Hi guys. Why the visa processing takes so long in Vientiane. I have been waiting for the visa for 7 days now (5th business day). Just last year the visas were processed in 1-2 days always. Some even got the visa on the same day of the application. Is this a new change now? Is anyone else stuck waiting for the evisa in Vientiane?

Just a heads up for anyone looking at going to Vientiane for visa runs etc, the Thailand embassy in Vientiane is closed from tomorrow for at least a week due to the elections.

Vientiane Embassy!

Hi everyone, my boyfriend applied for a DTV visa at the Embassy in Vientiane and he just paid the visa fee yesterday.

I’d like to ask anyone who has experience with this process. How does it usually go after the payment?

How long does it normally take to receive an update or an email with the interview date?

Does the timeline or process differ from person to person?

If anyone has applied to this embassy before or is currently going through it, I’d really appreciate it if you could share your experience.

Thank you so much in advance! 🙏✨

Workation category approved in Vientiane.

Mostly posting this cos NO INTERVIEW was conducted. There was another post recently, stating the same, so FYI that's the deal right now.

Seems like they're stuck with a pretty big backlog and this policy might be a temporary solution for them.

Another clue for that is that I got both emails(additional docs and approval) at odd hours, well after office time. So if that whole business is done at the embassy, and emails sent without delays as they work on applications, then it seems like they're working overtime.

I used my company + portfolio for application;

* Cover letter

* Company letter(myself allowing myself to work remote from Thailand for myself, saying to myself that I can't work for Thai clients etc...hilarious)

* Incorporation cert and a few screenshots proving that I'm the owner

* 500k bank statement and company's bank statement with money inflow matching issued invoices

* Invoices to a client

* Location proof

* Portfolio proof

Think that's pretty much it.

TIMELINE

Payed on 5.1.

Additional docs on 12.1.(a full pic of Lao stamp page, guess they want to see the passport number which is at the bottom of the page)

Approved on 14.1.

All in all not bad. Was hoping to skip the interview, based on that previous "no interview" post. Otherwise I'd be stuck here for much longer.

#APPROVED

Hi everyone, just wanted to document my DTV journey for anyone applying or waiting right now.

📌 Category: Soft Power – Culinary (House of Taste - Thai Cooking School located at Sukhumvit Soi 4)

📌 Applied via: Thai Kru Agency

📌 Embassy: Vientiane, Laos

📌 Initial Document Submission: 9 January 2026, 08:36 AM

📌 Payment confirmation: 9 January 2026, 11:01 AM

There was no queue at the embassy that morning.

📌 Update – 13 January 2026

15:40: Received a request for additional documents

17:45: Agent submitted all required documents the same day

After submission, the status changed back to “Pending Document Checking.”

I’ll continue updating this post with every change (approval, e-visa issuance, etc.) to help others get a clearer idea of the current processing speeds.

📌 DTV Visa Journey Update (16 Jan, 11:00 AM)

Quick update for anyone following my timeline:

I’m still currently at “Pending Document Checking.”

No movement yet since I submitted my additional documents on 13 Jan at 17:45 (Laos consulate).

From what others have shared, it seems normal for after-hours submissions to be reviewed the next working day, and many updates happen either late afternoon or the following morning, so my case is abit weird since there's no movement at all after submission, just back to Pending Document Check.

Will continue to update this post the moment the status changes, in case it helps anyone else track their own timeline. 🙏🏼✨

If anyone submitted additional docs around the same window (13–15 Jan), feel free to share your progress too.

📌 DTV Visa Journey Update — Approved

Final update for those following my timeline in case it helps others applying in Vientiane:

I received my visa approval email on 17 January at 1:55 AM (Saturday).

Interesting note: my application skipped the “Pending Approval” stage entirely — it went straight from “Pending Document Check” → “Visa Approved.”

THERE WAS NO INTERVIEW. 🤗

My full timeline:

9 Jan (Fri, 11:01) – Paid visa fee at Vientiane

13 Jan (Mon, 15:40) – Received request for additional documents

13 Jan (Mon, 17:45) – Submitted all additional documents

14–16 Jan – Status remained “Pending Document Check”

17 Jan (Sat, 1:55 AM) – Approval email received

A few key things I learned from this process:

Staying in Pending Document Check for several days is normal, especially for Vientiane.

The system can skip “Pending Approval” completely.

Approval emails can be issued during weekends / after midnight, because the e-Visa backend seems to be automated.

Hope this helps anyone else who’s currently waiting.

Has anyone recently gone through the DTV visa process in Vientiane and can share how long it took to get called for the interview and receive the visa?

Any recent experiences, timelines, or tips would be super helpful!

If anyone has direct contacts at the embassy, I’d be incredibly grateful.

Thanks in advance! 🙏

I know that now you have to apply for the visa online. But you still need to choose the embassy that will process your application. Do you think it matters which embassy you pick? The embassy in Hanoi has very bad reviews and many people complain they didn’t get their visa. Do you think it’s better to go to Vientiane?

I applied at the Vientiane embassy (workation), and the status changed to “Pending Approval” on Friday. Does this mean they will schedule an interview soon? Because I haven’t received any interview invitation by email yet

I’m going to apply for a Thai non-ed visa at the embassy in Vientiane. I’m aware of the new method of submitting documents online then paying in person. Does anyone have knowledge of how long this typically takes? Website says 5-10 days but I’m hoping maybe that’s a conservative estimate. If anyone has done this recently, please let me know how long it took

DTV Remote Worker Visa Approved Vientiane, Laos. No problems.

Arrived - 02/09/25

Submitted Application - 03/09/25

6 months bank statements (My 500,000THB had only been in my bank since the 01/09/25)

Laos entry stamp in passport

Invoices

Work contracts off clients

Went to embassy and paid visa fee in cash with QR code (10,000 baht) - 04/09/25

Recieved Date for interview - 04/09/25

Attended interview - 10.00am on 15/09/25

Visa Approved 02.15pm on 15/09/25