Vientiane thai visa proccess time

[webber4]

Hi,

 

I'm trying to plan my trip to Vientiane in 1 month...i plan to apply for a one entry tourist visa (Israeli passport) would the best be to apply for it on Monday to get it in the same week? or Tuesday is also good? to which day should I book my return flight in case i apply on Monday (Thursday or Friday)

 

thanks.

[CMBob]

Typically one will get the online Laos tourist visa within 3 business days; however, the only wise thing to do is apply for it at least 2-3 weeks ahead of time in case there's a problem.  I'm going to Laos on January 8th.....and applied for my online tourist visa a couple of days ago (expecting approval today or tomorrow).  So do it now, no reason to wait unless you're not sure you're going.

[Pattaya57]

You should register now for the Vientiane online appointment system as no walk-ins are allowed. Once registered you can see all the available appointments to give you an idea of how long before to book 

 

https://thaivisavientiane.com/

 

Note: booking today you can get an appointment tomorrow or next week Tue-Fri

 

Processing time is 2 working days, so application Monday means pick up Wednesday. This means Mon-Wed harder to get an appointment as Thu-Friday means staying over the week-end (Friday is a Tuesday pick-up)

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Pattaya57

[pomchop]

i did it last week

 

1. make appointment online ..no walk ins

2.  If you apply say wed then you can pick it up between 1;30 and 4 pm on friday....if you applied on friday you would pick up on tues pm..apply mon get it wed afternoon

3.  Make sure you have copies of all the crap described on website like bank statement etc...there are a few copy folks around but can be a pain if you don't have wifi signal to get stuff printed off your phone.  they wanted it printed on paper rather than show them the same thing on your phone...so get it printed

4.  The electronic "number calling screen" is broken so everyone sits down in a row as they are allowed in and the line moves accordingly regardless of what time your appointment was for...so sorta first come first serve but they do check that you have an appointment before you are allowed in..

5. There are only two windows open to turn in your completed forms passport and 1000 baht fee (for usa residents)...it moved along faster than  i expected and i did not see them send anyone away which was surprising as lot of forms seemed required.

6.  opens at 9am but long line starts to form about 8 am....for 1;30 pm pickup again a long line but moved very quickly.

7.  taxi and tuk tuk drivers who hang around embassy of course try to charge absurd amount to go downtown or back to border.

8.  be sure to have a lot of thai baht with you in laos or if you do decide to exchange for kip don't get too much as very hard to exchange kip outside of laos...it u pay in baht they will of course give u a lousy rate but better than getting stuck with a lot of semi worthless kip

9.  the drive from embassy to the border is a good 20++ minutes

 

overall a pain in the butt and Vientiane certainly not my idea of a great place but the people at teh thai embassy were overall pretty nice to deal with

[webber4]

7 hours ago, pomchop said:

i did it last week

 

1. make appointment online ..no walk ins

2.  If you apply say wed then you can pick it up between 1;30 and 4 pm on friday....if you applied on friday you would pick up on tues pm..apply mon get it wed afternoon

3.  Make sure you have copies of all the crap described on website like bank statement etc...there are a few copy folks around but can be a pain if you don't have wifi signal to get stuff printed off your phone.  they wanted it printed on paper rather than show them the same thing on your phone...so get it printed

4.  The electronic "number calling screen" is broken so everyone sits down in a row as they are allowed in and the line moves accordingly regardless of what time your appointment was for...so sorta first come first serve but they do check that you have an appointment before you are allowed in..

5. There are only two windows open to turn in your completed forms passport and 1000 baht fee (for usa residents)...it moved along faster than  i expected and i did not see them send anyone away which was surprising as lot of forms seemed required.

6.  opens at 9am but long line starts to form about 8 am....for 1;30 pm pickup again a long line but moved very quickly.

7.  taxi and tuk tuk drivers who hang around embassy of course try to charge absurd amount to go downtown or back to border.

8.  be sure to have a lot of thai baht with you in laos or if you do decide to exchange for kip don't get too much as very hard to exchange kip outside of laos...it u pay in baht they will of course give u a lousy rate but better than getting stuck with a lot of semi worthless kip

9.  the drive from embassy to the border is a good 20++ minutes

 

overall a pain in the butt and Vientiane certainly not my idea of a great place but the people at teh thai embassy were overall pretty nice to deal with

wow, thank you so much for the detailed answer, sounds like not much has changed from how it was a few years ago despite the online appointment system. i'll follow all your tips :-)

Edited December 6, 2023 by webber4

[kdrayong]

Update from this week

On Wednesday I went to the Royal That Embassy to apply for a Non-Imm-O Visa.

 

At 8:35 about 20 people lined up in front of me already. The gate opened 9:00 sharp. Maybe 12 applicants were asked to come back later due to their high queue number. The electronic queue system is still not working.

 

Around 9:15 it was my turn and I handed in all of the required documents.
Not mentioned on their website and new for me was that the officer wanted to see a rental contract. Well prepared, I offered to show my chanot as the owner of a condominium, what he didn't want to see.

 

Pickup Friday, yesterday 14:00, within 10 minutes.

 

Another thing to mention is that they will not give any receipt that you handed in your passport. 'I don't know about Laos police...'
I have been traveling by train inside Laos and experienced problems with the entrance security of the railway. Finally they let me pass with a copy of my passport with Laos visa only.