How to get Vietnam visa in Luang Prabang, Laos?

The guidance on how to get Vietnam visa in Luang Prabang, Laos with detailed instruction: how to get to the Vietnam Consulate in Luang Prabang, take photo, pay the fee and get visa stamped.

While travelling in Laos I met quite a few people who try to get a Vietnam visa while in Luang Prabang. This is understandable if you don't live in a city that has a Vietnamese embassy or consulate, and do not want to send your passport by post.

So using the opportunity to get it while in Luang Prabang is a good solution. The most important thing, it is dead easy. The 'negative' side, you have to stay a few days in Luang Prabang (which is not a bad thing in my opinion).

Before heading to the embassy make sure you have the following with you: passport (obviously), US$ and a passport-sized photo. If you have none of the latter two, no worries. You can get US$ at the money exchange places (please be aware not to pay any fees, just exchange Laos Kips to US$). If you don't have a photo (or you lost yours as I did), please note that the consulate has no facility to take a picture (even though my guesthouse advised me they do).

I only learned this is not the case when I arrived at the consulate. So it is better to get some pictures taken in one of the photo labs (there is one on the way to the consulate).

So how to get to the Vietnam Consulate in Luang Prabang. First option you can take a tuk tuk (price should be 10,000 Kips, they will ask for 30,000 - 50,000 Kips first. Well, don't). It is a 5 minutes drive from the tourist information.

Or you can walk, it takes about 10-15 minutes. If you stand at the tourist information, follow Kitsalat Road (away from the Mekong, keeping the square with the baguette stalls on your left) until the road ends (you pass tow larger crossings), and turn left at the end of the road into That Bosot. The consulate will be on the right hand side after 3 minutes walk.

If you need a passport-sized photo, at the second big crossing you will see a travel agent on the left hand side. Two doors further on that road is a shop that does provide passport pictures. It takes around 10-15 minutes and you pay 25,000 Kips for 8 photos.

The consulate is open Monday - Friday between 08:00 - 11:30 and 13:30 - 17:00.

You can choose among 1 day, 2 days and 3 days service for the visa. Please note that you can only pick up your passport after 16:30. So if you choose a 1 day service, it will be ready after 16:30 the next day. So you need to stay at least for two days in Luang Prabang.

I applied for a 3 month visa. The price was $80 for 3 days service, $85 for 2 days service, and $90 for 1 day service. I think the prices for 1 month visa were $60, $65 and $70.

The form is self-explaining, and it takes only around 5-10 minute for filling in the form. You hand in the form, passport and the picture to the reception, then get the receipt and pay the fee on the other side of the room.

You will get another receipt, which you require to collect the passport.

Just return to the embassy and pick up your passport. I would recommend to check the visa stamp to make sure the correct dates are entered. And that's it. It is very straightforward, and hassle free.

By the way, if you don't have US$, you can pay with Kips. However, the exchange rate is quite bad 8,500 Kip per $1. At the exchange places the rate is 8,000 Kip for $1. So it is better to have US$ when getting to the embassy.

Source: Stefan's blog

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