You can cross from Laos into Vietnam at 10 land border gates that accept the Vietnam eVisa: Tay Trang, Long Sap, Na Meo, Nam Can, Cau Treo, Cha Lo, Lao Bao, La Lay, Nam Giang and Bo Y. You can't buy a visa at the barrier, so get the eVisa (or confirm your passport is visa-exempt) before you set off, and name the gate you'll actually use on the application.
Most guides to getting from Laos to Vietnam still list eight crossings. Two more, Long Sap and Nam Giang, were added to the eVisa list on December 2, 2025. From Houaphanh that's a second eVisa gate; from Sekong it's the first, and older pages leave both off.
The 10 Gates: Every Laos Crossing That Takes the eVisa
Vietnam accepts eVisa holders at 83 border crossings: 17 airports, 27 land border gates and 39 seaports. The land gates come from two government resolutions. Resolution 127/NQ-CP set the original 16 land gates in August 2023, and Resolution 389/NQ-CP added 11 more in December 2025. Read the two lists side by side and 10 of those 27 land gates face Laos.
The table pairs each gate with the part of Laos it faces. Find the Lao province you're in or passing through, then read across. The last column gives the province each resolution prints, and the 2023 list uses older province names, so search for a gate by its own name.
| Gate (Vietnam) | Faces in Laos | Listed Under |
|---|---|---|
| Tay Trang | Phongsaly province | Dien Bien |
| Long Sap | Pa Hang, Houaphanh province | Son La |
| Na Meo | Houaphanh province | Thanh Hoa |
| Nam Can | Nong Het district, Xieng Khouang province | Nghe An |
| Cau Treo | Bolikhamxay province | Ha Tinh |
| Cha Lo | Khammouane province | Quang Binh |
| Lao Bao | Densavan, Savannakhet province | Quang Tri |
| La Lay | Salavan province | Quang Tri |
| Nam Giang | Dac Ta Ooc, Sekong province | Da Nang |
| Bo Y | Attapeu province | Kon Tum |
Gate by Gate: Matching the Crossing to Your Part of Laos
Northern Laos: Tay Trang, Long Sap and Na Meo
Tay Trang, listed under Dien Bien, is the crossing for Phongsaly province in the north. Long Sap, in Son La, faces Pa Hang in Sop Bau district of Houaphanh. That pair officially opened on November 19, 2024, and Long Sap only joined the eVisa list a year later.
Na Meo, listed under Thanh Hoa, also faces Houaphanh, so travelers in that province now have two eVisa gates to pick from. All three northern crossings are mountain roads, which matters more here than anywhere else on the border once the rains start.
Central Laos: Nam Can, Cau Treo, Cha Lo and Lao Bao
Four gates cover the long middle of the border. Nam Can, in Nghe An, faces Xieng Khouang province. Cau Treo, in Ha Tinh, faces Bolikhamxay. Both lead toward Vinh, Nghe An's main city; the Vinh travel guide covers what to do once you're there. Cha Lo, listed under Quang Binh in the 2023 resolution, faces Khammouane. Lao Bao, in Quang Tri, faces Densavan in Savannakhet province, the two sides of a joint cross-border economic and trade zone.
Gate names are where people slip. A Vietnamese government article calls the Cau Treo crossing Keo Nua, after the pass it sits on, and a Vietnam News Agency report gives Cha Lo's Lao partner a name other sources use for the Lao side of Cau Treo. Buses and Lao maps tend to use Lao names, while the eVisa form uses Vietnamese ones. Match the gate to the road you'll actually take, and pick it by its Vietnamese name.
Southern Laos: La Lay, Nam Giang and Bo Y
La Lay, the second of Quang Tri's two Laos gates, faces Salavan province. Nam Giang faces Dac Ta Ooc in Sekong province. Vietnam's government agreed in December 2020 to upgrade it to an international gate, and Resolution 389/NQ-CP now lists it under Da Nang. If you're coming from the Sekong side, this is the gate older guides miss.
Bo Y, listed under Kon Tum in the 2023 resolution, faces Attapeu province and leads into Vietnam's Central Highlands. With La Lay and Nam Giang, it gives southern Laos three eVisa gates, each facing a different Lao province.
The eVisa at a Land Gate: The Checkpoint Field Decides It
An eVisa only works at border gates on the government's list, and Vietnam's immigration law says you enter and leave through a gate the government has listed. The law doesn't say whether the gate you name on the application binds you. Foreign governments read it strictly: the UK says eVisas restrict you to the entry and exit points you select, and Canada says you enter via the port of entry shown in the approval notice only. No Vietnamese authority has said either way in writing.
On October 15, 2026, the application form's border-gate dropdown offered 79 of the 83 listed gates, with land crossings labeled like "Lao Bao Landport". The four missing were three airports and one seaport, so all 10 Laos-facing land gates, Long Sap and Nam Giang included, could be selected. Check yours is there before you pay. For the rest of the form, see how to apply for the Vietnam eVisa.
⚠️ Name the gate you'll really cross. Choosing Lao Bao because it's the one you've heard of, then riding a bus to Cau Treo, is the classic overland mistake. The law is silent, the UK and Canada aren't, and a remote border post is a bad place to argue the difference. If your route changes after you apply, contact us before you travel, not the officer at the post.
Carry the eVisa on paper and on your phone. Vietnam's immigration law describes printing the eVisa from the portal, and the US State Department says to print your eVisa and bring it with your passport. Use the passport you applied with: Vietnam requires visitors to enter and exit on the same passport, which catches dual nationals.
An eVisa can be valid for up to 90 days, and you choose single or multiple entry. If you'll dip back into Laos and return, pay for multiple entry. Through Vietnam Visa by BDA, a 1-month eVisa costs $54 single or $84 multiple, so $30 more, and the 3-month versions cost $94 and $104. You can also apply yourself at evisa.gov.vn, Vietnam Immigration's own site. There you'd pay only the government's $25 single or $50 multiple-entry fee.
You can apply from Laos, because the eVisa is issued to people outside Vietnam, not to visitors already inside. Under Article 16a of Vietnam's immigration law, Vietnam Immigration has 3 working days to decide once it has the complete application and the fee. In practice, 3 to 5 working days is what usually happens. Our Normal service takes 5 to 10 business days; Urgent takes 2 for +$45, and Super Urgent takes 1 for +$85. Those times are Vietnam Immigration's, not ours: we can file, chase and correct, but we can't move an approval up the line.
No Visa at the Barrier: What Visa on Arrival Really Means
Visa on arrival still exists in Vietnamese law, but only in six specific situations, and a sponsor in Vietnam has to get Vietnam Immigration's approval first. At the border, you hand over your passport, the approval letter and a completed application form with a photo. No official list says which land gates actually handle it.
So the forum plan of sorting the visa out at Tay Trang doesn't work for an ordinary tourist. We don't process visa-on-arrival letters anymore, and for most travelers the eVisa is simpler. Arrive at the gate with the eVisa already in hand, or with a passport that doesn't need one.
Lao Citizens and Exempt Passports: Who Skips the eVisa
Citizens of Laos can visit Vietnam visa-free for up to 30 days under a bilateral agreement. The passport needs at least 6 months of validity, and anyone staying longer than 30 days needs a visa first. The details are on our page of Vietnam visa rules for Lao citizens.
Plenty of foreign travelers on this route skip the eVisa too. Passport holders from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland can stay up to 45 days without a visa, for any purpose, until March 14, 2028. Travelers from Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland get 45 days for tourism only, until August 14, 2028. Thai and Cambodian citizens get 30 days.
If your passport isn't on those lists, you need the eVisa, and citizens of every country and territory can apply for one. Staying past your exempt days means applying for a visa or an extension through a sponsor in Vietnam before they run out, and we don't handle extensions.
Bus or Plane: The Road Versus a Short Flight
The road is slower than any timetable admits. Laos' rainy season normally runs from May to October, landslides hit mountain roads, and the UK warns that cross-country journeys often take far longer than posted schedules, with limited phone coverage on the way.
The numbers explain it. Vientiane averages 334.6 mm of rain in August and 2.5 mm in December, on the Lao weather service's 1951 to 2000 normals. November to March is the easy window, especially for the northern gates.
⚠️ Leave a buffer day before any flight out of Vietnam. A bus that runs to time in March can lose a day to a landslide in August. If you're crossing in the wet season, don't book an onward flight for the evening you arrive.
Flying is the quick alternative. Vientiane to Hanoi is 494 km in a straight line, and Vietnam Airlines sells the route on its own site. Lao Airlines suspended its Vientiane to Da Nang flights from September 10, 2026 until further notice. If you might fly instead, decide before you apply, so the gate you name is the one you'll use.
Flying out of Laos adds a form the land route skips. Laos' digital arrival and departure form, the LDIF, has to be completed within 3 days before departure at Wattay (Vientiane), Luang Prabang and Pakse airports, and the land gates into Vietnam aren't on its list. For other routes in, see how to get to Vietnam from anywhere.
Trains From Laos to Vietnam: A 2030 Target, Not a Timetable
There's no passenger railway between Laos and Vietnam. The planned line from Vientiane runs 452 km inside Laos and 119 km through Vietnam to Vung Ang port in Ha Tinh.
Construction was scheduled to start in Laos in 2026 and in Vietnam in 2027, with opening expected in 2030. Until it runs, your choices are the road or a flight.
Border Safety: Ordnance, Stamps and Cameras
Canada warns that landmines and unexploded ordnance still pose a serious risk in Quang Tri province and along the border with Laos. Its Laos advice names Lao-Vietnam border areas, including the former Ho Chi Minh Trail. Lao Bao and La Lay are both in Quang Tri.
⚠️ Cross only at an official gate, and stay on the road. Canada's advice is to cross only at official border crossings. Don't wander off the tarmac for a photo or a toilet stop in the hills on either side.
Check your Lao entry stamp before you set off. Canada says failing to get one when you enter Laos can bring serious fines, detention and deportation, and you don't want that discovered at the exit desk. Make sure Laos stamps you out before you walk across.
Keep the camera in your bag at the post. Vietnam prohibits photographing border crossings, along with military sites.
A Few Parting Notes
Before you head for the border, check four things: your gate is on the eVisa list and named on your application, the eVisa is printed and on your phone, you're carrying the passport you applied with, and your Lao entry stamp is there. In the wet season, add a buffer day.
Vietnam Visa by BDA is a private company. We're not affiliated with the Vietnamese government. On an overland trip, our part ends when the eVisa reaches your inbox: Vietnam Immigration issues it and sets the timing, and the officer at the gate decides whether you cross, just as an airline decides whether you board. Our terms suggest applying one to two weeks ahead, and on this route that also leaves time to fix a wrong gate.