Getting a SIM card on arrival in Vietnam

Yes. Vietnam has a well-established market for physical tourist SIM cards from Viettel, Vinaphone and MobiFone, sold at official operator shops, authorised retailers and airport kiosks — a passport is required for registration. For a reliable result, buy from an official operator store or an authorised point of sale rather than an independent kiosk: Vietnam has tightened SIM identity rules, and there have been traveller reports of airport SIMs turning out to be registered to someone else's identity.

Yes. Vietnam requires identity registration to activate a physical SIM, including for foreign visitors. Tourists register with their original passport (Vietnamese citizens use their CCCD ID card instead). Since mid-2026, Viettel has also been enforcing additional biometric face verification for subscribers in certain situations, such as moving a SIM to another phone.

All three major airports have physical SIM sales in the international arrivals area, though not every counter is necessarily a carrier-operated booth — some may be authorised agents or resellers. At Hanoi Noi Bai (T2), traveller reports place Viettel, VinaPhone and MobiFone counters after customs/baggage claim. At Ho Chi Minh City Tan Son Nhat (T2), a VinaPhone/VNPT counter is confirmed inside the international arrivals terminal, alongside other counters where Viettel and MobiFone are also commonly reported. Da Nang (T2) has the strongest evidence: the airport's own website states there are seven SIM-card counters in the restricted arrivals area near baggage claim, though it doesn't name which operator runs each one.

Da Nang International Airport's own arrival guide says SIM cards can be bought "at any time" from the seven counters in the T2 baggage-claim area, and a commercial SIM pickup service there operates 09:00 to 02:00, with staff waiting for passengers on flights arriving as late as 1:45 AM. That said, "at any time" doesn't necessarily mean every individual counter is staffed 24/7 — the airport doesn't publish hours per counter or per carrier. Hanoi Noi Bai and Ho Chi Minh City Tan Son Nhat don't have officially published counter hours; multiple counters are reported at both, but late-night coverage isn't independently confirmed the way it is at Da Nang.