Laos entry: eVisa, arrival forms and the right checkpoint

Check nationality before buying a visa

On 15 October 2026, the Lao embassy in Tokyo’s visa guidance gave Japanese nationals a visa-free stay of up to 30 days from 1 June 2025, with at least six months remaining on a Japanese passport at entry. Japan’s embassy in Laos confirmed the 30-day exemption for ordinary-passport Japanese tourists in its notice of 2 June 2025. The Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs eVisa calculator listed other visa-free maximum stays per visit of 15 days for Luxembourg and Switzerland; 14 days for Myanmar; and 30 days for Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, South Korea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Check your nationality and passport type before buying a visa.

Visa-free entitlement and eVisa eligibility are different. Diplomatic, official and other non-standard travel documents use their own nationality agreements; a Lao mission can advise on those documents.

The portal’s eligible-nationality list includes Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. Eligibility means you can use that application route, not that you can enter without a visa. For another nationality, use the live list and fee calculator at laoevisa.gov.la.

A visa on arrival is separate from an eVisa. For German citizens, Germany’s Foreign Office lists single-entry, 30-day arrival visas at Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Pakse and Savannakhet international airports and some international land crossings, at US$40, with a passport valid for at least six months and two recent photographs. The UK FCDO lists arrival visas at VTE, LPQ and Pakse for British citizens. These are nationality-specific rules. No official page lists arrival-visa eligibility for every nationality or names the payment method at the arrival counter; if your nationality is not covered above, apply for the eVisa or ask a Lao embassy.

The Lao embassy in Tokyo’s arrival-visa guide lists Wattay, Luang Prabang, Pakse and Savannakhet airports, and names the Vientiane–Nong Khai and Savannakhet–Mukdahan bridges, Thakhek–Nakhon Phanom, Boten–Bohan, Nam Phao–Cau Treo and Densavanh–Lao Bao land crossings among its issuance points. It prints US$50 and two photographs measuring 5 × 3 cm. Its fee differs from Germany’s German-national advice above: use the fee and payment instructions for your own nationality, rather than treating one mission’s figure as universal. The eVisa checkpoint list below is separate.

For a visa in advance, use a Lao diplomatic mission if your nationality or travel document cannot use the electronic or arrival route, or your checkpoint does not issue that visa. The Lao embassy in Washington lists a completed form, two recent 2 × 2 inch photographs, the original passport with at least six months’ validity and a copy of the identity page. It accepts a money order or certified cheque payable to the Embassy of the Lao P.D.R. and lists ten business days to process a complete submission; its expedited service costs extra. Follow that mission’s nationality fee and mail instructions if applying there.

Apply with the right passport and documents

Check passport validity and blank pages independently of your visa channel. For full British-citizen passports, the UK FCDO requires at least six months remaining on arrival and two blank pages. Germany’s Foreign Office says German travel documents must remain valid for at least six months on entry and should have at least two free pages. The Lao embassy in Tokyo gives at least six months for visa-free Japanese and South Korean passport holders. Other nationalities and non-standard documents use their mission’s entry conditions; the eVisa rule below applies only to its applicants. No single official rule on blank pages covers every nationality, so follow your own government's advice or a Lao embassy for other passports.

For eligible ordinary-passport holders, the Lao eVisa gives one entry and a stay of up to 30 days. Apply through laoevisa.gov.la at least five days before travel; normal processing is three working days after a complete application and payment, and it can take longer. The approval letter is valid for entry for a maximum of 60 days after you receive it. Print it and travel with the same passport used in the application, with more than 180 days remaining on arrival.

The 60-day approval window is the period in which to enter. The permitted stay starts when you arrive, so these are different dates. Only ordinary passports can be used for the eVisa application.

Prepare a colour scan of the passport’s full biographical page, including the machine-readable lines at the bottom, and a colour 4 × 6 cm photograph taken within the previous six months. The photo must face the camera, have a plain white background and no shadows, with a neutral expression and both eyes open. Additional documents may be requested.

On the official portal, choose Apply Now, enter your email address and the security code, use the emailed verification code to open the application, then enter personal and travel details and upload the documents. Review the information before payment. The fee is per applicant and excludes a bank charge; it is non-refundable. Keep the application ID for the portal’s status enquiry.

After approval, download the letter from your email and print a legible copy with a readable QR code. At the designated port, use the eVisa lane and show the passport and letter to the immigration officer. Public holidays can lengthen processing; the usual processing period is not a guaranteed travel deadline.

Match the checkpoint to the visa

Choose an entry point that accepts your visa: the official eVisa list includes Wattay, Luang Prabang and Pakse international airports, Friendship Bridges I and II, Boten road checkpoint, Boten railway station and Khamsavath railway station. Friendship Bridge III is not on the eVisa list.

For air travel, the codes are VTE for Wattay in Vientiane, LPQ for Luang Prabang and PKZ for Pakse. Choose the airport for the town where you intend to sleep first. The airport-cost example below uses LPQ, so it needs no road or railway border leg.

Friendship Bridge I is the Vientiane–Nong Khai crossing; Friendship Bridge II links Savannakhet and Mukdahan. Both are on the eVisa list. Friendship Bridge III, between Khammouane and Nakhon Phanom, appears on the tourism ministry’s general tourist-crossing list, which does not establish eVisa acceptance. Arrange a visa usable there before choosing that crossing.

Boten road checkpoint and Boten railway station are separate entries, as is Khamsavath railway station. An international train booking does not replace the entry permission for its checkpoint.

On 15 October 2026, the UK FCDO advised against all but essential travel to Xaisomboun province. Germany advised avoiding journeys into Bokeo and Sainyabuli provinces and journeys near the Cambodian border. France advised against the Myanmar border area except for compelling reasons. Our routes avoid these areas; check your own government’s advice before booking.

Friendship Bridge IV is in Bokeo and is excluded from this guide’s routes even though it appears on the official eVisa list. A visa-accepting checkpoint still needs a permitted approach and an actual transport service.

Complete LDIF for arrival and departure

Complete the Lao Digital Immigration Form within three days before arrival and again within three days before departure when using Wattay, Luang Prabang or Pakse international airport, or Friendship Bridge I. This arrival and departure form is separate from your visa.

For those four checkpoints, the UK FCDO describes LDIF as required for all foreign nationals. Visa-free entry is therefore not a waiver of this separate form; retain both the arrival and departure submissions.

For this LPQ arrival, open immigration.gov.la and choose Submit Online. The Lao embassy in Japan’s notice says completed registration produces a QR code to present to immigration officers. Keep the code accessible with your travel documents.

Set a reminder for the departure submission as well as the arrival submission. For any stay, those are two separate tasks within their respective windows. For a different checkpoint, follow its immigration instructions rather than assuming the four-point digital process applies everywhere.

Kip, cards and the cash declaration

The Lao kip (LAK) is the local currency. Carry kip for everyday purchases; card acceptance is concentrated in larger hotels, restaurants and shops in the main cities. Exchange foreign currency at banks, airports or currency exchange offices. LOCA Pay offers card-funded payments through Lao QR codes.

Use a payment method each business accepts and keep enough kip for the last-mile ride and small purchases. A QR payment option does not mean every merchant or card will work with it.

Germany’s Foreign Office says foreign currency worth USD 10,000 or more must be declared on entry or exit, and Lao kip must not be brought into or taken out of the country.

The declaration threshold includes exactly USD 10,000. Before leaving, spend or exchange the kip you will not use, keeping the currency-export rule in view.

LPQ arrival: the counter and the onward stay

Tourism Luang Prabang puts the airport 4 km from the city centre and lists a taxi ticket counter by the exit, with taxis serving hotels, guesthouses and town. On 15 October 2026, it listed LAK50,000 per group; use the counter’s price for your party, luggage and exact hotel address. LOCA also offers airport pickup through its own app. No operator or official page publishes a taxi journey time; the official distance is 4 km.

Use the Luang Prabang guide for rooms, sights and meals after choosing the arrival airport. For a capital-first trip, use the Vientiane guide and choose Wattay instead; the transport guide covers the onward railway and road bookings.

An entry-and-airport cost example for two

For two German adults arriving at LPQ, the published inputs checked on 15 October 2026 are US$80 for two arrival visas plus LAK50,000 as the provincial tourism office’s airport-taxi group reference. These are separate currencies and the taxi counter sets the current party-and-luggage total. Visa-free travellers omit the visa charge; other nationalities use their own visa fee.

This is an entry-cost example rather than a stay budget. It excludes any additional arrival-visa processing charges, a different visa route or eVisa bank charges, onward transport, return airport travel, accommodation, meals, sightseeing and flights. LDIF is a separate immigration form and does not replace the visa; a form fee is outside these priced inputs.

• German-national arrival visas: 2 × US$40 = US$80, using Germany’s nationality-specific advice.
• LPQ–town taxi reference: LAK50,000 per group from the tourism office’s listing; the exit counter supplies the current total for your exact journey.
• Published inputs for the pair: US$80 + LAK50,000; no exchange-rate conversion or return-journey fare is assumed.