Laos Business Visa
Going to Laos on business? You are going to need to get a business visa for Laos. This type of visa is excrutiatingly painful to get and, according to the United States State Department, can take anywhere from one to three months to obtain. Ouch!
As mentioned here at the Laos Immigration website, “Business visas are issued for foreign experts performing assignment under projects provided by loan agreements and as provided by employment contracts or projects wards, to expert or volunteers of Non-government Agencies expert of education and medical staff members of Diplomatic mission, General consulates, the United Nation Agencies and other international organization holding ordinary passport for the countries or from third countries, as well as foreign business persons.”
To be honest, your best bet is to use a travel company to take care of the formalities for you.
Go to my Laos visa page for information on other types of visas for Laos.
I’ll break everything down for you below about how to go about getting the Laos Business Visa.
Visa required for U.S. citizens before you go to Laos: No
- U.S. citizens can get a visa on arrival at the airport (for tourist purposes)…good for a stay of 30 days (extendable for an additional 60 days through the Department of Immigration in Vientiane).
- Business visas must be arranged for in advance. This process usually takes one to three months. After you arrive, business visas can generally be extended for one month.
Visa required for non-U.S. citizens before you go to Laos:
- If you are on this list you need to arrange to get a visa before you come to Laos. Otherwise, you can get a visa on arrival.
If you’re inside the U.S.:
Embassy of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic
2222 S St. NW
Washington DC 20008
Tel: 202-332-6416
Fax: 202-332-4923
If you’re outside of the U.S.: Click here.
The best list of required documents is at the Laos Embassy website here. I recommend, however, that you contact your embassy or consulate from Step 1 in order to get the latest required documents. Here is a general quick and dirty list below:
- Original passport with at least 6 months of remaining validity
- Two (2) Visa application forms (Here is a sample if you are applying at the Embassy of Laos in Washington D.C.)
- Three (3) passport-type photographs
- Your “sponsor” in Laos (a company, individual or organization) needs to get approval (in written form) from the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Vientiane. This approval will need to be presented at the consulate or embassy.
Contact your embassy or consulate from Step 1 in order to get the latest visa fees.
- Submit your required materials from Step 2 and visa fee from Step 3 to the embassy or consulate you found in Step 1.
- Your embassy or consulate should have detailed visa application submission instructions. If not, call them up.
Congratulations! The Embassy or Consulate of Laos will give to you your brand new Laos visa.
Don’t get sick! Check vaccination requirements here.
Further Reading
Want Professional Visa Help? If you are a U.S. citizen and want professional help with getting a visa, check out my post on the 4 Best Travel Visa Services in the United States.
Worldwide Moving Guide: Everything you need to know in order to plan your move to 65+ countries around the world.
Find an Embassy or Consulate: Check my Worldwide Embassy and Consulate Finder to find the diplomatic representation nearest you.
Worldwide Jobs Guide: Be sure to check out my posts on how to find jobs in any country in the world.
Worldwide Dating Guide: Also, check out my posts on the best online dating sites in 60+ countries around the world.
About Addison Sears-Collins
Hey! I'm Addison Sears-Collins, the founder of Visa Hunter. You can learn more about me here. Connect with me by liking my fan page on Facebook, connecting with me on Twitter, or check out my website Automatic Addison where I build robots and embedded systems.
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