Lao passport holders can visit Vietnam visa-free for up to 30 days. Here is exactly how the visa-free entry works, when you still need an eVisa, and how we can arrange one for a longer stay.
No visa needed for short stays. Lao citizens can visit Vietnam visa-free for up to 30 days per entry, so most holidays and short business trips need no visa at all. You only need the eVisa (valid up to 90 days, single or multiple entry) if you plan to stay longer than 30 days or want multiple entries. Laos is a meaningful neighbouring market for Vietnam thanks to a long shared land border, with arrivals up roughly 23% in 2024. Much of this traffic is overland cross-border movement rather than air travel.
No, not for a short trip. Lao passport holders can enter Vietnam visa-free for up to 30 days per stay. The exemption covers tourism, business, family visits, and transit, and it is honoured at airports, land borders, and seaports. You only need a visa - most simply the online eVisa - if your stay will run longer than 30 days, or you want the flexibility of multiple entries.
Here is exactly how the 30-day visa-free entry works, and the conditions to meet before you fly:
Under the bilateral Vietnam-Laos visa-exemption agreement, Lao citizens may enter visa-free for up to 30 days; the agreement reflects the two countries' special relationship and remains in force in 2026.
The visa exemption covers most short trips, but the eVisa is the right call in these cases:
The Vietnam eVisa is an electronic visa issued by Vietnam's Immigration Department and emailed to you as a PDF, valid up to 90 days, single or multiple entry, and accepted at all 83 designated entry points. You can apply yourself at the official portal, evisa.gov.vn, or let us handle the whole application for a small service fee. The government fee is identical either way; what we add is a review of every field before submission, error correction, faster processing options, and a real person to email if anything looks off.
Apply for a longer-stay eVisa →
| Option | Validity | Our fee (per applicant) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Month Single Entry | 30 days from arrival | $54 |
| 1 Month Multiple Entry | 30 days from arrival | $84 |
| 3 Month Single Entry | 90 days from arrival | $94 |
| 3 Month Multiple Entry | 90 days from arrival | $104 |
All prices include the Vietnam Immigration Department's stamp fee, with no hidden add-ons. The official government fee is USD 25 (single entry) or USD 50 (multiple entry) and is non-refundable even if an application is rejected, which is exactly why our pre-submission review matters. Your card is charged in USD, so your bank applies its own exchange rate to Lao kip. See the full fee breakdown and currency estimator →
Times start when our team submits your application to Immigration, usually within 2 business hours of payment during office hours (08:00 to 21:00 GMT+7). Apply at least 2 to 3 weeks ahead where you can, and add a buffer around Vietnamese public holidays such as Tet, when the Immigration Department is closed and even urgent processing pauses.
Single entry is enough for a one-way visit, even with domestic flights inside Vietnam (Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Quoc all count as one entry). Multiple entry is the right choice if you plan to leave and re-enter, for example a regional itinerary through Cambodia, Laos, or Thailand, or a cruise that calls at several Vietnamese ports. Both options carry the same 90-day maximum, so if there is any chance you will leave and return, choose multiple entry.
⚠️ Do not overstay. Under the December 2025 fine schedule, overstays draw tiered penalties rising to as much as VND 40 million for the most serious cases, plus possible deportation and a future entry ban. On arrival, check that the exit date stamped in your passport matches your permitted stay, and leave on or before that date.
A non-compliant photo or bio-page scan is the single most common cause of a stuck or rejected application. Our team checks yours against the requirements before anything is filed.
See the full walkthrough on our How to Apply page.
Your visa-free entry and the eVisa are both accepted at these gateways:
⚠ Your entry point is fixed once the eVisa is approved. The port you name on the form is printed on the visa, and turning up somewhere else means a new application rather than a correction at the desk. Vietnam accepts the eVisa at 83 places: 17 airports, 27 land border gates and 39 seaports. Decide which one you will actually use before you pay.
Crossing overland from Laos? These are the gates that accept an eVisa: Lao Bao (Quang Tri), La Lay (Quang Tri), Cau Treo (Ha Tinh), Cha Lo (Quang Binh), Nam Can (Nghe An), Na Meo (Thanh Hoa), Tay Trang (Dien Bien), Long Sap (Son La), Bo Y (Kon Tum) and Nam Giang (Da Nang). Overland travellers are the group most often caught out by the fixed entry point, because the gate your bus or train actually uses has to match the one on the visa.
No - Lao passport holders enjoy visa-free entry for up to 30 days under a bilateral agreement, whether arriving by air or overland.
Major international crossings include Lao Bao, Cau Treo, Nam Can, Na Meo, Cha Lo, Tay Trang, La Lay and Bo Y. Lao citizens cross visa-free; travellers who need a visa can use a Vietnam eVisa at eVisa-designated land gates.
Apply for a Vietnam eVisa for up to 90 days, accepted at 83 entry points including airports and international land borders.
Because we review every application before submitting, we catch most issues up front, such as a passport expiring within 6 months. If we spot a problem - or we anticipate that Vietnam Immigration would deny your application - we refund you in full before submitting and suggest alternatives. See our Terms and Conditions.
Vietnamese embassy and consulates: The Vietnamese Embassy is in Vientiane, with Consulates-General in Savannakhet, Pakse and Luang Prabang; use Vietnam's MOFA mission directory for official contact details.
Most Lao travellers never deal with a Vietnamese mission at all. The eVisa is issued online, your passport is never surrendered, and nothing is posted anywhere. Three things do still have to go through the mission listed above rather than through us:
Missions open, close and change accreditation - Vietnam opened resident embassies in Dublin and Lisbon during 2025, and third-party directories were slow to catch up. Check Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs mission directory at mofa.gov.vn before relying on any listing, including ours.
Elsewhere in Asia: Thailand, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia.
Also visa-free for 30 days: Thailand, Belarus, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia.
Not listed? The eVisa has been open to every country and territory in the world since Resolution 127/NQ-CP in August 2023 - check your nationality on the full list →