Thai embassy, Vientiane. How busy these days?

[jimjum]

A year or two a go, I heard all the visa companies went there and they were processing up to a thousand people a day, so you could be queuing for hours.

 

After the recent crackdowns, I was wondering whether the numbers had dropped considering it is now also low season.

 

Any feedback appreciated.

[visarunner]

on Monday and Thursday around 500, Monday or Tuesday around 300, Friday around 100.

The numbers on applicants are not related to low or high season. It has more to do with the grand total of people applying for various visa at the Vientiane Embassy, means the number dropped.

One major recent change in the procedure is that nowadays everyone has to pick up passport by themselves.

 

[jethro69]

I used to go just half an hour b4 closing down, then you'll find almost nobody around anymore. For picking up the passport. I took usually the number and did wait in the opposite restaurant with a cold beer Lao. This year I didn't go due to the closing of the borders for motorcycles into Xayabouri province. So this post comes from Phnom Penh actually. A bit more on the expensive side. Paid 53$, the visa itself is 40$ the rest 13$ was for the GH.

[fdch]

7 hours ago, visarunner said:

on Monday and Thursday around 500, Monday or Tuesday around 300, Friday around 100.

The numbers on applicants are not related to low or high season. It has more to do with the grand total of people applying for various visa at the Vientiane Embassy, means the number dropped.

One major recent change in the procedure is that nowadays everyone has to pick up passport by themselves.

 

i also can confirm i never have seen a number over 400

[dazzz]

I think you mean the thai consul as the embassy is in a different place and does not issue visas . I been going there of on and on for 10 years . Most i ever seen was about 300 when a lot of filipinos turned up on buses .Longest i waited to hand  passport in was about 4 hours but usually 1-2 hours . e easy really . There are a lot of agents who for a fee  do it for you but not worth the money

[edwardandtubs]

2 minutes ago, dazzz said:

I think you mean the thai consul as the embassy is in a different place and does not issue visas . I been going there of on and on for 10 years . Most i ever seen was about 300 when a lot of filipinos turned up on buses .Longest i waited to hand  passport in was about 4 hours but usually 1-2 hours . e easy really . There are a lot of agents who for a fee  do it for you but not worth the money

It depends how much they charge. If it's 200 baht then that is absolutely worth avoiding a 1-4 hour queue for.

[dazzz]

Las time i was there it was 1800 baht . You give them your passport and they get the visa and bring to your hotel the next day . 5000 baht they will get the visa the same day

[edwardandtubs]

Just now, dazzz said:

Las time i was there it was 1800 baht . You give them your passport and they get the visa and bring to your hotel the next day . 5000 baht they will get the visa the same day

So their fee is 800 baht. You're right, not really worth it to avoid a 1 hour queue.

[edwardandtubs]

6 hours ago, jethro69 said:

I used to go just half an hour b4 closing down, then you'll find almost nobody around anymore. For picking up the passport. I took usually the number and did wait in the opposite restaurant with a cold beer Lao. This year I didn't go due to the closing of the borders for motorcycles into Xayabouri province. So this post comes from Phnom Penh actually. A bit more on the expensive side. Paid 53$, the visa itself is 40$ the rest 13$ was for the GH.

It's true that almost everyone behaves likes lemmings and thinks 'I'd better get their early to avoid the queues'. But I would worry about arriving 30 minutes before closing and not having time to get the application in. What time do you recommend getting there. 11 am?

Edited April 30, 2017 by edwardandtubs

[dazzz]

Just now, edwardandtubs said:

So their fee is 800 baht. You're right, not really worth it to avoid a 1 hour queue.

no their fee is 1800 baht plus the visa fee .A guy in my hotel about 100 metres from the consul did it . Bit pointless as he sat outside the hotel having a beer he could just queue .Never been  as busy as people say i usually get there for 8am and have finished by 11am . Nobody there an friday as you would have to wait until monday to get your visa .
 Lots of wrong info about closing . They close the gates   but the people already inside get seen .  I was there until 2pm a few years back when the filipas turned up .They do not close the counters when it is time to shut , just the gates . Mostly by 11am not many people left

[jimjum]

Ok I admit I didn't witness the crowds personally, but I have seen photos of the hundreds of people sat around waiting and a queue number in the 600's, with a queue behind still backing right up out the doors and out around the block.

 

Most likely an exaggeration on the total, but prefer not to risk queueing for 4-5 hours to submit an application form.

 

Again from the photos it appeared to me that over 80% were asian, so probably a large proportion were filipinos.

 

A better question maybe would be, which days do the filipino visa companies go to the Vientianne Thai consul?

[calbts2]

I can tell you submit monday collect tuesday is one of the busiest. Was there last week and many visa companies there. Submitted application at about 11am on Monday and that was quick and took 5 minutes. At that time no line. But Tuesday did not collect until 4 pm as I was in the high 500's.

[jethro69]

8 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

It's true that almost everyone behaves likes lemmings and thinks 'I'd better get their early to avoid the queues'. But I would worry about arriving 30 minutes before closing and not having time to get the application in. What time do you recommend getting there. 11 am?

Well honestly speaking the last 2 times I was even later. 1st time my bike didn't start up, so I walked up there. 2nd the cops around wanted to see my Repsol CBR and pulled me aside near the market, so I arrived both times somewhat between 11:00 & 11:15. But I have to be honest, I wouldn't mind to show up too late as I stay usually in Vientiane somewhat between 5-7 days, and my whole time abroad for 2 weeks. If Thai immigration wants me out for a new visa, so I do and my money is spend abroad.

[grandad]

It is about 4 years since I last visited the consulate. I now have major difficulty with stairs, particularly without a handrail.

My memory is of such a staircase to the collection hall. If this is stiil the case, I will have to arrange assistance.

Thanking for any confirmation

 

 

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, grandad said:

It is about 4 years since I last visited the consulate. I now have major difficulty with stairs, particularly without a handrail.

My memory is of such a staircase to the collection hall. If this is stiil the case, I will have to arrange assistance.

Thanking for any confirmation

The last time I was there, collection was on the ground floor. If you can hobble in from the road, you should be fine.

[visarunner]

15 hours ago, dazzz said:

Las time i was there it was 1800 baht . You give them your passport and they get the visa and bring to your hotel the next day . 5000 baht they will get the visa the same day

I am sure same day not possible.

 

[visarunner]

12 hours ago, jimjum said:

Ok I admit I didn't witness the crowds personally, but I have seen photos of the hundreds of people sat around waiting and a queue number in the 600's, with a queue behind still backing right up out the doors and out around the block.

 

Most likely an exaggeration on the total, but prefer not to risk queueing for 4-5 hours to submit an application form.

 

Again from the photos it appeared to me that over 80% were asian, so probably a large proportion were filipinos.

 

A better question maybe would be, which days do the filipino visa companies go to the Vientianne Thai consul?

That is easy to answer, they are there, usually Monday and Thursday. Easy to google the schedule of the companies that go, from Bangkok, just two. 

[edwardandtubs]

16 minutes ago, visarunner said:

That is easy to answer, they are there, usually Monday and Thursday. Easy to google the schedule of the companies that go, from Bangkok, just two. 

Clearly there are more than 2 companies bringing Filipinos to Vientiane for a visa run. Maybe they advertise in Tagalog.

[dazzz]

35 minutes ago, visarunner said:

I am sure same day not possible.

 

I turned up there once on a thursday with a swiss girl i met at the border to find we did not check the holidays and it was shut on fri and monday so if we left our passports there we could not pick them up until tuesday . No problem for me as i live 20 mins from the border but she was on holiday and had a hotel in bangkok and a flight back from udon the next day . She begged the staff at the consul to do her a visa that day but they refused .
 Went outside and the touts said they could get her one for 5000 baht . She did not have the full money but they would not drop the price saying they have to pay the consul 4500 and they get 500 . I lent her the money and a couple of hours later she got her visa. I went back to thai got a 15 day exemption and came back in 2 weeks , no problem . She sent me the money no problem .
   Also beindgswiss she did not have to pay the $35 for a laos visa . free to swiss nationals as they have a free hospital in vientianne ?

[dazzz]

2 hours ago, BritTim said:

The last time I was there, collection was on the ground floor. If you can hobble in from the road, you should be fine.

Its all on the ground floor with one exception . For some reason they now ask for a photocopy of your laos entry stamp . not the laos visa but the small stamp which of course you do not have until you enter laos . Not many people know this until they get to the consul and have to copy it and they have a printer which is up a few flights of stairs but you can get the touts to copy it for you outside the gate

[grandad]

12 minutes ago, dazzz said:

Its all on the ground floor with one exception . For some reason they now ask for a photocopy of your laos entry stamp . not the laos visa but the small stamp which of course you do not have until you enter laos . Not many people know this until they get to the consul and have to copy it and they have a printer which is up a few flights of stairs but you can get the touts to copy it for you outside the gate

Thanks BTim & dazz.

[visarunner]

7 hours ago, dazzz said:

I turned up there once on a thursday with a swiss girl i met at the border to find we did not check the holidays and it was shut on fri and monday so if we left our passports there we could not pick them up until tuesday . No problem for me as i live 20 mins from the border but she was on holiday and had a hotel in bangkok and a flight back from udon the next day . She begged the staff at the consul to do her a visa that day but they refused .
 Went outside and the touts said they could get her one for 5000 baht . She did not have the full money but they would not drop the price saying they have to pay the consul 4500 and they get 500 . I lent her the money and a couple of hours later she got her visa. I went back to thai got a 15 day exemption and came back in 2 weeks , no problem . She sent me the money no problem .
   Also beindgswiss she did not have to pay the $35 for a laos visa . free to swiss nationals as they have a free hospital in vientianne ?

How many years ago? Now they have even big poster outside, NO AGENTS. Swiss have a 7 day visa exempt agreement with Laos, do not know the reason, I find it strange too. Japan I can understand, but Swiss....

[jimjum]

I would appreciate any feedback on what is involved when using a tout for 1800 baht to skip the Vientianne queue.

 

I haven't been to Vientianne for over a decade, so it would be nice to go back for a few days without the long queuing.

 

I was hoping to travel on a Sunday, but I must be well past it these days, as the thought of sitting around for hours on end during hot season, probably without a chair, and maybe a fan if you're lucky, fills me with total dread.

 

When you pay 1800 baht to the tout and give them your passport, what happens next? What's the procedure?

[edwardandtubs]

It would be cheaper to go to another less busy place for your visa rather than pay 1800 to an agent if you don't want to queue in Vientiane. Of course Vientiane is more lenient than other places but if that isn't a consideration why not fly over to Hanoi? There were no queues at all when I was there and Hanoi is a very pleasant city where you can get around by Uber or Grab. You also get visa--free entry for the time being.

Edited May 1, 2017 by edwardandtubs

[jethro69]

6 hours ago, visarunner said:

How many years ago? Now they have even big poster outside, NO AGENTS. Swiss have a 7 day visa exempt agreement with Laos, do not know the reason, I find it strange too. Japan I can understand, but Swiss....

The poster is there quite some time, and the agents still comming.

I'm not sure about Japan, but South Korea has visa exemption. In Europe, its Switzerland, Lichtenstein & Luxembourg. I might be wrong on this, but that might be the few countries who still spend 1% of their Bip in development aid, and Laos get's quite a share of it. BTW VISA exemption is 15 days.

The other countries who get visa exemptions are mostly out of the region and/or communist countries, the complete list can be found on the Lao immigration website.

[jimjum]

Thanks edwardandtubs for the suggestion of Hanoi.

 

What are the latest requirements for a SETV at Hanoi as the latest TV report is a few years old so may well have changed?

 

Still interested in a report on a recent "agent" experience in Vientianne and a private message would be fine.

 

I've been visiting long enough to consider that a big sign, especially in English, may well not be the full story.

[edwardandtubs]

Just a ticket in and out of Thailand and your bank book or proof of 20,000 baht for Hanoi. Tickets currently on Air Asia for under 3000 baht return.

[jimjum]

Thanks again.

 

Could you confirm that there is no proof of address required, as whilst I have a rental contract from a private landlord, I would prefer to not risk being rejected for failing to have a business stamp on either the contract or the payment receipts?

 

Flight into Thailand and money no problem, but can the flight out of Thailand be to a nearby country rather than the EU?

 

I have read other topics debating about what constitutes a ticket out of Thailand, but it seems specific to each consulate.

[edwardandtubs]

My experience 6 months ago was that they didn't ask for proof of address and a flight ticket to Yangon was fine. They have their own website with the required documents but I can't imagine they would need a business stamp or anything similar.

[BadCash]

Would you recommend arriving early (8.30) or late (11.00) to apply? Will be arriving in Vientiane on sunday and staying until wednesday (unfortunately, the wednesday is a holiday so application will have to be on monday and collection on tuesday).

 

How about picking it up? Early (13.30) or late (16.00)?