free visa run to laos

Last week i headed to laos to do my visa run, crossed over the bridge paid my 35 dollars and got my laos visa,all good . decided to stay for a few days , went tubing ,great, anyways on the way back got talking to fella from germany he was sayin he goes there and gets a 5 or 6 day stamp for laos free of charge, he showed me the stamp,no laos visa only a stamp for so many days , he says just go up to the window , and just say your only goin for a few days or your just crossin over and they give you a stamp and theres no waiting to get your passport back , you get so many days free for laos he said,the only balls is i did nt meet on the way in there, anyone heard of this before , and if anyone needs to cross over in d next few weeks let us know how ya get on ,

Was he a dual citizen?
Was this stamp in his German/EU passport?

Did not see any evidence, but yes i heard about this before the last time i went to Laos. A (also) German guy told me that he seen people crossing the Laos border without a visa, indeed stating they only would stay there for a few days. It sounded rather strange to me, so didn't really give it any thoughts...

Have to go again in about one month, i'll give it a try.

Maybe its this?

Transit visa

* Maximum five days for stay (in Vientiane only).
* Proof of an entry visa and air ticket to the third country.

source

Interesting.

So if someone wanted to fly from Vientiane to Hanoi, they would only need to get a visa for Vietnam, not Laos (assuming they had tix and visa to fly to Vietnam within five days)

Is the German saying that you can avoid paying the $35,by doing this?

Interesting.
I have never heard of this - although that certain does not mean to imply it is untrue.
Same as Thailand the Laos Immigration system is on computer, so, in theory, they can analysis the data concerning people coming & going & for how long they stay. I would be amazed if many visitors who pay $30 odd for the 1 month visa actually stay anything like that time. I imagine the majority are either same day returnees (people kicking in the next n days of an existing visa) or 2-5 days (people go to the Thai Embassy for a new visa). I cannot believe that the Laos Government are willing to give up this much foreign money coming into the country without a very,very good reason to do so. I just cannot imagine what that reason could possibly be.
It will be VERY interesting to see how colz (or anyone else who goes before him) get on with this request.

Yes, was thinking the same. Maybe it is possible, but they just don't make it public because it would cost them a lot of money. But if now and then some people ask for it they don't bother about it.

Absolutely,my wife would appreciate my help when she does the ''Wine ,Baileys and Beer Lao'' run!!

nkstan wrote:Absolutely,my wife would appreciate my help when she does the ''Wine ,Baileys and Beer Lao'' run!!

You may still require a reentry permit, don't you get stamped out on the Thai side before entering Laos

papaguido wrote:

nkstan wrote:Absolutely,my wife would appreciate my help when she does the ''Wine ,Baileys and Beer Lao'' run!!

You may still require a reentry permit, don't you get stamped out on the Thai side before entering Laos

Not sure what your point is Rito.Of course I would need a re-entry permit to not lose my visa status!
My point was if it is true that there is no need to pay the $30+ fee,I would accompany my wife to the duty store as I have very little interest in anything else about Laos!

nkstan wrote:

papaguido wrote:

nkstan wrote:Absolutely,my wife would appreciate my help when she does the ''Wine ,Baileys and Beer Lao'' run!!

You may still require a reentry permit, don't you get stamped out on the Thai side before entering Laos

Not sure what your point is Rito.Of course I would need a re-entry permit to not lose my visa status!
My point was if it is true that there is no need to pay the $30+ fee,I would accompany my wife to the duty store as I have very little interest in anything else about Laos!

My point is it's not totally free and wasn't sure if you were aware of the reentry permit

I was only posting to the info that the OP was talking about.The way I read it,someone was getting around the $30+ fee paying.If that is true,I would take advantage of it by doing the duty free runs with my wife that I don't do now because of the fee!

You read correctly Stan, maybe I wasn't clear. What I meant is that you still have to pay for the reentry permit. But if the story is true than your saving $30/35.

Isent this a borderpass they get then? Sounds like it.