FAQ
Laos Visa FAQ — Your Questions, Minus the Panic
Sabaidee! 👋 Paperwork shouldn’t eat your Mekong holiday. Here are the questions travellers, nomads and new expats fire at our desk most often, answered in plain human language. Still scratching your head? Ping us on WhatsApp (+856 20 9999 7573) and a real person at Harmony Hotel will sort you out.
Jump around: All Laos visas · Extension simple guide · 1-year visa explained · Mekong traveller’s playbook
🌴 Staying longer as a tourist
How many days does a tourist visa give me?
Roughly 30 days from the moment you land or cross the border. That’s been the usual tourist window again since early 2025, whether you came in on an eVisa or a visa on arrival.
Can I stretch my stay without leaving Laos?
Usually, yes! An eligible tourist stamp can normally be extended twice, which takes you toward about 90 days in total. Exemption stamps are a different animal and usually don’t extend the same way. Full walkthrough: tourist visa extension, the simple guide.
What does an extension cost?
USD 90 for 30 more days, and that’s the whole bill: no sneaky extra fees. In a rush? Our one-day express extension is USD 190.
What should I bring for my extension?
Just your passport with the current stamp and the fee. No photo needed, so skip the photo-booth hunt! Pop in anytime that suits you. Already past your stamp date? Still fixable: overstay days are USD 10 each, added to the extension price.
Is a quick hop to Thailand easier than extending?
Sometimes yes, often messy. If your tourist stamp can be extended, doing it here in Vientiane is usually the calmer move: no bus, no border queue, no surprise rules. If it can’t, we’ll tell you straight and help you plan your Laos and Thailand dates so one stamp doesn’t trip up the next.
Oops, I overstayed. Now what?
Don’t panic, but don’t hide either! Overstay is charged per day: the standard rate is USD 10 per day at the border and USD 5 per day at the Ministry of Immigration. Been over for a long while? Our rate for long overstays is just USD 2.50 per day. Message us on WhatsApp straight away and we’ll find the smoothest way through.
💼 The 1-year LA-B2
What’s the LA-B2, in normal words?
It’s the work visa you get when a company in Laos hires you. The employer sponsors you and needs foreign-labour quota paperwork on their side. It’s not for holiday-hopping. More: Laos 1-year visa explained.
How much does the 1-year LA-B2 cost?
New files are about USD 640 for developed-country passports and about USD 840 for India and other developing countries. Renewals land around USD 540. New files aren’t possible right now for Pakistan, Bangladesh and big parts of the Middle East and Africa, so if that’s you, ask us first.
How long does the LA-B2 take?
The invitation letter takes about 1 week once your paperwork is complete, and there’s no express lane for invitation letters, so plan ahead! Then you fly in, show the printed letter at the visa-on-arrival counter and pay USD 40. Once your passport is with us, standard processing takes about 4 weeks and Express about 2 weeks. Need it even faster? There’s a VIP express too, priced on how busy the Ministry of Immigration is, so WhatsApp us for today’s Express and VIP prices.
What papers does my employer need?
Company registration, the approved foreign-labour quota for your role, and your contract. From you: your passport and your CV. Employer papers first, then yours, and we list everything plainly so nobody’s guessing.
Do you help with work and stay permit cards?
Yep. Once the visa route is clear and the employer’s papers are ready, we support both the work permit card and the stay permit card for foreign workers.
📄 Documents
What should I pack for a tourist visa?
A passport with at least six months left on it, copies of your bio page on your phone, and your travel dates. eVisa before you fly or visa on arrival if your nationality and border allow it. We double-check your dates and form so landing is boring in a good way. More: Laos visa made practical.
Can you tidy up my documents first?
Totally. We do photos, copies and translations of what you already have. Super handy before an LA-B2 file.
📍 Finding us
Do I need to book?
Nope, just walk in! Any day, Sundays too, 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM. A quick WhatsApp before you come helps us get the right forms ready.
Where exactly are you?
Inside Harmony Hotel, Asean Road 05999, Vientiane. Lao addresses can be a bit of a treasure hunt, so tap our Google Maps pin and let it guide you to the door.
Open on weekends?
Every single day, weekends included, 9:00–20:00. Immigration offices keep their own hours, though, so we time your filing around them.
How do I pay you?
Whatever’s easiest for you: credit card, cash, local bank transfer, PayPal, Wise or Revolut. We’ll tell you the exact amount before you pay a single kip.
🇹🇭 Next stop: Thailand
Can you help with my Thai visa too?
Sure can. Plenty of our guests do both countries! Tell us your nationality, the date you want to enter Thailand and whether you already have a Laos stamp, and we’ll say which Thai route fits and what to photograph before you leave the hotel. Peek at our Thailand visa page.
Got a question we didn’t cover? 🛺
Send us your nationality and travel plan, and we’ll reply with the easiest route.
Chat on WhatsApp: +856 20 9999 7573 contact@66visa.com
Harmony Hotel, Asean Road 05999, Vientiane · Every day 9:00 AM–8:00 PM · Open Google Maps