Thread: Double tourist visa in Laos?

I'll give it a try then - cheers

Sorry if I'm a bit slow, do you mean to apply for a Thai visa in Lao or are you looking for a Lao visa?
If it's a Thai 60 day+30 I've never heard of anyone getting a double.

Originally Posted by dirtydog

No you don't lose your money.

To be more precise, they will most likely tell you as you apply that you would only get a single, so you'd be advised to change your application to a single at this stage, and will only have to pay the application fee for a single if you do so.

Originally Posted by sceadugenga

Sorry if I'm a bit slow, do you mean to apply for a Thai visa in Lao or are you looking for a Lao visa? If it's a Thai 60 day+30 I've never heard of anyone getting a double.

did it no problem - got DOUBLE tourist visa in Vientianne (for Thailand) no problem.-2000B total cost.

(to be pedantic, I don't beleive you can get a double entry tourist visa for Laos)

Originally Posted by colourful-era

Originally Posted by sceadugenga

Sorry if I'm a bit slow, do you mean to apply for a Thai visa in Lao or are you looking for a Lao visa? If it's a Thai 60 day+30 I've never heard of anyone getting a double.

did it no problem - got DOUBLE tourist visa in Vientianne (for Thailand) no problem.-2000B total cost.

(to be pedantic, I don't beleive you can get a double entry tourist visa for Laos)

I lived in Lao for year and certainly believe you on that score. So what does the Thai double visa cover you for? As in how long and can it be renewed? I have a genuine interest here, my Non Im B dies next year and a trip to Vientiane sounds very attractive.

"Double" visa: 2 tourist visas for 60 days each, after the 60 days (or 90 if extended by 30 days at an immigration office in Thailand) you'll have to leave the country. Since you already have your second visa, no need to go to a consulate, but come straight back across the border and have another 60 days.

Thanks stroller, so you get six months of residency that can be maintained by the standard border crossing procedure, which in my case would be at Mae Sai. The only fault I can find with that is it's not multiple entry (which I enjoy at the moment) but I cannot have everything can I?

Note that the 30days extensions are discretionary and will set you back 1900bt, not exactly a bargain considering the cost of a day out in Mae Sai.

I once only got 10days, no idea what irked the officer.

Originally Posted by stroller

Note that the 30days extensions are discretionary and will set you back 1900bt, not exactly a bargain considering the cost of a day out in Mae Sai.

I once only got 10days, no idea what irked the officer.

At the end of the 60 day period for my last tourist visa I went to the main immigration office at Mae Sai fully prepared to pay my 1900B and they told me to go to the border where I'd be granted the extension at no other cost than the Myanmar entry fee. (500B)
I can't speak highly enough of the officers at Mae Sai immigration, they have been extremely helpful on every occasion I've been there, both when I wanted a Bai rabrong tin tee yu to register my car and also on immigration matters.

Em, if you cross the border, than it is not an extension to a visa you are getting, but a visa-exempt permit to stay for 30 days.
Unlike a 'proper' extension, this counts as one of your 3 30-days stamps within 180 days.

Originally Posted by stroller

Em, if you cross the border, than it is not an extension to a visa you are getting, but a visa-exempt permit to stay for 30 days.
Unlike a 'proper' extension, this counts as one of your 3 30-days stamps within 180 days.

Not according to what they told me, they definitely said it was an extension. However it never came to the test as I left the country two weeks later for five weeks during which time I applied for and received a non-im B.
I'm quite prepared to accept that you're right but I never pushed the issue at the time as I knew I only required an extension/exemption for two weeks.