Vietnam merged its 63 provinces into 34 on July 1, 2025, and scrapped the entire district level in one move - but nothing about your trip actually breaks. Your visa still works, your hotel booking still points to the same spot, and the airport codes (DAD, SGN, HAN) didn’t change. What changed is the text of the address, so a few names on your map look different now. If you’d rather not decode which “ward” your guesthouse sits in while filling a visa form, there’s a one-day way to hand that off.

So Vietnam has 34 provinces now - what actually changed?

Vietnam went from 63 provinces to 34 (28 provinces plus 6 centrally-run cities) and deleted the district tier completely. Addresses used to read “city - district - ward”; now the middle rung is gone, so it’s just “province or city - ward.” Eleven provinces were left untouched, including Hanoi, Hue, Quang Ninh and Nghe An. For a traveler this is mostly cosmetic: the country is the same, the roads are the same, only the labels on the paperwork shifted.

Official stamping a paper document with a blue rubber stamp
New forms after the merger use the new ward name in the address field.

Is my visa still valid after the merger?

Yes - every existing visa, e-visa and visa-on-arrival stays valid, and no travel document needs reissuing because of the merger. The reform was administrative, not immigration policy, so entry rules didn’t move. If your visa is simply running out, that’s a separate matter, and you can often extend it without leaving the country instead of doing a border run. The one place the change shows up is the address field: when you apply for a new e-visa on evisa.gov.vn, the accommodation ward may now carry a new name. This is the step where I usually get pulled in - I fill the e-visa form, pay the government fee with a card the portal actually accepts, and make sure the entry point and ward are written on the new grid. If that part sounds like a headache, all it takes from your side is a passport scan and the address on your booking - I handle the ward and entry-point details on the form. It’s the same process laid out on our Vietnam e-visa page, new ward names included.

Street cafe in Vietnam with QR-code menus and parking signs
Street signs and QR menus still mix old district names with new wards.

Will my hotel booking and Google Maps still work?

Your booking is fine because GPS coordinates never moved - only the written address did. Save your hotel’s map pin rather than trusting the address text, because international platforms are slow to swap old district names for new ward names. Google Maps is only partly updated, so search by street name or a nearby landmark instead of the full address. Grab and other ride-hailing apps still show a mix of old and new boundaries, and drivers keep using the old district names day to day, which is completely normal during the transition.

Busy Ho Chi Minh City street with motorbikes and shop signs
In Ho Chi Minh City, shopfront address plates still show old district codes like Q6.

Which destinations sit in a new province now?

Several big-name spots changed their parent province without moving an inch. Hoi An, My Son and the Quang Nam beaches now fall under Da Nang City, which absorbed the old Quang Nam province. Phu Quoc Island is now part of An Giang province after Kien Giang merged into it. Vung Tau and its beaches now belong to Ho Chi Minh City, which swallowed Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Binh Duong and grew to more than 14 million people. Da Lat sits inside the new Lam Dong, now Vietnam’s largest province at over 24,000 km². The places are identical; only the province name on a form is different.

Apartment balcony overlooking a Vietnamese city skyline
Your apartment did not move, but its official address now drops the district.

How do I get around cities with no more districts?

Treat the ward name as your new anchor and lean on GPS for everything else. Here’s the routine that works for me:

  1. Note your hotel’s ward name at check-in - District 1 in Saigon is now wards like Sai Gon and Ben Thanh; Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem District is now Hoan Kiem Ward.
  2. Drop a saved pin for your hotel and any place you’ll revisit, so you never rely on typed addresses.
  3. Search Maps by landmark or street, not by full address, until platforms finish updating.
  4. When a driver asks, give the old district name too - locals still navigate by it.
  5. Screenshot your hotel’s Vietnamese address card; front desks print the current ward on it.

Do I need to do anything before my next trip?

For a normal holiday, nothing - book, fly and travel exactly as before, because visas, flights and transport are unaffected. The only prep worth doing is knowing your accommodation’s new ward name for any form you’ll sign, from a SIM registration to a visa extension. If you’re staying longer or juggling a visa run and an e-visa at the same time, that’s the part I handle end to end: pickup in Da Nang, the border paperwork, and a fresh e-visa the same day. Current routes and dates are on danangvisarun.com.