The headline numbers
- Vietnam eVisa: official 3 working days. In practice 5–7 working days, occasional spikes to 10–14 around Tet (late January / February), Reunification Day (30 April) and National Day (2 September).
- India eVisa: official 3 working days. In practice 3–5 working days. Peak season is December and major Indian festivals.
- Kenya eTA: official 3 working days. In practice 3–5 working days. Spikes during European summer.
What “working days” means
Working days exclude Saturdays, Sundays and the destination country’s public holidays. For Vietnam, “3 working days” over a long Tet break can become 10+ calendar days. For India, festival clusters around Diwali and Holi extend timelines unpredictably. Always add buffer.
Why the official number is rarely the real number
The official window assumes a complete, error-free application reaches the front of a queue immediately. In practice, a queue exists, and any flag (photo manual-review, MRZ re-scanning, supporting document follow-up) bumps your case to a slower lane. Government portals don’t expose where you are in the queue — we can sometimes tell from response patterns but cannot accelerate it.
What speed upgrades actually do
Our speed upgrades (Emergency, Rush, Super Rush) accelerate our queue time, not the government’s. Standard means we submit on the next working day. Emergency means within 4 working hours. Rush means within 1 working hour. Super Rush (only offered for Vietnam, on request) means same business day if you apply before 11:00 ICT.
Any service that claims to influence the government’s own decision speed is being dishonest with you. We can shave hours off the front of the queue; we cannot move ahead in the immigration department’s queue.
Our recommended timing
- Vietnam: submit 10 working days before intended entry. 7 if you’re fine cutting it close. Less than 7 — pay for Emergency.
- India: 7 working days before intended entry. The portal accepts applications up to 30 days in advance and not more.
- Kenya: 7 working days before intended entry. The eTA must be approved before boarding.
If your application is taking too long
Past the official window with no decision? It usually means manual review (almost always photo or MRZ). Government portals don’t tell you this; the best signal is silence past day 4. We can prompt a check on long-tail applications submitted through us.