The form you can only file three days before you land.
Every foreign visitor to Laos has to complete the Lao Digital Immigration Form. It's free, it's compulsory, and the window is narrow: file it too early and the system won't take it, too late and you arrive without it.
- Cost from the government
- Free
- Who needs it
- Every foreign traveller
- Filing window
- 3 days before arrival
- Prerequisite
- Approved visa
Your visa has to come first.
The arrival form asks for your visa details, so it can't be completed until your eVisa is approved. That's what makes the sequence tight: apply for the visa a week or two out, then the form goes in during the last three days.
Read the eVisa guide first →- 1–2 weeks beforeeVisa approved
Three business days to process. Non-refundable.
- 3 days beforeArrival form filed
Needs the approved visa details. This is the part we do.
- On arrivalShow both at the checkpoint
Same passport you applied with, every time.
What the form actually asks.
It's four screens. Nothing here is difficult — it's just long, and a typo on a passport number is a problem you find out about at the airport.
- Arrival checkpoint and date
- Full name, gender, date and place of birth
- Nationality, occupation, country of origin
- Phone number with country code
- Passport number, issue and expiry dates, place of issue
- A photo of your passport page
- Purpose of entry
- How you are travelling and the flight or vehicle number
- Which country you are travelling from
File it on the official Department of Immigration portal. It costs nothing. If you'd rather not think about it on the three days you're packing, that's what the service below is for.
Send your details once. We file on the right day.
You don't have to wait for the window. Send everything whenever suits you — weeks ahead is fine. We hold it, file inside the three-day window, and send you the confirmation to show on arrival.
- Flat US$8, whatever your nationality
- Pay securely upfront — full refund if we can't file it
- We check the passport details against your photo before submitting
- Your details are deleted once you've arrived
Arrival form FAQ
The form is free and you can absolutely do it yourself. Here's everything worth knowing either way.
Is this the same thing as my visa?
No, and you need both. The eVisa is permission to enter Laos. The LDIF is the arrival and departure declaration that replaced the paper card. The form asks for your visa details, so the visa comes first.
Why can't I just file it early and forget it?
The portal only accepts the form inside the three days before you arrive. Earlier submissions aren't possible, which is exactly why it gets forgotten in the rush of the last few days.
It's free — why would I pay you US$8?
Because it's twenty minutes of forms on the three days you're packing, and because a typo on a passport number is the kind of mistake you discover at check-in. If you'd rather do it yourself, genuinely do — the guide above tells you exactly what it asks.
What do you need from me?
Your arrival date and checkpoint, passport details, a photo of your passport page, your flight number and where you're flying from. Send it whenever suits you; we file on the right day.
What happens to my passport photo afterwards?
It's deleted once you've arrived and the form has served its purpose. We don't keep passport images on file.
The other narrow window.
Train tickets open seven days before departure and sell out fast. Same flat US$8, same approach — you send the date, we act at opening.