Vietnam: passenger data record

Decree 13/2023 and the 2025 Law

The Government issued Decree 13/2023/ND-CP on 17 April 2023 and it took effect on 1 July 2023 ¹. The Asian Development Bank's SEADS platform said the Decree names the Department of Cybersecurity and Hi-tech Crime Prevention under the Ministry of Public Security as the specialised agency ¹. A party sending a Vietnamese citizen's personal data abroad must prepare an impact assessment dossier and submit it to the Department within 60 days of processing ¹.

As reported by the Voice of Vietnam on 26 June 2025, the National Assembly passed the Law with 433 of 435 deputies taking part voting in favour ². The Law took effect on 1 January 2026 ².

Decree 356/2025/ND-CP, dated 31 December 2025, guides the Law and took effect on 1 January 2026 ³. It supersedes Decree 13/2023/ND-CP ³.

• Buying or selling personal data: fine of up to ten times the illegal proceeds ².
• Breach of cross-border transfer rules: fine of up to 5% of the previous year's revenue ².
• Other violations: fine of up to VND 3 billion for organisations, with half that level for individuals ².

Advance passenger information

Decree 27/2011/ND-CP of 9 April 2011 covers information on passengers before they enter Vietnam by air ⁴. Article 1 places the duty on airlines and private flight operators ⁴. Article 5 says data goes to the airport authority of the international airport on a 24-hour basis, at the time passengers board ⁴. Article 6 lets civil aviation, immigration, border security and customs bodies use it ⁴.

Article 14 of Decree 27 first set 1 June 2011 as the start date ⁴. Decree 75/2013/ND-CP of 15 July 2013, issued on the proposal of the Minister of Public Security, changed the start date to 15 April 2014 ⁵. The translations reviewed do not mention PNR data or a retention period ^4,5.

• Flight data: route, flight number, airline, border gate, number of passengers and crew, entry and exit times ⁴.
• Passenger and crew data: full name, sex, date of birth, nationality, and the type, number, place of issue and validity of travel documents ⁴.

Pre-arrival Information and the e-visa

As reported by the Vietnam News Agency on 12 May 2026, the Immigration Department piloted a Pre-arrival Information (PAI) platform at Tan Son Nhat airport from 15 April ⁷. Passengers can submit travel information within three days before arrival ⁷. In the first 15 days, 161,596 passengers opened the system and 119,854 completed it ⁷. The report said some submissions failed where flight codes did not match Passenger Name Record data ⁷. The report said the department planned to roll the platform out nationwide ⁷.

Government Resolution 127/NQ-CP, issued on 14 August 2023 and in force from 15 August 2023, extended e-visas to citizens of all countries and territories ⁶. The maximum stay rose from 30 days to 90 days, with single or multiple entry ⁶. The Embassy of Vietnam in Japan says the official portals are evisa.gov.vn and thithucdientu.gov.vn, administered by the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security ⁶.

Autogates

The Government news portal reported on 21 August 2023 that autogates went into use from 1 August 2023 at Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, Da Nang, Cam Ranh and Phu Quoc airports ⁸. On entry the gates were open to Vietnamese citizens only ⁸. Passengers scan their passport and boarding pass and then go through face recognition and fingerprint scanning ⁸.

As reported by Marisa Chimprabha and Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh of Thai PBS World on 3 August 2023, foreigners with residence cards issued by Vietnam can register to use the gates on departure ⁹. Neither source names a gate supplier ^8,9.

Regulator action on passenger information

As reported by Nguyen Duy of TheLEADER on 8 October 2017, the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam said taxi firms had obtained passengers' journey details and phone numbers and used them for marketing ¹⁰. The regulator said people who illegally exchange and use passenger information would be fined ¹⁰. It asked airlines to review how they store and manage passenger personal information and planned to inspect all airlines that month ¹⁰. The report names no airline ¹⁰.

Chronology