The Culture of Vietnam or culture of the Kinh group which was originated from Northern Vietnam and Southern China is one of the oldest of such in the Asia Pacific region. Despite the influence of the big culture of China over the history, the Vietnamese culture has been established with many features which are similar to the cultures in the Eastern Asia and different from the cultures in the South East Asia which was influenced by the Indian cultures (such as Cambodia, Laos and Thailand).

Foreigners are only allowed for immigration (entry or exit) if they have passports or passport substitute papers (hereinafter referred collectively to as passports) and visas granted by competent Vietnamese agencies, except for cases of visa exemption.  Foreigners shall carry out procedure to apply for Vietnamese visas at the exit and entry management agency of the Ministry of Public Security, the Consular Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Vietnamese diplomatic missions or consulates in foreign countries. The visa application shall be replied within no more than 5 working days after the receipt of valid dossiers. Persons aged under 14 who have been declared in the visa application of their escorts shall not have to fill in separate procedure for visa application.

According to a recent survey by the ADB, Vietnam ranks the 2^nd lowerest living cost country compared with 23 other countries in the Asia Pacific region. As a developing country, Vietnam is facing many problems such as environmental polution, traffics, inflation and quality of life. However foreigners to Vietnam regardless of choices for living costs, have been exploring appropriate level of living costs to them. The brief information below is the basic information for estimation of living costs for foreigners in big cities in Vietnam. The exchange rate is currently applied is 1 USD to 17,000VND.