Skip to content
MyVisaPort

Laos for Vietnamese passport holders: Visa-free

Your circumstances

Passport:
🇻🇳 Vietnamese
Lives in:
Not specified (general rule)
Going to:
🇱🇦 Laos
Purpose:
Holiday

Route summary

Visa-free

Visa-free (30 days)

Vietnamese citizens can enter Laos without a visa for up to 30 days per visit; an eVisa allows up to 30 days.

Conditions

  • For a longer stay (up to 30 days, extendable in Laos) you can get the Lao eVisa (US$ 35).

About this route

Route type
Visa-free: no visa application needed.
Documents
Document list not published by the official source.
Fee
No visa fee (as published).
Processing
Processing time not published by the official source.

Next step

Steps not published by the official source — use the official link to start.

Official sourcelaoevisa.gov.la ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Last checked 1 Nov 2026 against laoevisa.gov.la · Checked on the live official page

Documents

Document list not published by the official source.

Fees

Official government fee
No visa fee
Visa-centre / service fee (not a government fee)
None stated by the official source
Notes from the source
No visa fee.

Visa-centre, service or other third-party charges are never official government fees.

Processing and validity

Processing time
Not published by the official source
Validity
Not published by the official source
Maximum stay
Up to 30 days per visit

Quick answers

Do Vietnamese passport holders need a visa for Laos?

Visa-free (30 days). Vietnamese citizens can enter Laos without a visa for up to 30 days per visit; an eVisa allows up to 30 days. Source: https://laoevisa.gov.la/fee-calculator

Business, work or just passing through?

The rules above are for a holiday: tourism and visiting family and friends. Business visits, paid work and transit are covered separately below.

Business visits to Laos

Not verified yet (not yet covered). We haven't verified the business rules for Vietnamese passport holders, and we don't publish rules we haven't checked against an official source. A rule that is awaiting verification or not yet covered is not a negative visa decision: it only means we haven't confirmed it on an official source yet. Until then, see laoevisa.gov.la.

Working in Laos

⚠ Not from an official source: items marked below come from secondary sources (law firms, employer-of-record guides, IOM, Wikipedia), not the destination government. They are not verified and may be out of date; confirm with the embassy or immigration authority.

Main work visa routes for Laos

These are the main routes and what they require. Whether you qualify depends on your circumstances; the official page decides.

Labour visa (LA-B2)

⚠ Not from an official source

For: Foreign employees in Laos

  • Apply at a consulate before entry

Source: G-P Globalpedia – Laos visas & permits (employer-of-record guide) (Not official) (globalization-partners.com) · Not from an official source.

What the source says

"There are two types of work visas in Laos — an investor visa and a labor visa." … "Applicants must apply for these visas at a consulate before entering the country"

Checked 16 Oct 2026. Requirements, fees and thresholds change; confirm on the official page before applying.

Your work travel report

We only create the PDF report from rules checked against an official government source.

Transit through Laos

Option 1
Visa-freeTransit (changing flights)

Airside transit generally without a visa (not from an official source)

Unofficial source – not verified

This rule is not from an official Laos government source. It is based on a secondary reference source (dict.dyimin.com). Confirm with the embassy or the official immigration authority before you travel.

Not from an official Laos government source: based on the World Visa Encyclopedia (dict.dyimin.com, an unofficial reference site), a single unofficial source. Not verified - conditions vary by airline and airport; confirm with your airline and the embassy before travel. The site says: “Direct Airside Transit (Visa-Free Transit) Even passengers of visa-required nationalities do not need a visa if they remain exclusively within the international transit area (Airside) of international airports in Laos, such as Vientiane Wattay International Airport, and do not pass through immigration inspection. However, visa-free transit via the airport's transit area requires fulfilling the following conditions: Tickets must be issued under a single booking (Single Booking) allowing through check-in to the final destination.”

Conditions

  • Stay in the international transit area (airside); do not pass immigration.
  • Check your airline allows it (through ticket and checked-through baggage).
Government fee
Fee not officially published
Processing
Not verified yet
Validity
Not verified yet
Max stay
Not verified yet
Steps, documents & where to apply

How to apply

Steps not verified yet — follow the official source below.

Documents checklist

Document list not verified yet — check the official source.

✓ Secondary_research

Official wording

“World Visa Encyclopedia (dict.dyimin.com), 'Laos' chapter 14 Transit / Transfer: “Direct Airside Transit (Visa-Free Transit) Even passengers of visa-required nationalities do not need a visa if they remain exclusively within the international transit area (Airside) of international airports in Laos, such as Vientiane Wattay International Airport, and do not pass through immigration inspection. However, visa-free transit via the airport's transit area requires fulfilling the following conditions: Tickets must be issued under a single booking (Single Booking) allowing through check-in to the final destination.””

Your transit travel report

We only create the PDF report from rules checked against an official government source.

Alert me if this route changes

Get an email when we update the guidance for Vietnamese passport holders going to Laos, after we've checked the change against the official source. Nothing else.

Tell me about changes to

We send a confirmation email first. Unconfirmed sign-ups are deleted after 7 days.

Before you go to Laos

Customs cash limits and the scams official travel advice warns about in Laos.

Cash you can bring in and take out

Not yet confirmed — check the official customs page. We couldn't confirm Laos's cash limits on an official page yet, so we don't show a number. Check the current rules on laotradeportal.gov.la →

Official source: laotradeportal.gov.la · Last checked 9 Oct 2026 · Details

Common tourist traps

  1. Bag snatching from motorbikes

    How it works: Travellers regularly report bags being snatched, often by people on motorcycles.

    How to avoid it: Hold bags on the side away from the road and keep valuables out of sight.

  2. Motorbike rental passport scam

    How it works: Some rental firms arrange for hired motorbikes to be stolen or damaged, keep the passport left as deposit and demand high fees.

    How to avoid it: Never leave your passport as a deposit or guarantee.

  3. Drink spiking

    How it works: Drinks can be spiked with drugs; victims have been robbed or assaulted.

    How to avoid it: Buy your own drinks, keep them in sight and don't accept drinks from strangers.

All 5 traps for Laos →

Emergency numbers in Laos

Paraphrased from official travel advice: gov.uk · FCDO page updated 13 Aug 2026 · Last checked 2 Nov 2026.

Explore Laos

Planning more than the paperwork? Our Laos guide picks out places to visit, with a source for every tip.

Places to visit:
Luang Prabang · Plain of Jars
Read the full Laos guide

Vietnamese passport: of the 152 destinations with a rule verified from an official source, 24 visa-free, 11 visa on arrival, 35 eVisa or travel authorisation, 82 embassy visa.

Laos: rules verified from an official source for 162 of 198 passports. Laos guide and every passport →

Where else can Vietnamese passport holders travel? See every destination we cover →

Optional travel offers

Some links are affiliate links. Booking through them costs you nothing extra, and a small commission helps pay MyVisaPort’s ongoing hosting and maintenance costs and keeps the site free of banner ads. We only list services we think are useful, and they never affect the visa information we publish. These offers are not part of the visa guidance above and are never used to rank routes. How partner links work

Verify with the embassy before you book. Visa rules change without notice. We link every rule to its official source and last checked it on 1 Nov 2026, but the embassy, official e-visa portal and your airline have the final say. MyVisaPort is not a visa agent and is not affiliated with any government.