 and 2:00 to 4:00, Monday through Friday, while the passport procedure page says submissions 9:00 to 12:00; (415) 922-1707.
• New York: 866 U.N. Plaza, Suite 435, New York, NY 10017; the contact page says Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, 10:00 to 16:00, appointments by email; another of the consulate's own pages lists different hours, so an email appointment is the safe move. Note this site runs an expired security certificate, so browsers show a warning when you open it.
• Houston: the Consulate General's official site (vnconsulate-houstontexas.mofa.gov.vn) was unreachable on both days checked. Texans should ask for directions through the Embassy's contact page in Washington DC before driving over.

While the passport is still valid: the easy track#

Applying while the old passport is still valid is the fastest, lightest path. Per the Embassy's page, the file contains:

1. The passport application form with a photo attached. Download it from the site, or fill it in online at passport.mofa.gov.vn and print it.
2. 02 photos taken within the last 6 months, 4 x 6 cm, white background, facing forward, head uncovered, both ears visible, no glasses.
3. The old passport: the original, plus 1 photocopy.
4. Proof of lawful residence in the US, original shown plus 1 photocopy. The page lists a US passport, a valid green card, or a US naturalization certificate, and leaves the list open to equivalents. On another status (a work visa, a student's I-20 or DS-2019), call the post you will file at and ask what it accepts before assembling the file.

Payment: the Embassy takes debit or credit cards, a money order, or a cashier's check payable to "EMBASSY OF VIETNAM", no cash and no personal checks. San Francisco asks for a money order or cashier's check payable to "Vietnam Consulate". The other two posts publish no payment rules; ask first.

Time: no more than 5 working days from receiving a complete, valid application, per the Embassy's page. If identity verification is needed, it takes longer, with no fixed timeline.

Can it be mailed?#

The lines below follow each post's pages, checked September 19, 2026. Chip passports require appearing for fingerprints, so mailing concerns the non-chip book:

• San Francisco: yes. The consulate's page even recommends FedEx, USPS, or UPS with a tracking number, plus a stamped, self-addressed return envelope.
• New York: only "in necessary cases", for reissues of damaged or expiring passports, after a consular officer confirms by phone interview that you are a Vietnamese citizen present in the US. For a lost passport, the page says file in person. Include a prepaid, tracked return envelope.
• Washington DC, by case: permanent residents with an expired, lost, or damaged passport may file in person or by mail, per that track's page. The still-valid reissue track takes mail only for genuine force-majeure cases, notarized by a US public notary, with return postage paid separately and each application in its own envelope.
• First-time applications: no, everywhere. They are filed in person.

One caution when mailing: the old passport is listed as something you submit, while residence documents (green card, US passport) are listed as something you show. You cannot "show" anything by mail, so do not drop your original green card into an envelope on your own initiative: ask the receiving post whether the photocopy suffices.

Fees, from the two circulars on the Embassy's fee page#

The Embassy's fee page hosts two Ministry of Finance fee circulars (264/2016 and 113/2021) as downloads; the numbers below are extracted from those documents, set in US dollars:

• New passport: 70 dollars.
• Replacement for a lost or damaged passport: 150 dollars.
• Passport issued under the shortened procedure: 35 dollars per circular 113/2021. Note that one Ministry of Foreign Affairs procedure page still quotes 70 dollars for this procedure; the circular says 35, but ask the issuing post what it currently charges.

Chip passports: rolling out since April 2026, unevenly#

Since April 1, 2026, the Embassy and Vietnamese posts abroad officially accept applications for the chip-embedded passport. The Embassy describes three steps: fill in the online declaration at passport.mofa.gov.vn, appear at the post to submit the file and give photos and fingerprints, then pay and receive the passport by mail or in person.

Unevenly, because the New York consulate's passport page still carries the line that New York does not yet issue the chip model. Non-chip passports are still issued and remain valid until the expiry date printed in them; the one difference the Embassy's page names is that chip passports clear airport autogates faster.

As for "doing it online": fully online passport issuance is legally open only to applicants inside Vietnam through the national service portals. From the US, the online parts are the electronic declaration and each post's own filing and status portals (New York runs an online submission section, the Embassy has its own portal); every application still goes through a post. Distrust any site promising "renew your passport from the US fully online, no visit needed".

Expired, lost, or in a hurry to get home#

Expired or lost, permanent resident (green card): the Embassy has a dedicated page for exactly this case: filing in person or by mail, photos 2 x 2 inch from the last year, and a 5-working-day target except when verification is needed. A lost passport pays the 150-dollar replacement fee.

Expired, temporary resident (student, worker): an extra personal history form (sơ yếu lý lịch) is required, photos 2 x 2 inch or 4 x 6 cm, and verification takes case-by-case time.

Lost passport at New York: the page requires a report to local US police and a police confirmation letter listing the lost passport's number, your full name, and date of birth, filed in person. Make that police report the day you notice the loss, not the week you need to travel.

Urgent trip to Vietnam: the instrument current law provides for citizens abroad who lost a passport and want to return immediately is the shortened-procedure passport: processed in 2 working days when the grounds are clear (the law allows up to 5 when verification is needed), valid at most 12 months, not extendable, and usable as a normal passport within those months.

Validity, and the "6 months left to fly" myth#

Under the current consolidated Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens: a passport for someone 14 or older is valid 10 years, for a child under 14 5 years, the shortened-procedure type at most 12 months, and none of the three can be extended.

As for the rule that a passport must have 6 or more months left before you may exit, which many service sites still repeat: it was abolished on August 15, 2023. The current condition is that the document be intact and unexpired. For a flight home to Vietnam on a Vietnamese passport, that is legally enough; a cautious airline may have its own policy, so ask the airline directly, and count the passport's validity across the whole trip including the return leg.

What to do next#

• Call the post you plan to use and settle two things in one call: whether it takes your case, and which photo size it wants; only then sit for photos and assemble the file to that post's page.
• Passport under a year from expiry: do it now. The still-valid reissue track is much faster and lighter than the expired track.
• Fill in the online declaration at passport.mofa.gov.vn and print it, it keeps the file clean.
• Prepare a money order or cashier's check with the exact payee that post's page names; DC and San Francisco both refuse cash by mail.
• In Texas: the Houston site is unreachable, so ask through the Embassy's contact page before making the drive.
• Already a US citizen with no Vietnamese passport: your route home is not this page but the 5-year visa exemption, which costs 10 dollars.