Difference in going to Vientiene with Visa Run service vs. by yourself?

[thedan663]

Hi all,

 

What are the pros and cons of using ThaiVisaService vans to go to Vientiene for SETV versus by yourself, planning the trip out? My co-workers use the vans and highly recommend them, but I also like to plan a little trip out.

 

Thanks!

[tonray]

Advantages are you only have to show up with passport and fee. Disadvantage is you don't get to choose hotel and get stuck with some 300 pound South African guy sleeping on your shoulder on the ride home. 

 

If you enjoy travel and planning far more rewarding to go alone 

Edited August 8, 2017 by tonray

[Phuket Man]

Advantage of D.I.Y is that you don't experience a white knuckle ride.

[tomwct]

I enjoy doing it myself! IN fact, I take a few extra days for a holiday because my wife likes to go!

[farcanell]

Higher chance of survival by yourself.

[darrendsd]

Never had a issue with TVS, they provide a great service

 

Cons are it's a long trip in the minibus, I normally arrive early to ensure I get the front seat,

 

Lot's of waiting around at the Embassy

 

Yes their drivers can drive to fast sometimes

 

Pro's,  absolutely everything is done for you, from transfers to hotel bookings,  invaluable if you are unsure how everything works or are just lazy like myself

 

Unless you are planning to fly  or want a few extra days there I don't see much advantage in doing it yourself

 

 

Edited August 8, 2017 by darrendsd

[JackThompson]

I prefer a more comfortable VIP bus (a "real" VIP - 3 seats-across) overnight than any minibus.  But if you need help navigating the process, using a service could show you how it works.

[MaksimMislavsky]

I always have been doing myself and enjoying it, hanging out a few days or even the entire period of stay, but last month wanted to do it real fast (cause just rented a place and was eager to set it up) so I used the TVS for the first time in my life and it was smooth as silk. Literally. So, depending on your actual needs. Need it fast and smooth - visa run service is the way to go. Otherwise, much more fun doing it yourself.

[MJL1962]

I was told that from the 13th August the visa runs were being stopped. Or have I slept since then?

[ubonjoe]

22 minutes ago, MJL1962 said:

I was told that from the 13th August the visa runs were being stopped. Or have I slept since then?

Old Old news from 2014. It was the 13th of August 2014 and in reality there was no real change.

[elviajero]

It can be an advantage to use a visa service for the first run to learn the ropes, but it is generally better to do it yourself. You'll find all the info you need to plan a visa run to any of the neighbouring countries.

[Essecola]

It takes less than 30 seconds to get a tourist visa by yourself in Vientiane. Get some photos across the street. Photocopy your id page of passport and the Lao visa sticker and stamp. Sign them. Staple it all together. Fill out the free visa application form inside the covered area with chairs inside the consulate. Hand it all to the girl sitting at a table in the middle of the waiting area chairs/rows. Pick it up the next day when ur number is called. If you go with a visa run company you will stand around the embassy area much longer (both when applying and when fetching) than if you do it urself.

Edited August 8, 2017 by Essecola

[tbryant15]

I just did one by myself for the first time a couple of months ago.

To reiterate what everyone has said already.. Pros by using the service is that it should be smooth and you don't have to worry about anything. Literally just show up and leave and enter the country from what I have read about it.

I personally hate those vans and the drivers in it. The thought of me being in one that takes me all the way to Nongkhai makes me uneasy. Instead, I flew to Udon thani, took a comfortable ride to the border, and grabbed a tuk tuk once I entered Laos. I had already been to Vientiane before so I wasn't trying to make a "trip" out of it really but I enjoyed being on my own time frame. After picking up my passport from the consulate, I grabbed a van right outside of it and proceeded back to Nongkhai to catch an evening flight from Udon Thani back to Bangkok. 

[paulsingle]

50 minutes ago, Essecola said:

It takes less than 30 seconds to get a tourist visa by yourself in Vientiane. Get some photos across the street. Photocopy your id page of passport and the Lao visa sticker and stamp. Sign them. Staple it all together. Fill out the free visa application form inside the covered area with chairs inside the consulate. Hand it all to the girl sitting at a table in the middle of the waiting area chairs/rows. Pick it up the next day when ur number is called. If you go with a visa run company you will stand around the embassy area much longer (both when applying and when fetching) than if you do it urself.

Sounds straightforward but 24 hours rather than 30 seconds.

Useful info, thanks. I think I will do it this way for my next visa run.

[Essecola]

27 minutes ago, paulsingle said:

Sounds straightforward but 24 hours rather than 30 seconds.

Useful info, thanks. I think I will do it this way for my next visa run.

Right. I meant that after u fill out the papers and prepare photos etc , the girl looking at ur passport quickly is usually a 30 second endeavor. I almost wrote "being approved" for the visa re : giving ur passport to the girl, and the visa is mostly "approved" at the point she gives u ur pickup document, but I guess we all know it isn't sure until you have the passport back in your hands the next day. To compare, applying for a visa was far from a 30 second affair the one time a few years ago I tried to apply for a tourist visa at the embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Was in the cramped little room over 90 minutes only to be called back to the window and told to print out bank statements and come back the following day. 

Edited August 8, 2017 by Essecola

[eastvanman2]

did it myself about a month ago..all fine except i was applying for a nonb..which i got but the thai consulate decided to  stamp my new canadian passport on the nonb page that i was a frequent user of tourist visas and may not qualify for another visa..which caught me by surprise as  I have been in thailand for the past 12 years always on a valid and properly obtained nonb ...either legally working or legally retired..now what??...i was told the venitienne consulate is proving more difficult for whatever reason

[JackThompson]

39 minutes ago, eastvanman2 said:

did it myself about a month ago..all fine except i was applying for a nonb..which i got but the thai consulate decided to  stamp my new canadian passport on the nonb page that i was a frequent user of tourist visas and may not qualify for another visa..which caught me by surprise as  I have been in thailand for the past 12 years always on a valid and properly obtained nonb ...either legally working or legally retired..now what??...i was told the venitienne consulate is proving more difficult for whatever reason

To clarify - this was your first Thai Visa in a new passport - and a Non-B Visa?   No Thai Tourist-Visas in your passport at all?

[darrendsd]

1 hour ago, eastvanman2 said:

did it myself about a month ago..all fine except i was applying for a nonb..which i got but the thai consulate decided to  stamp my new canadian passport on the nonb page that i was a frequent user of tourist visas and may not qualify for another visa..which caught me by surprise as  I have been in thailand for the past 12 years always on a valid and properly obtained nonb ...either legally working or legally retired..now what??...i was told the venitienne consulate is proving more difficult for whatever reason

This sounds very strange, firstly you did not apply for a TV and 2nd you had a new PP and they stamped your PP saying you were using to many TV's?

 

Something very wrong there

[Essecola]

I would never intend to be rude to anyone on these threads... but the story above...  another person with 3 or less posts ever and a strange story..    makes me wonder..

[Essecola]

The minivan ride alone is the first reason I choose not to do the trip with a company. But to each their own.

[hawker9000]

18 hours ago, Essecola said:

It takes less than 30 seconds to get a tourist visa by yourself in Vientiane. Get some photos across the street. Photocopy your id page of passport and the Lao visa sticker and stamp. Sign them. Staple it all together. Fill out the free visa application form inside the covered area with chairs inside the consulate. Hand it all to the girl sitting at a table in the middle of the waiting area chairs/rows. Pick it up the next day when ur number is called. If you go with a visa run company you will stand around the embassy area much longer (both when applying and when fetching) than if you do it urself.

" Pick it up the next day "

 

So No, it doesn't take "less than 30 seconds", it takes overnight (actually two if you fly I guess since you'll want to be there the night before to be in line early in the morning of the next day).  It must be a l-o-n-g minibus ride, from Bangkok or Pattaya or Hua Hin anyway..  I've only ever flown there.  Plenty of first-person accounts posted in the forums here.  It's really pretty easy.  Just (a) don't confuse the Thai Embassy with the Thai Consulate Services facility where you'll go for your visa (they're NOT co-located);  (b) get there EARLY on Day 1, if possible with all your paperwork already done and ready to hand-in; and (c) don't forget to have photocopies of your LAO visa and entry stamp.

 

Even getting there very early on Day 1 I had a wait of a couple of hours as the line snaked through that entire seating area and there was a line just getting TO the seating area, but maybe the lines are much shorter or practically non-existent this time of year.  

 

[eastvanman2]

17 hours ago, darrendsd said:

This sounds very strange, firstly you did not apply for a TV and 2nd you had a new PP and they stamped your PP saying you were using to many TV's?

 

Something very wrong there

no i had a non b from last year in my new passport....all previous info from 2005 had been transferred into the passport......was legally employed by a school...my non b expired on june 21...i got a one week tourist visa extension from immigration in sriracha...went to laos on june 25...returned to thailand on june 28...with a new nonb for a new school with the remark stamp on the new nonb page  that i had many tourist visas and may not get another visa...my new employer will be applying for the one year extension this month in jomtien..so will see what happens then...to me it clearly seems a mistake..i have all my old passports to show..advice so far has been not  to rock the boat and see how one year extension goes...to me though..i dont like have that remark on a 10 year passport with 9 more years to go

[eastvanman2]

17 hours ago, JackThompson said:

To clarify - this was your first Thai Visa in a new passport - and a Non-B Visa?   No Thai Tourist-Visas in your passport at all?

no i had a non b from last year in my new passport....all previous info from 2005 had been transferred into the passport......was legally employed by a school...my non b expired on june 21...i got a one week tourist visa extension from immigration in sriracha...went to laos on june 25...returned to thailand on june 28...with a new nonb for a new school with the remark stamp on the new nonb page  that i had many tourist visas and may not get another visa...my new employer will be applying for the one year extension this month in jomtien..so will see what happens then...to me it clearly seems a mistake..i have all my old passports to show..advice so far has been not  to rock the boat and see how one year extension goes...to me though..i dont like have that remark on a 10 year passport with 9 more years to go

[eastvanman2]

16 hours ago, Essecola said:

I would never intend to be rude to anyone on these threads... but the story above...  another person with 3 or less posts ever and a strange story..    makes me wonder..

wonder about what??

[darrendsd]

1 hour ago, hawker9000 said:

" Pick it up the next day "

 

So No, it doesn't take "less than 30 seconds", it takes overnight (actually two if you fly I guess since you'll want to be there the night before to be in line early in the morning of the next day).  It must be a l-o-n-g minibus ride, from Bangkok or Pattaya or Hua Hin anyway..  I've only ever flown there.  Plenty of first-person accounts posted in the forums here.  It's really pretty easy.  Just (a) don't confuse the Thai Embassy with the Thai Consulate Services facility where you'll go for your visa (they're NOT co-located);  (b) get there EARLY on Day 1, if possible with all your paperwork already done and ready to hand-in; and (c) don't forget to have photocopies of your LAO visa and entry stamp.

 

Even getting there very early on Day 1 I had a wait of a couple of hours as the line snaked through that entire seating area and there was a line just getting TO the seating area, but maybe the lines are much shorter or practically non-existent this time of year.  

 

If you were there when there was that many people there you went on a day the visa run companies go, Mondays and Thursdays, the other 3 days will be quiet, especially Friday as you can't pick up until Monday

[eastvanman2]

24 minutes ago, eastvanman2 said:

no i had a non b from last year in my new passport....all previous info from 2005 had been transferred into the passport......was legally employed by a school...my non b expired on june 21...i got a one week tourist visa extension from immigration in sriracha...went to laos on june 25...returned to thailand on june 28...with a new nonb for a new school with the remark stamp on the new nonb page  that i had many tourist visas and may not get another visa...my new employer will be applying for the one year extension this month in jomtien..so will see what happens then...to me it clearly seems a mistake..i have all my old passports to show..advice so far has been not  to rock the boat and see how one year extension goes...to me though..i dont like have that remark on a 10 year passport with 9 more years to go

i also showed this to the canadian embassy in bangkok..their comment was that it was out of their jurisdiction to do anything about..but from what they could see it was clearly a mistake

[JackThompson]

29 minutes ago, eastvanman2 said:

i got a one week tourist visa extension from immigration in sriracha

I believe that would have been an "extension denied" 7-days to leave the country, extension?  This is a common step to take, when jobs end, so you have at least those 7 days to 'get out' and make new arrangements.

 

The info xferred into your new passport was Non-B related - not Tourist-related.   They seem to have been referencing the original "Visa" (2005?) from which subsequent extensions were granted.  I do not see anything "tourist" related in your visa-history, available to Vientiane, at all.  You seem to have done everything by the book, and the person adding the extra-stamps must have not been paying attention and/or not known what they were doing.  They just saw a series of visas and applied the stamp. 

 

There is no reason this would have any bearing at all on your 1-year extension.  It might be a problem if applying for a Tourist Visa at a consulate - though hopefully a review of your passport would reveal it was an error.  Worst case, if you ever want a Tourist Visa at a nearby consulate, would be to get another new passport before doing so.  But there is no reason to take that step while you are using B-Visas and related-extensions to stay here.  It would only affect applying for Tourist Visas at consulates.

Edited August 9, 2017 by JackThompson

[Evilbaz]

IF it's an error.

It can only be corrected by the Immi office who did it.

Go back there and ask for The Boss.

[lkv]

19 hours ago, eastvanman2 said:

the thai consulate decided to  stamp my new canadian passport on the nonb page that i was a frequent user of tourist visas and may not qualify for another visa..which caught me by surprise

Thai Consulates do not stamp nonB visas with this remark.

 

1 hour ago, eastvanman2 said:

all previous info from 2005 had been transferred into the passport......

No it hasn't. A biometric passport does not hold travel data on its microchip. Only Immigration of a certain country has access to previous travel history into that country.

 

The e-chip is electronically locked when information is first stored on it in the passport. This ensures that your information cannot be tampered with or edited. No additional information about you or your travels will be stored on the e-chip. The information stored on the chip is the same information printed on page 2 of the passport book. This includes:

• surname
• given name
• nationality
• date of birth
• sex
• date of issue
• your photo
• passport number

If your status changes, for example, if you change your name, the chip cannot be updated. You will have to apply for a new passport.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/passport/about.asp

 

Consulates do not have computers that scan passports to reveal previous travel history , they base their decisions of whether to issue a visa or not based on visual inspection.

Edited August 9, 2017 by lkv

[eastvanman2]

1 hour ago, JackThompson said:

I believe that would have been an "extension denied" 7-days to leave the country, extension?  This is a common step to take, when jobs end, so you have at least those 7 days to 'get out' and make new arrangements.

 

The info xferred into your new passport was Non-B related - not Tourist-related.   They seem to have been referencing the original "Visa" (2005?) from which subsequent extensions were granted.  I do not see anything "tourist" related in your visa-history, available to Vientiane, at all.  You seem to have done everything by the book, and the person adding the extra-stamps must have not been paying attention and/or not known what they were doing.  They just saw a series of visas and applied the stamp. 

 

There is no reason this would have any bearing at all on your 1-year extension.  It might be a problem if applying for a Tourist Visa at a consulate - though hopefully a review of your passport would reveal it was an error.  Worst case, if you ever want a Tourist Visa at a nearby consulate, would be to get another new passport before doing so.  But there is no reason to take that step while you are using B-Visas and related-extensions to stay here.  It would only affect applying for Tourist Visas at consulates.

the thing was the guy in front of me in the line up was a multiple entry tourist visa for many years..i think in the flurry of stamps and numbered passports my passport got it...when you say about applying for tourist visas at consulates do u mean thai visa..or visa for any country...the latter situation is my concern