Stuck on the Vietnam e-Visa form? "File has script tag", photo upload errors and addresses solved
You decided to save money and apply on Vietnam's official site evisa.gov.vn yourself, then got stuck uploading photos or on the address fields, and a whole evening went by without submitting? You're not alone; lots of people are searching for the same error messages. Here are the 4 most common sticking points when applying yourself. Follow these steps and you'll usually get through.
- "File has script tag, please try again": your photo doesn't have a virus. Save a fresh JPG from the original photo and upload that; don't use a file that was sent through a messaging app.
- Photo won't upload: save it as a JPG under 2MB (around 1MB is safest); the portrait photo should be vertical.
- Address: use the English form of your address; for a Taiwan address, use Chunghwa Post's Chinese-to-English address tool.
- Emergency contact relationship: for a spouse, enter Spouse (or Husband / Wife). The full list is below.
Sticking point 1: "File has script tag, please try again" when uploading a photo
This is a check message on evisa.gov.vn. Literally it means "the file contains code", but in most cases there's nothing wrong with the photo. Vietnam hasn't published the reason; applicants' common experience is that phones and photo-editing apps leave hidden information in the file, or the photo is recompressed when sent through a messaging app, and the system blocks it by mistake.
This usually works:
- Go back to the original photo (the one in your phone's gallery), not a file that has been passed around on LINE, WhatsApp or Messenger.
- Save a fresh JPG: on a computer, open the photo in Paint → "Save as" → JPEG; on a phone, take a screenshot of the photo and upload the screenshot.
- Rename the file using only English letters or numbers, such as photo1.jpg, with no spaces or special characters.
- Still not working? Try another computer or browser (Chrome, Edge).
The good news: when this message appears the file hasn't been uploaded at all, nothing has been submitted or paid. Just upload a different file; it won't affect your application.
Sticking point 2: photo too large to upload
You need to upload two images: the passport data page and a portrait photo. Phone photos are often 3–5MB, which easily gets blocked.
- Format and size: JPG, under 2MB; around 1MB is safest.
- How to compress: on a computer, use Paint → "Resize" to bring the long side to 1,200–1,500 pixels and save as JPG again; on a phone, a screenshot is usually much smaller. Don't compress until it's blurry: unclear photos get rejected too.
- Portrait photo: vertical (4×6 ratio, not square), white background, taken within the last 6 months, facing forward without glasses, face, ears and eyebrows clearly visible. A phone photo in front of a white wall is fine if the light is even.
- Passport page: capture the whole page with all four corners visible; the two lines of letters and numbers at the bottom (the machine-readable zone) must be clear, with no glare and no fingers covering any text.
Sticking point 3: writing addresses in English
The form asks for your contact address, your emergency contact's address and the hotel address in Vietnam, all in English.
- Your home address: write it as it appears in English on official documents. For a Taiwan address, Chunghwa Post's website has a "Chinese address to English" tool: enter the Chinese address and copy the standard English version.
- Hotel address in Vietnam: open your booking confirmation or the English page of the booking site and copy the hotel's English name and address; if you're staying at several hotels, the first night's hotel is enough.
Sticking point 4: what to enter for the emergency contact's "relationship"
The emergency contact needs a name, relationship, current address and phone number. We recommend someone who is not traveling with you and can be reached at home. Use these English terms for the relationship:
| Relationship | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Spouse | Spouse (or Husband / Wife) |
| Parent | Father / Mother |
| Child | Son / Daughter |
| Sibling | Brother / Sister |
| Partner | Boyfriend / Girlfriend |
| Friend | Friend |
If the field is a drop-down list, choose the closest option.
Check these 3 things before you submit
- Name, passport number and date of birth must match your passport exactly; don't swap your surname and given name. A typo can get you stopped at the airline check-in counter.
- Dates are in "day / month / year" format. The arrival date is the one people get wrong most often.
- You can't change anything after paying; a mistake means applying and paying again. Check every field once more before you submit.
⚠️ Make sure it's the official website
The official Vietnam e-Visa website is evisa.gov.vn (backup address thithucdientu.gov.vn). There are many look-alike sites online, some charging several times the price. If the address doesn't end in .gov.vn, stop and check.
Don't want to do it yourself? Leave it to us
Photos that won't upload, a form you can't make sense of, and the worry of being rejected for a mistake: you don't have to do it yourself. iTour's Vietnam e-Visa service:
- Just take phone photos of your passport page and a portrait and send them to us; we handle the English form and the photo format.
- Worried about rejection? There's a Guaranteed Approval plan. Short on time? There's an Urgent e-Visa.
- Already applied and paid, but still waiting? No need to apply again: use our Visa Expedite.
Vietnam e-Visa ・ Urgent ・ Expedite
Further reading: How long does a Vietnam e-Visa take? ・ Vietnam Pre-Arrival declaration ・ How long is the queue at Vietnam's airports?
Based on the Vietnam e-Visa website and our experience helping travelers (Nov 2026). The site's checks may change at any time; what evisa.gov.vn shows prevails. WhatsApp +886 916 351 972 ・ LINE @itourvisa