How to Apply for Visas for Thailand and Laos Tour

When it comes to touring in Southeast Asia and Indochina, there are few places that make a better combined tour than Thailand and Laos. Two of the most popular destinations among the countries in the sphere of the region known as Indochina, these two nations lie side by side, sharing a border that stretches for the entire western edge of Laos. While Thailand has a well-established tourism industry, Laos is still up and coming in terms of tourism, but can already offer some amazing sights to see, and a quality of service that many better-established countries still lack. For anyone visiting Laos and Thailand for the first time, one of the most important things to consider is the visa policy of each country when traveling to them together. Knowing how to best apply for the visas is an important aspect of the tour.

Types of Thailand visa and how to apply for it?

Thailand has three types of visa that you can apply for, if you need one at all. For the citizens of 64 nations around the world, a visa is not required for travel to Thailand for periods of between 14 days and 90 days, depending on your country of origin. The remaining countries are required to have a visa prior to travel or are permitted to obtain their visa on arrival in Thailand. The visa on arrival is permitted for citizens of China, India, and several other nations across Asia, while the citizens of most of the African countries and some South American nations are required to process their visa before travel at a Thai Embassy.

For those that are required to have a visa prior to travel, or those that prefer to obtain their visa using this method, a visit to an embassy or consulate office is required. When applying for a visa, you are required to bring the following documents to the embassy on submission of your application, along with the visa fee in the currency of your own country, or US dollars. The visa is normally valid for a period of three months from the date of issue, and allows a stay of either 30 or 60 days. The visa application requirements are:
● Valid passport with at least six months validity remaining at the time of travel and two blank visa pages.
● Completed visa application form with no edits, completed in black ink.
● One recent passport-sized photograph.
● Proof of your round-trip air ticket or proof of onward travel (paid in full).
● Proof of financial means to support yourself whilst in Thailand of at least 20,000 baht (650 US dollars) per person or 40,000 baht (1,300 US dollars) per family.
● The visa fee of 30 US dollars, or equivalent.

Processing the pre-approved visa normally takes just one to three working days, however, for those nationals of Iraq and Afghanistan, the processing can take up to 30-45 working days.

The visa on arrival is available to the nationals of 18 countries that do not have a reciprocal visa-free agreement with Thailand. The countries that have the allowance of the Visa on Arrival include China, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Fiji, Nauru, Mexico, Malta, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Romania, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, Georgia, Vanuatu, Kazakhstan, India, and Bhutan. The processing of the Visa on Arrival is simple, and normally takes just a short 30 minutes at most, as there are few requirements for this visa type.

Applicants for the Visa on Arrival must have a valid passport, a completed application form, and a passport sized photo. The Visa on Arrival service is available at 48 immigration checkpoints, which includes 13 international airports and 36 land border crossings. Currently, applicants of the Visa on Arrival from all 18 countries will have their visa fee waived for their trip to Thailand. This is set to continue until April 30, 2020, unless the Thai government decides to extend it once more. The Visa on Arrival allows a stay of up to 15 days at a time within Thailand, and cannot be extended. Tourists must depart from the country and re-enter to obtain another visa.

Thailand does not have the expected form of E-visa, and their version of this popular visa is actually known as the E-Visa on Arrival (EVOA). The EVOA is only valid for a period of up to 15 days from the date of arrival, and can be wholly processed and approved online. The eligible nations for this latest visa for Thailand include all 18 countries that are eligible for the standard Visa on Arrival, as well as citizens of Andorra, Latvia, Mauritius, San Marino, the Maldives, and the Ukraine.

The application is done online at https://application.thailandvisa.net/application, and vastly simplifies the whole VOA process. Once the application is made, the actual visa will be sent by email to the recipient, who can then show it as their visa once they arrive at any of four airports in Thailand. The permitted airports are Chiang Mai International Airport, Don Mueang International Airport, Phuket International Airport, and Suvarnabhumi International Airport. The Tha government have also waived the fee for the online EVOA until April 30, 2020.

Types of Laos visa and how to apply for it?

Laos has a requirement for visas for all nationals that do not have a visa exemption. Currently, only 15 countries can visit Laos without a visa, for periods of 30, 15, and 14 days. Citizens of Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam have an allowance of 30 days travel visa-free. Citizens of Japan, Luxembourg, and Switzerland can travel without a visa for up to 15 days, while citizens of Brunei and Myanmar can travel visa-free for up to 14 days.

A pre-approved visa is required for nationals of 32 countries across Africa and the Middle East, which also includes Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Suriname. Citizens of these countries are required to process their visa application through an embassy of consular office prior to travel. Applications must be made in person, and you will need to have the following requirements for the application process, which normally takes around 3-5 working days:
● Your original passport with at least 6 months of remaining validity and a blank page for a visa sticker.
● A Visa Application Form, filled out and signed by the applicant.
● Two recent passport-type photographs.
● Visa fee in cash. The cost of Laos Visa depends on which passport you are holding. The price list is available at the website for the Lao Embassy in your home country.

The Laos Visa on Arrival service is available for all other nationals traveling to the country, and can be processed through most of the 27 ports of entry. For those traveling between Thailand and Laos, the land border port at Pakxan-Bueng Kan does not accept the VOA. Visa processing normally takes around an hour, depending on how many people are applying, and requires tourists to have their valid passport, a visa application form, 2 passport sized photos, and the visa fee. The visa is valid for a period of 30 days from the date of your arrival, and can be extended twice while in Laos, up to a maximum stay of 90 days.

Laos also has an E-visa, which was launched in July 2019, and is available to all nationalities except those that are ineligible for the VOA. The application is made online at the official website at https://laoevisa.gov.la/index, and is valid for 60 days from the date of issue. Holders of a Laos E-visa can stay in the country for a period of up to 30 days, which is not extendable. However, as this visa is relatively new for Laos, it can only be used at the Wattay International Airport in Vientiane and the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, which spans the Mekong River between Nong Khai Province in Thailand and Vientiane Province in Laos.

Useful Tips for visa application

For those travelers that are heading for Laos and Thailand for the first time, there are some helpful tips that can be very useful when traveling. The first is the use of photos for applications for the Visa on Arrival services. While two passport photos are required when applying for the VOA at the airports and land borders of both Laos and Thailand, if you are unable to get them, or just simply forgot, the immigration officials will use scanned copies of the photo in your passport for a small fee. The fee is normally just a few dollars, so you do not have to worry too much if you forget to bring a photo.

While the visa fee for Thailand is the same for everyone, the fee for the Laos visa is different, depending on your home country. The fees range from 20 US dollars (for Chinese citizens) to as much as 42 US dollars (for Canadians). However, when entering Laos after 4:00pm, on weekends, or on Lao public holidays, there is an additional processing fee of one US dollar.

When entering Thailand over the land borders, the visa fee can be paid in either US dollars of Thai Baht. However, as the exchange rate varies, the immigration officials use a standard rate, which means it is actually cheaper to pay in dollars than in baht.

Summary

Traveling to Laos and Thailand together is not actually as complex as you might think. The visa policies of these two countries are very similar, and very simple. The basic requirements apply to both Thailand and Laos, and both have several options for applying for the visas. And it makes little difference which direction you are traveling in, since the requirements can be done the same for both countries.