So as US citizen you need a visitor visa to enter Vietnam. My cousin was able to bypass it somehow and got a visa exception. I think he was able to submit some paperwork proving he is of Vietnamese origin (which requires the birth certificate of his parents).

I was unable to put in the work to find these documents so I went about the regular visa process that the rest of the world has to get. I visited https://vietnamembassy-usa.org/consular and paid about 119$ for a 90-day visa (for some flexibility) and it came to me in the mail from the Washington DC embassy about a couple weeks after. The people at Zurich Airport haven’t seen the traditional visa before, and they have to verify authenticity. After a few minutes, it is verified as legit, so I went ahead and boarded my flight to Vietnam.

I think the easiest way is to do an e-visa https://evisa.gov.vn/. This was what my mother did, and you can just print it at your convenience before you reach the airport. Most people are used to this visa style too, so it might be the best choice.

Many European countries like Germany, France and now Switzerland are now exempt from having to get a visitor visa to visit Vietnam. I actually saw many Europeans, Russians, Japanese and Koreans visiting Vietnam while I was there. I met Canadians, but only one American. I think the visa requirement on the USA deters visitors from coming.