Laos runs its eVisa directly, at laoevisa.gov.la, and the official information page reads like an instruction manual. That helps, because a manual says what happens when you get a step wrong.
The three steps
The site sets out the process in three steps: “Step 1: Provide the application details and upload the necessary documents. Step 2: Review your application and pay the fee online. Step 3: Download the eVisa Approval Letter.” There is no embassy visit. The whole transaction happens on the site.
The photograph
The page specifies that “the size of the photograph must be 4x6 cm, as per ICAO Standard photograph,” and warns that submitting a photo outside that spec “can delay the visa application process.” The page says delay, not reject, but a delay on a trip with fixed flight dates costs the same as a rejection.
Nine entry ports
The eVisa is valid at nine crossings only, all named on the page:
- Wattay International Airport (Vientiane Capital)
- Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge I (Vientiane Capital)
- Luang Prabang International Airport
- Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge II (Savannakhet Province)
- Pakse International Airport (Champasack Province)
- Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge IV (Bokeo Province)
- Boten International Checkpoint (Luang Namtha Province)
- Boten Railway Station (Luang Namtha Province)
- Khamsavath Railway Station (Vientiane Capital)
If your itinerary takes you across anywhere else, this eVisa will not get you through.
Without the approval letter
At the arrival port, the page states, “the authorities will verify the information on your approval letter with the details on your passport as part of the immigration process.” It is blunt about the alternative: “Without the Lao eVisa approval letter, your entry will be denied.”
Processing time
The government’s timeline is “usually 03 working days after submitting the application and pay the visa fee,” provided your information is accepted the first time. If it is not, or if you apply around a public holiday, “the processing time could be longer.” Build in slack.
The fee
The information page does not print a number. It says the fee is non-refundable and points you to a calculator: “Please click here to calculate your eVisa Fee.” That link goes to the government’s own fee calculator, which answers per nationality.
On 18 September 2026 we ran ten passports through it: the United States, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Every one returned US$50.00 per applicant, with the calculator noting it is “Excluding Bank Charge Fee.” Run your own before paying, because the figure can change per nationality without the information page being rewritten.
Six of those ten do not need the visa
For some nationalities the calculator returns the US$50 figure together with a notice that the visa is unnecessary for a short trip.
| Passport | Visa-free stay the calculator reports |
|---|---|
| Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea | 30 days |
| Japan | 15 days |
| United States, China, Hong Kong, India | none reported, the eVisa applies |
The notice for Japan reads: “Citizens of Japan are allowed to enter the Lao PDR without visa requirement for a maximum stay of 15 days per visit.” It then says what the money buys: “Meanwhile, by obtaining an eVisa, visitors may stay in the Lao PDR up to 30 days and the stay permit can be extended at the Immigration office in the Lao PDR before the expiry date.”
For a Japanese passport the eVisa is therefore optional: 15 days free, or US$50 for 30 days with an extension route. For the five nationalities already getting 30 days visa-free, a 30-day eVisa buys the extension option and nothing else.
The letter format is unstated
The page never says whether the approval letter must be printed or can be shown on a phone screen. It says to “download” it and that officials will check it against your passport, but the format expected at the port is not spelled out anywhere we can quote. Carry it both ways.
Before you apply
- Run your nationality through the fee calculator. It costs nothing and is the only official place that says whether you need the visa at all.
- Start with a compliant photo, well before the trip, since a rejected photo costs days you may not have.
- Book your entry through one of the nine listed ports, not a nearby alternative.
If a rejected photo would cost you the trip
A non-compliant photo and an entry port outside the nine both bite after you have submitted and waited.
If your dates leave no room for a rejection and a resubmission, VisaHQ checks the photograph and the entry port before the application goes in.
If you have time in hand, apply through the official portal. A paid review makes sense only when the calendar is the thing you cannot fix.
Corrections
18 September 2026. This page carried a section headed “The fee amount and letter format go unstated”, saying the government does not publish the eVisa fee. It does. The information page cited here ends its Fees section with a link reading “Please click here to calculate your eVisa Fee”, and that calculator returns US$50.00 per applicant. The claim was made without following the link in the sentence it was drawn from.
The same calculator also reports visa-free entry for several Asian nationalities, including 15 days for Japan and 30 for Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea. A reader from any of those countries could have paid US$50 for a document they did not need.
The letter-format half of that section was correct and has been kept.
Have a Laos e-Visa application checked before you submit it (affiliate link)