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Laos is a mountainous and landlocked country which shares borders with Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, Thailand to the west, and Myanmar and China to the north.

Visitors to Laos must obtain a visa from one of the Laotian diplomatic missions unless they come from one of the visa exempt countries or qualify for visa on arrival. All visitors must hold a passport valid for 6 months.

Visa Exemption

Citizens of the following 15 countries can visit Laos without a visa (allowed length of stay in days is shown in parentheses):

30 days

     Cambodia

     Indonesia

     Malaysia

     Mongolia

     Philippines

     Russia

     Singapore

     South Korea

     Thailand

     Vietnam

15 days

     Denmark

     Finland

     Japan

     Luxembourg

     Norway 1

     Sweden 1

      Switzerland

14 days

     Brunei

     Myanmar

TYPES LAO VISA

Types Lao Visas currently available:

Labour Visas (LA-B2)

Labor (LA-B2) visas (or work visas) are issued to foreigners who already have work permits, ID cards and be legally employed by a registered enterprise in Laos, who hold a quota to employ foreign employees.

Business Visa (NI-B2)

Business visas (some websites refer to this as Investor Visa) are issued to foreign citizens working or investing in Laos including foreign investors, stockholders, enterprise directors, deputy directors, technical officers, volunteers of Non-Governmental organisations, staff members of Diplomatic Missions, General Consulates, the United Nations Agencies and other international organizations, that hold ordinary passports.

Transit Visa (Tr-B3)

Transit Visas are for travelers who will only transit through Laos to another country. Holders of the visa can stay in Laos for five (5) days, and it cannot be extended.

Visit Visa (B3)

Visit visas are issued to foreign citizens intending to visit family member or relatives working in the Laos. Persons intending to attend a conference without formal requests from ministries of foreign affairs or their organization can obtain this type of visas too.

Expert Visa (E-B2)

Expert visas are issued to foreign experts who are coming to work in international organizations, Non-Governments or projects in Laos. A proof of assignment such as employment contract is required to apply for this visa.

Diplomatic Visa (A1)

Diplomatic visas are only issued to foreign high level governmental delegations, diplomats, consular officers, heads of the United Nations Agencies and other International Organizations accredited in Laos and their dependents (spouse and children) holding diplomatic passports.

Official Visa (A2)

Similar to A1 visa, official visas are issued to members of governmental delegations, staff members of foreign diplomatic missions, consulates, United Nations Agencies and other international organization agencies and their dependents (spouse and children) holding official passports.

Courtesy Visa (B1)

Courtesy visas are issued to foreign experts and their dependents holding diplomatic, official and ordinary passports visiting Laos under a subcontract with a project funded by the Lao Government’s bilateral cooperation or grant assistance, persons on official visits such as attending meetings and conferences invited by a government agency of the Lao PDR.

Student Visa

Student visas are issued to foreign students who will study in Laos for a duration of one to five years.  It is a 12-month visa and it may be renewed year by year until completion of study course.

Spouse Visas (SP-B3)

Spouse visas are issued to husbands or wives of other types of visa holders. The spouse visa will normally be for the same duration as that of the original visa holder. Holders for spouse visas may not undertake any work while in Laos.

Media Visa (M-B2)

Media Visas are issued to representatives of the foreign media, including registered journalists, members of the press, radio, film or print industries who cover events in Laos.

LAOS VISA REQUIREMENTS

  • Original passport with at least 6 months of remaining validity and 2 blank pages, one for a visa sticker and another for immigration stamps.
  • A Visa application form, filled out and signed by the applicant (available at visa window at Lao ports of entry or given before landing if you are arriving by plane).
  • 2-3 recent passport-type photographs.
  • Visa processing fee

All Laos visas must be used within two months from the date of issue.

HOW TO APPLY FOR A LAOS VISA

You can get Lao visa at Lao Embassies or Lao Consulates in your country or region.

However, if there is no Lao embassy or consulate in your area, you may need to plan your travel route to pass through one of Laos’ neighbor countries (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China or Myanmar), there are Lao embassies in these countries.

VISA PROCESSING TIME

You need at least two days to sort your Lao visa out before heading to Laos.

LAOS VISA APPLICATION FORM

All applicants must download the visa application form, fill in the required details and submit it with mandatory documents to start the process for a Laos visa.

You can download Laos visa application form from internet or get directly from the embassy or consulate. It is recommended to contact nearest Laos embassy or consulate before starting prepare all required documents for application process.

Link for download Laos Visa Application Form