eSIM

Vietnam SIM Card at the Airport: Hanoi and Saigon Kiosks, Registration and the eSIM Option (2026)

Viettel and Vinaphone sell tourist SIMs in the arrival halls at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat, and every SIM is registered to your passport. What the kiosks offer, what changed in April 2026, what we could not verify on price, and the no-queue option.

Quick answer: As of 2 November 2026, Viettel, Vinaphone and other carriers sell tourist SIMs at counters in the arrival halls of Noi Bai (Hanoi) and Tan Son Nhat (Saigon), and every SIM is registered to your passport, with a face check for new subscriptions since 15 April 2026. We could not open a current airport price on Viettel's or Vinaphone's own pages and third-party guides disagree, so this guide prints no number; a travel eSIM installed before you fly skips the counter.

Key takeaways

The kiosks are real and they work. A Viettel eSIM guide lists counters in the arrival halls at Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, Da Nang, Cam Ranh and Phu Quoc, and they give you a Vietnamese number with calls and SMS.
Registration is mandatory. You need your original passport, and under Circular 08/2026, in force since 15 April 2026, new mobile subscriptions are verified with a facial biometric check.
Price: no verified number. The carriers' own pages would not load for us, and third-party guides quote very different figures. Ask what is included before you pay.
Hours and exact positions vary by source. Guides disagree on opening hours and where the Viettel counter sits, so confirm when you land.
The no-queue option: a travel eSIM installed at home is data only, with no Vietnamese number and no registration at the airport.

It is late, two flights landed together, and the line at the SIM counter is a row of people holding passports and phones. Nothing is wrong. Registering a SIM is a legal step in Vietnam, and the staff are doing the job the law asks of them. For some travellers the counter is exactly right.

This guide covers what the kiosks at Hanoi and Saigon offer, what registration involves in 2026, what we could not verify, and the alternative for people who would rather have data before the first taxi. It is a different question from why airport SIMs die after two weeks, which covers what goes wrong later.

Are there SIM counters at Hanoi and Saigon airports?

Yes. International flights land at Terminal 2 in both cities. A Viettel eSIM and SIM guide on vietteldata.vn, which we could not confirm is run by Viettel, lists a counter in the Noi Bai international arrival hall after immigration and one in the Tan Son Nhat international arrival hall after baggage claim and customs. VnExpress International wrote in January 2023 that "dozens of stalls" sell SIMs after baggage claim at the main airports, and that staff speak English and help you activate.

Viettel, Vinaphone and MobiFone all appear in guides, but opening hours and exact positions conflict between them: some say 24 hours, some give a daytime window. Look at the sign when you land.

What does registration involve in 2026?

The legal basis changed this year. Circular 08/2026 took effect on 15 April 2026, and Vietnam News reported on 13 April that foreigners who registered SIMs with passports must also re-authenticate within 60 days. VietNamNet reported on 15 June that new subscriptions need facial biometric verification, and that moving a SIM to a new phone triggers another face check within two hours. A Viettel eSIM guide says the original passport is required and e-copies are not accepted.

What we could not confirm is how a short-stay tourist's face check works at the counter. No source we opened describes it, so expect the staff to run it and allow extra time. Keep your registration paperwork until the trip ends, as one Vietnam guide advises, and see the two-week SIM failure guide for what to check before you walk away.

How much does a tourist SIM cost at the airport?

We could not open a current price on Viettel's or Vinaphone's own pages as of 2 November 2026, and the third-party guides we found quote different figures and are often undated. Several say airport counters cost more than the carriers' city stores, but none of that is from the carriers, so we print no number. A fair rule: ask what is included (data per day, number of days, voice minutes, whether it can be extended) and whether it is registered in your name.

Airport SIM or travel eSIM: how do they compare?

	Airport SIM	Travel eSIM (Fizen)
Vietnamese number	Yes	No, data only
Calls and SMS	Yes	No, keep your home SIM
Registration	Original passport; face check for new subscriptions since 15 April 2026	None locally
Where you buy	Arrival hall, after landing	At home, before you fly
Set up	Staff help at the counter	One tap on supported iPhones, QR on others
Pay with	Cash or card at the counter	USDT on Solana or BNB Chain, or card via Stripe

Neither wins every time. If you need a Vietnamese number for calls or a local code, the counter is the right call; our guide to eSIMs and phone numbers covers exactly when. If you want data the moment you land, a travel eSIM does that without a queue. Plenty of travellers use both: an eSIM for data and the home SIM, with roaming off, for bank codes.

What do people who have done it say?

Search snippets of an r/VietNam thread (we could not open it) advise buying at the airport and walking away from any seller who charges well above the official price plus a small new-SIM fee.
Expats on Expat.com stress making sure your passport registration is done properly, because the SIM is tied to it, and say nobody there could explain how fair-use limits apply to foreigners.
Vietnam guides warn that SIMs sold by street vendors may be unregistered and get blocked after a few days, so stay with the carrier counters.

How does the no-queue option work?

Buy and install a Vietnam eSIM at home on Wi-Fi in the Fizen app, keep your home SIM in for bank codes, and switch the travel line on after you land. As of 2 November 2026, Fizen's Vietnam coverage is the Asia plan for 18 countries, which runs on Viettel Mobile 4G in Vietnam; fixed-data plans slow to 128 kbps after the allowance. Check the eSIM tab or fizen.io/esim for current Vietnam plans, and see how to choose a Vietnam eSIM and how much data a trip uses. If something fails on Fizen's side, a real person in live chat sorts it out with a free 1:1 replacement. Changed plans? An unused, not-yet-installed eSIM can usually be taken back; eligibility depends on the plan, so check Package details or ask chat.

Your travel eSIM gift is waiting: US$10 of eSIM credit. It is exclusive to new Fizen app users, lands in the eSIM tab the moment you join, and saves you up to 30% on each data plan until it is used. Pay with USDT on Solana or BNB Chain, or by card via Stripe.

Do you need cash once you are online?

Have a little for the first taxi or market stall. After that, QR Pay in the same app lets foreign visitors pay Vietnamese bank QR codes (VietQR, VNPay, MoMo, ZaloPay) from USDT on Solana or BNB Chain, up to US$800 a payment and US$1,000 a week. People who live in Vietnam cannot use it there, KYC applies per wallet and per device, and USDT moved in is governed by the QR Pay Terms, so move in only what you plan to spend. Steps: QR Pay getting started.

Frequently asked questions

Can I buy a SIM card at Hanoi airport?

Yes. Carrier counters in the Noi Bai arrival hall sell tourist SIMs and register them with your passport. Opening hours and positions differ between guides, so confirm when you land.

Can I buy a SIM card at Saigon airport?

Yes. Tan Son Nhat has carrier counters in the international arrival hall at Terminal 2. Expect passport registration and, since 15 April 2026, a facial verification step for new subscriptions.

How much is a Vietnam tourist SIM at the airport?

We could not verify a current airport price on Viettel's or Vinaphone's own pages, and third-party figures disagree, so we give none. Ask what is included before you pay.

Do I need my passport to buy a SIM in Vietnam?

Yes. Guides say the original passport is required and photocopies or e-copies are not accepted, and the SIM is registered to you.

Is an eSIM better than an airport SIM in Vietnam?

It depends on what you need. An eSIM gives data without a queue but no Vietnamese number; an airport SIM gives a number, calls and SMS but costs time at the counter.

Your travel eSIM gift is waiting: US$10 of eSIM credit

Exclusive to new Fizen app users: US$10 of eSIM credit lands in the eSIM tab the moment you join and saves you up to 30% on each data plan until it is used. Pay with USDT on Solana or BNB Chain, or by card via Stripe. Visitors in Vietnam can pay local bank QR codes in the same app with QR Pay.

Get the Fizen app

Terms and conditions

Information only. Fizen publishes this article to inform, not to sell. Nothing here is an offer, solicitation or sale of any product or service, and it is not financial, legal, tax, immigration or security advice for any specific situation.
For readers in the United States. This is information only, not an offer or sale, and not advice. Fizen products and services are not offered to US Persons.
QR Pay availability. QR Pay is for cross-border use by travellers and foreigners in Vietnam and the Philippines only, and is not available to residents of those countries in their own country. It is funded only with USDT on Solana or BNB Chain; USDT on another network, or another token, cannot be deposited. KYC, KYT, AML and sanctions checks apply. Use of QR Pay is governed by the Fizen QR Pay Terms.
Not affiliated. Fizen is not affiliated with, endorsed by or a partner of any Vietnamese authority, airport, telecom operator, bank, app, business or publication named here. Operators are named only to describe public information.
Rules change. Plans, networks, fees, SIM and entry rules are as published on the dates given. Check current official information before you travel.
Data only. A travel eSIM provides mobile data, not a Vietnamese phone number, voice calls or SMS. Your phone must support eSIM and must not be carrier-locked. Network facts are from the Fizen catalogue as of 2 November 2026 and can change.
eSIM welcome credit. New users get US$10 of eSIM credit in the eSIM tab of the Fizen app. It is a promotional credit, not money, applied at checkout up to 30% of each plan, valid 12 months, one per person; terms at docs.fizen.io/help-center/fizen-esim/welcome-credit.

Sources

Updated 2 November 2026.