Laos Digital Immigration Form (LDIF)

Yes, at the checkpoints it covers. Since 1 September 2025 the Department of Immigration has required all foreign nationals and stateless persons travelling on a passport to register through the LDIF before entering or departing Lao PDR. At those checkpoints it replaces the paper arrival and departure cards.

Four at present: Wattay International Airport (Vientiane), Luang Prabang International Airport, Pakse International Airport, and the Lao–Thai Friendship Bridge I between Vientiane and Nong Khai. The Lao authorities announced an intention to extend the LDIF to all international checkpoints, but as of this page's last review we could not confirm that the wider rollout has taken effect — official guidance still describes the four launch checkpoints. Paper cards continue at other crossings. Tell us your route and we'll confirm what your specific trip needs.

Yes. The LDIF is required on arrival and on departure, and those are two separate submissions with two separate QR codes. Each must be filed within three days of the crossing it covers, so they cannot be done together on a typical trip. This is the most common reason travellers get stopped at the departure counter — and it's exactly what our round-trip service covers.

It is, and we'll say so plainly: the Lao Digital Immigration Form carries no government fee, and you can always file it yourself, free of charge, on the official portal at immigration.gov.la. Plenty of travellers do. Our fee buys a service, not access: we check your passport data against your documents before submission, handle both uploads, file the arrival registration, and then — the part people miss — come back inside the departure window and file the second form, delivering that QR to you before you need it at the airport. Check the exact fee when you start your application.

Each submission opens three days (72 hours) before the crossing it covers — earlier attempts are rejected. The QR code you receive is valid for three days at the border gate. That's a deliberately tight pairing, which is why departure filings have to be scheduled rather than done in advance.

No. The LDIF is entirely separate from and additional to your visa. Depending on your nationality you will still need a Laos eVisa, a visa on arrival, an embassy visa, or you'll travel under a visa exemption — and you need the LDIF on top of whichever applies. The LDIF is an entry and exit record, not permission to enter.

Two documents per person: a clear image of your passport bio page, and a selfie holding your passport. The selfie is a photograph you take and send us — there's no live camera or face scan to pass. Every traveller files individually, children and infants included, so each person needs their own set of uploads and receives their own pair of QR codes.

Tell us as soon as you know. Because each submission is tied to a specific checkpoint and date, a changed flight or a switched border crossing means the affected form has to be filed again — we'll redo it within your order, no extra charge. If we make a mistake on a submission, we correct it or refund you. And if you decide before we file that you'd rather do it yourself on the official portal, that's always available to you.