Why do Vietnamese border officers question travelers whose passport shows Ukraine as place of birth?

In August 2026 a traveler whose passport lists Ukraine as her place of birth said the border officer asked how long it had been since she visited her 'homeland', although she has lived in Russia since 1978. She pretended not to understand and simply gave her departure date to Vietnam, July 30. Questions about her relatives followed, asked in what she described as an unpleasant tone. She did get through passport control.

Another traveler with two children said she was held at passport control for about 30 minutes after a 13-hour flight from Havana. The officer examined the documents at length, lectured her on how children's passport photos should be taken, and finally found a stamp showing a trip to Ukraine. The traveler agreed with everything, gave the answers the officer wanted to hear, and the family was let through. Her advice is not to take such checks personally.

One participant pointed out that border officers are not service staff but military personnel from a security agency, so travelers should not expect friendly smiles or polite greetings. By that logic, a curt tone at passport control is more a matter of how they work than anything personal.