Keep your original passport in your hand luggage, with the visa and entry stamp for your current stay easy to find. Check the passport details, its expiry date and the date your permitted stay ends before departure. If anything is missing or unclear, contact us before pickup rather than discovering the problem at Lao Bao.
For this route, prepare your Vietnam e-visa for entry at Lao Bao. Check the name, passport number, validity dates and entry type against your passport and intended return. Confirm Lao Bao as the entry port in your application or arrangements with us. If you already have an approved visa, bring a printed copy and save the complete document offline. A screenshot of an application or payment receipt is not an approved visa.
If you booked our visa service and will receive the new visa after exiting Vietnam, confirm that arrangement before leaving home. Keep your phone charged and our conversation accessible. Download this guide and any documents already issued; an offline copy helps you read them without a signal, but does not replace the connection needed to send us your stamp and receive your visa.
Check your eligibility to enter Laos before travel. If you need the Laos visa arranged on this route, bring the site's listed 1,600,000 VND in cash and one passport photo. Keep that money accessible and separate from your transport payment. Do not assume a bank card will cover the Laos counter payment.
⚠️ You need phone data
You need phone data so that you send us your exit stamp and receive your visa
Some people at the border will try to take you by bike, or act like you should work with them. Do not work with them and do not pay them. Just follow this guide and walk to Laos.
The exit stamp check that prevents a wasted trip
Plan to check your Vietnamese exit stamp as soon as the officer hands back your passport. Going through the building is not proof that your departure was recorded. Find the new exit stamp, check that its date matches your departure and that the border marking is readable. Do not confuse it with an old stamp or your earlier entry stamp.
If the stamp is missing, unclear or appears wrong, ask the officer to check it while you are still at the counter. This is the key check that can save the run: a missing or incorrect exit record can interrupt the return process, and our visa service needs a readable photo of your departure stamp. Correcting it immediately avoids walking on with a problem.
If you ordered our visa service, send the photo through our existing conversation straight away. Include the stamp and readable passport number, avoid glare and check that the image actually sent. Tell us if your connection fails; do not assume an unsent message reached us.
Make sure the stamp and passport number are clearly visible.
Follow the crossing in order
Use the photos to recognise each part of the route. Tap a photo for a full-size view. Follow the officers' directions if the counter arrangement differs.
Vietnam side route overview
Vietnam departure at Lao Bao
Go to the passport checkpoint with your passport ready. Keep it accessible throughout the crossing rather than putting it away in your luggage.
Walk into the Vietnamese customs building, past the offices on the right and along the hallway past the metal detectors. The Entry and Exit booths are at the rear. Use the Exit counter on the right, present your passport and wait for it to be returned. Complete the exit stamp check above and send the photo if using our visa service before continuing.
Border crossing path toward Laos
Between the gates
Leave the building towards Laos and show your passport at the Vietnam immigration checkpoint. Keep to the crossing route shown in the photo. This checkpoint follows the exit counter; walking past it does not replace having your passport processed.
Walk to the Laos immigration checkpoint and present your passport again. You are now approaching a separate country's entry process. Keep your cash, photo and documents ready, and ask the officer where to queue if you are unsure.
Laos side office and entry exit steps
The Laos counter and forms
If your passport is not eligible for visa-free entry to Laos, go to the central office for the Laos visa process agreed before travel. Have the cash and passport photo prepared above ready. Do not assume that permission to enter Vietnam also gives you permission to enter Laos.
Complete the forms the Laos officer gives you, then present your passport at the Entry booth. Explain that you are making a visa run and returning to Vietnam. The officer may direct you through a shorter process, but you must still have your entry processed.
Visa and entry paperwork can ask for your full name, date and place of birth, nationality, occupation, passport number, issuing place, issue date and expiry date. Copy these from your passport carefully. Other fields can cover your address and phone number, purpose of travel, arrival date, entry point, intended stay, contact or address in Laos and next destination.
Use the form supplied at the counter and follow its date format. If an address or contact field does not fit your same-day return, explain your plan and ask how to complete it. Do not invent a hotel booking or contact. Check the details, sign where requested and leave any official-use fields for the officer.
After Laos entry is completed, go to the Laos Exit booth for departure processing. Check that your passport has been returned and the Laos entry and exit stamps are present before walking back.
Walk back to the Vietnam Entry and Exit area shown in the departure photo. The nearby food and drink location remains available as a reference.
If using our visa service, wait for the issued Vietnam visa from us. Open the document and check your details and validity dates. Do not join the Entry queue relying only on an application confirmation.
Present your passport and valid visa at the Entry booth. Before leaving the counter, find the new Vietnam entry stamp and check the entry date, border marking and permitted-stay date. Compare the permission recorded with your visa; ask the officer to explain or correct any discrepancy immediately.
Once entry is complete and all documents are back with you, return to the car. Keep the visa and stamp photo for reference during your stay.
Mistakes that can stop the run
The wrong documents: a different passport number, unsuitable visa dates or an unapproved application can prevent re-entry. Resolve discrepancies before travelling.
Skipping a stamp or sending an unreadable photo: check Vietnam departure, Laos entry and departure, then Vietnam entry. Stay at the relevant counter until a problem is clarified.
No cash, photo or working data: these can leave you unable to complete the agreed Laos process or receive your new visa. Prepare them before pickup.
Following an unofficial helper: do not hand over money or documents to someone offering a shortcut. Follow the counters and contact us if confused.
The existing guide notes requests for 50,000 to 100,000 VND at some booths as unofficial payments, not official charges. If asked, request an explanation and receipt, and contact us if pressured. These instructions apply only if you are eligible to enter Laos and re-enter Vietnam with a valid visa.
Ready to arrange your trip?
Use the booking form to arrange your run. Tell us your pickup details, passport nationality, current permitted-stay end date and whether you already have your return visa or need our visa service, so the arrangements match your documents.
