Residency visa Laos

Takes a long time, and a lot of money. You have to have lived in Laos for more than 6 years. You need references from all sorts of places village/district/province/police, further more guarantees of work or sufficient money on the bank in other word income.
Best is you find someone high up in the foreign  office that can run the papers for you it can take over a year!

Latest on residnecy visa for foreigners in Laos.

You have to reside in country for 11 months of each year for 5 years.

That leaves me out as I work overseas and come back to Laos on my leave breaks.

And you will have to pay 5,000 US unless you can by pass all the middle men. One of my fellow teachers just met all the requirements and the first thing said to him was Hah Paan Dollar.

TLao,

That was the dollar figure I heard too. Don't make it easy do they. Seems everything to do with beaurocracy in Laos has a high dollar value attached to it.

That would buy you more than 10 years of business visas, although it's more difficult finding a sponsor than before. I wonder what advantage residency would bring.

I would presume the residency visa would mean you could come and go without having to fill in forms, getting a whole page in your passport taken up with a temp visa and having to pay a fee each time you enter the country. 

Hopefully the Govt may make it easier for other things like owning real estate or a business. 

Knowing the Lao Govt I can safely say that the residency visa would have a renewal fee payable on some sort of time period

Not presuming to know the Lao government (or anyone of substance in it), but after nearly 8 years here, I know that anything that requires bureaucratic paperwork has a cash value - for fee plus facilitation. This is paid willingly by anyone (Lao or foreign resident or major investor or other government for that matter) who feels it's worth the extra to get what they want either fairly quickly - or even at all!

The money is divided between the legislated fee and the line of officials facilitating the process. It can be as little as 100 baht for personal transactions to save standing in a queue (line) for hours and possible returning in a few days to do the same, to hundreds, thousands even millions of dollars for major investment contracts. There's no way around it. It's not only in Laos, either. It's corruption of course, but so what? Other countries have it in various forms; it may not be as blatant or obvious, but it's there.

As far as a Lao residence visa is concerned, I imagine there would be requirements (like Thailand has) for assets, bank accounts and ongoing income, health, criminal history, maybe language proficiency etc. etc. to satisfy the legislation, but most of the fee would go to the facilitator(s), including a maintenance charge.

Any Lao visa takes up a passport page, and a visit to another country will still involve an exit and entry form and four immigration stamps at the border. Maybe more: e.g. Indonesia needs a formal tax clearance for foreign residents each time they leave.

I doubt the benefits, if any, would be worth the hassle and expense. The current multi-entry annual business visa with work permit needs no paperwork except passport copy and a few photos, and is usually issued about a month from submission. The only difficulty is finding a sponsor. You need a friend who knows someone who knows someone else who ...

My friend and coworker was quoted 5k for residentcy in Vientiane. But he had a friend that tried to do his work in Savannaket and got it done without going through Vientiane. He got his registration on his house for 500 dollars and residentcy for 500 also. Not believing this but being in the area my friend went to Savanneket and low and behold he got his residentcy for 500 dollars within 6 hours. So I guess if you can get away from the mafia, corruption controlled mentality of vientiane you can get things done a lot cheaper. worth a try. I will also try this soon when I go for my house registration.

$500 sounds like a good deal, but what are the benefits of the visa and also the house registration?

The house registration basically shows ownership if my wife died and ties me to the support of my children (all adopted Lao). The residentcy give me all the rights of a Lao except voting rights which are not an issue anyway due to my spouse being Lao and benefits they are gauranteed. The residentcy will save a tone of money in border crossing and trips I take that are job related and removes all immigration issues for a foreigner. It does pave the way for citizenship if I decide on that. For me it is a security/financial issue. So feel they need it some don't. If you are married and have children I see it as a must down the line to avoid complications in custody or property if my spouse died. Just my opinion but it also shows in my post that things can get done in other places at half the cost. VTN is less tourist friendly in cost and proof you are not a tourist does help somewhat.

Forgive my spelling errors in the above post. It is 3am.

This residency, with the required in-country presence of 11 months per year, at $500 or $5000, is it permanent residency, or just one year at a time.?  And marriage to a Laotian necessary?  And ownership of house necessary, or will a rented apartment do?  Any idea the cost in Luang Prabang?  And does one have to have a certain amount of time in-country before applying?  Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Never heard of a residency Visa.  You can get a resident's permit but this needs renewal each year along with a business visa.  Costs vary between $200-800/year.  To be a permanent resident rending naturalisation (Lao citizenship) you need to be here some time, officially 5 years, and take a Lao language test which is equal to that a 12 year old Lao passes at school.  Even if you are over 65 and married to a Lao and intend to live here you get a visa LA-B2 and a residents card for $200 (+).  That resident's card is marked 'employment prohibited'.

Robert, they do exist. I have two coworkers that have them and my brother in law from China has one. The permanent residentcy is tied to family needs and/or business self-owned and operated. Most here are talking about work and the residentcy visa attached to it. If you are working no problem for as long as you work. But when you retire it is something different. Key word retire. My coworkers that have a permanent residentcy neither are married but have worked for 5 plus continous years at the same place. Not sure what other criteria they met. I asked about this same issue to my uncle in the bureau of foreign affairs here in Vientiane and was told by him and others that when I hit my 5 year mark, having a Lao wife for over 10 years and two Lao children that it will be easy for me. Again, we are not talking citizenship just the right to live here. Like all countries most issue a green card or work permit that allows you to stay in country. If you want to live forever then most try for citizenship or retirement visa (which does not allow you to work). My wife will have her own business where I am part owner and I will work for her probably until I die.

For those interested; I was told that the law has changed and a foreigner can own 800 sq mts of land. Any information on this?

Maybe the regulations are applied differently for returning ethnic Lao (T-Lao?) or other Asians than for 'real' foreigners.

One can only wonder how the massive influx of Chinese investors/workforce is being managed.

Thanks.  But I think things are very confused, and not just in my head.  A German friend got a 5-year 'resident card' and a special 'family book' in addition to the normal one of his wife.  He thought that was it, but when leaving the country his current Business visa was cancelled and on return he had to come in on a tourist visa, then pay as normal for a business visa, leave again etc.  I have just renewed my stay permit and visa (not Business but one year)-- $200.  The dor-mor police told me I could also have a family book and ID card valid 5 years, but that I would still need a visa in the passport if I wanted to leave the country.  It appeared to me it would just be more documentation serving no useful purpose -- and cost an extra $1,400.  No doubt things are changing but as yet have to be clarified.

Life in Lao for a foreigner can be relatively simple  - with luck - if you can keep your nose clean and don't upset anyone important for any reason; also pay what's asked of you or face delays and added expense. There are complicated alternatives if you want! Decide if potential benefits (never guaranteed) are really worth the hassle or money.

Samsanuk,
Well, said....Oh, and by the way I am not Lao.  But as time goes by and I know more people it seems to be easier. But I can not agree more with what you said above. Stay clean, respectful, and don't cause problems. Be prepared to pay the price if you can. I have stalled before until I found the person or persons in a higher position and paid less but your right, you will have to pay.

Thanks, and well done T-Lao, you seem to be 'working the system' pretty well. Knowing people like your uncle by marriage at MoFA can certainly help - if they are senior enough and not too greedy.

You got it. I hope that people realize inspite of all the hassels you encounter here in Lao, it is far easier to live, work or do business than in Thailand.

I'd basically agree with you, having had enough years in Thailand to see that a one-party state may not be such a bad thing. It's a devil you can get to know.

I would be interested to have PR in laos, but the requirements should be say 30 days per year staying in laos will be more than I can afford because I cannot imagine supporting myself financially working in the laos economy. it will be good for laos to open up so that more investment money will flow into the country's development. with PR, I want to be able to do everything a Laos citizen can do minus the voting right as in most countries around the world have for PR. I want to be able to buy land, properties, operate and own businesses, and so on. I will not want to give up my first world country citizenship, but I want to help in the development of laos. having visited laos more than once, I was frustrated with so many things especially the way houses were built, roads were constructed, etc which were result of no planning for the developments of the country. I see a blank paper for which to build a country, which bypass the many problems that the modern countries have gone thru such as America, france, uk, Thailand, and so on. I hope that the laos government will change for the betterment of the country. looking forward to see the PR law be fully in place.

Regarding the PR law for falangs coming into vogue don't go betting on it happening real soon. 

I am hoping that when ASEAN starts functioning next year the Lao Govt may then look at how Thailand goes about the visa PR issue. 

There was a rumor some years ago that falangs could get PR by paying $5000, living in country for 5 years and only allowed out for 1 month of each of those 5 years. Ok if you have a good job in Laos but for me who works overseas and comes home on leave breaks to be with family it would never be viable. 

Laos is definitely changing for the better, albeit slowly.  Lao engineers, surveyors and project managers I worked with and mentored are now doing very well in their respective fields and some have businesses of their own.

Charlie, that blank paper you see now has China written all over it. Don't hold your breath for a government that has the interests of the ordinary citizen or expat at heart. I have seen little real positive change in the past 8 years.

laos is a strategic location for china, and may even become south china?

the resources of the country has been sold to others because the people in laos are still sleeping, have yet to wake up. what will the people do when Chinese own lots of things in laos?

a part of vte seem to be all Chinese owned?

There is a China town in VT. I have Chinese neighbours on 2 sides. . And there are hundreds of Chinese workers here.  there are also many Vietnamese companies and workers here as well. 

The Chinese seem to have fallen out of favor since the Chinese funded  high speed rail project was found to have purchased land cheap for stations and contracts awarded to Chinese contractors with Lao contractors getting very little. Seems to have been sorted now.

Plenty of Vietnamese money invested here. In the last 3 years I have noticed an influx of Indians, Middle Easterners, Russians. 

Koreans looking to construct a new international airport out of Vientiane as Wattay cannot be extended anymore.

some lao individuals would have profit greatly with under the table cash in those Chinese projects, it's a no brainer to many observers.

is the Korean airport going to be another 99 years contract with certain lao individuals too?

if only the theory of communism is being practiced in its ideal form, laos would be a haven on earth; it's less than 10 million people would be richly equivalent to those in the middle east countries?

There has been no mention of the new airport for many months now as it seems there will need to be land resumptions and compensation paid. 

Regarding corruption there has been ministers sacked for accepting money and the PM has stated that he will stamp this out. Some years ago the Asian Development bank and others withheld money for aid projects until the problem of corruption was addressed.

But we are off topic and should be discussing residency visas.

It seems that you can get business visa by opening a business with your wife or a Lao partner. This will get you a multiple entry visa. and as long as the business is registered and all the paperwork and fees paid all is okay. I have been looking into this but I would need to be in Laos full time to manage any business.

well, the best way to open a business in laos is to get the PR law that allow me to do everything a laos citizen could do, minus the voting right. i'm not too trusty on letting someone else do everything for me in laos.

as I've said in this forum, I would like to start a chain of schools in rural areas. so I hope that the local people would at least donate the land for the schools.

Unfortunately there is no PR law that you can use.

Hello,

Any update on this ?

What is the easiest way for foreigners from Europe and USA to stay in Laos as long as they want ?

How much costs a business registration and how to do it ?

Thank you.

Hello,

Sorry I just read your post. Have you found reliable information about the cost and conditions to get a multiple entries business visa ?

Thank you.

For those who are looking to get a business visa for Laos are best to do a Google search for visas for Laos.  On the website you will find what paperwork is needed, time to get it processed ( which is quite long) and costs.

what's the status of this residency visa now?

charlie x wrote:

what's the status of this residency visa now?

Not as yet and not likely to be for a long time to come.....

Google: retire asia lao business visa – for some useful info pages.

I don't agree with this statement, "It's not only in Laos, either. It's corruption of course, but so what? Other countries have it in various forms; it may not be as blatant or obvious, but it's there." Day to day business transaction should not have bribes attached to it! It is only in the Patronage system where the rule of law does not apply! Patronage system is a hindrance to progress and opportunity!