Can I get a Lao visa on arrival when crossing the border from Vietnam at Bo Y / Phou Keua?

Question

I'm in Kon Tum in the Central Highlands of Vietnam about 100km from the closest Lao border crossing with two days left on my Vietnam visa and enough cash for one day before fighting with ATMs and exchanges again.

I had looked on the net a bit yesterday and some were saying visas on arrival are available at this crossing. But this morning I'm researching it more and Travelfish says there is no visa on arrival in either direction!

So now I'm not sure whether the other sources I read were based on assumptions or whether Travelfish is out of date.

Does somebody know of an authoritative source guaranteed to be both factual and up-to-date?

Answer 1

On the website of the Lao embassy in Paris, you can find on the download page a document on the entry points into Laos. On this document, you can see for each entry point whether it delivers visas ("Visa à l’arrivée").

For the border post of Phou Kue (Attapeu)/ Beu Y (Quangtoum), the document says it delivers visas on arrival.

This seems authoritative, but there is no date on the document and the download page mentions a last update in January 2013, so I have no idea if this is still valid (the page from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not link to the right Lao embassy website).

Answer 2

YES.

I got one there yesterday afternoon between about 4.30pm and 5pm.

There were no extra fees or bribes over the standard fee which, for an Australian, was $30.

There were two forms, one large and one small. It was very quick as I was the only non-local. Everybody else crossing was Vietnamese and didn't need a visa. The line getting out of Vietnam was slower. Again no fees or bribes there either.

Crossing the border on foot is not a problem.