Need-to-knows
Everything travelers ask before a visa run from Hue to the Lao Bao–Dansavanh border — the DMZ route, pickups, paperwork, the 90-day Vietnam e-visa, costs, and the edge cases that change the plan.
Timeline & basics
A visa run from Hue means leaving Vietnam and re-entering so your period of stay legally restarts when your visa or visa-exemption stamp is about to expire. Our daily service drives you from Hue up QL1A and along QL9 to the Lao Bao–Dansavanh border crossing in Quang Tri, exits Vietnam into Laos, and returns the same day with a fresh entry stamp or a newly approved 90-day e-visa. It is the standard way to reset your stay without flying to another country.
Expect roughly 12 hours door-to-door. We collect you between 04:00 and 05:30, clear Lao Bao with the Quang Tri fixer team between 08:30 and 11:00, stop for lunch in Dong Ha, and drop you back in Hue City or at Phu Bai Airport by 16:00–17:00. It is a genuine same-day round trip, 365 days a year.
Vietnam does not allow you to extend most tourist e-visas or visa-exemption stamps while you are inside the country — you must exit and re-enter to receive a new period of stay. A visa run from Hue to Lao Bao is the fastest and most reliable way to do that, and you can pair it with our 90-day e-visa desk so you return with a fresh long-stay visa instead of a short stamp.
Digital nomads, expats, long-stay tourists, teachers, and anyone on a 30- or 90-day visa whose stay is about to expire. It also suits travelers whose extension was refused, people waiting on a stuck e-visa approval, and families or small groups who want the border handled by a crew that crosses it daily.
Yes. Exiting Vietnam and re-entering with a valid visa or visa exemption is a completely legal way to reset your stay, and border officers at Lao Bao process these crossings every day. What is illegal is overstaying without exiting — that carries fines and can lead to a re-entry ban, which is exactly what a properly timed visa run prevents.
Yes — our cars run every single day of the year, including weekends, Tet, and national holidays. One important catch: Vietnam immigration only processes e-visa applications Monday to Friday, so the 90-day e-visa add-on and rush tiers must depart on a weekday. A plain stamp reset (no new e-visa) works any day.
Booking 2–3 days ahead is ideal so the visa desk can pre-fill forms and verify your passport scans, but same-day and next-day bookings are often possible if a car is free. The critical rule is not to leave it until the day your visa expires — book while you still have 1–2 days of buffer in case the border is slow.
Yes, but Hue is the northern end of the network's coverage. Da Nang and Hoi An riders are better served by the dedicated Da Nang and Hoi An visa run services, which run the same Lao Bao route with pickups closer to you. From Hue we can meet riders coming up QL1, but for most Da Nang addresses the sister services save you hours of driving.
The terms are used interchangeably in Vietnam. Both mean leaving the country and re-entering to get a new entry stamp. A visa run usually adds new visa paperwork (like our 90-day e-visa desk), while a border run is purely a stamp reset — out at Lao Bao, straight back in. We do both on the same trip and at the same price.
There is no official limit on how many times you can exit and re-enter Vietnam as a tourist, and many expats run to Lao Bao every few months for years without trouble. The real constraint is paperwork: you need a valid visa or exemption stamp to exit cleanly and a valid visa to re-enter. Back-to-back same-day runs are legal, but doing them constantly can draw extra questions at the window, so we recommend spacing runs to match your actual stay needs and letting dispatch advise on the pattern that keeps your record clean.
The dry, cool months from January to April give the smoothest visa run from Hue — no storm delays on QL9 and short queues at the DMZ border crossing. September to December is Quang Tri's rainy season, when typhoon remnants can slow the mountain road, so we simply depart 30 minutes earlier and stage backup drivers north of Dong Ha. Runs operate 365 days a year, so the season changes the timing, not the outcome.
DMZ corridor
The DMZ border crossing used for visa runs from Hue is Lao Bao (Vietnam side) – Dansavanh (Laos side), located at the western end of the former Demilitarized Zone on National Highway QL9. It is the closest international land border to Hue and the busiest Vietnam–Laos gateway, with both countries' immigration counters just a short walk apart. Our fixers escort you between the two posts and handle the Laos visa-on-arrival paperwork.
Lao Bao sits roughly 150–180 km from central Hue depending on your pickup point. The drive follows QL1A north for about 60 km to Dong Ha, then turns west on QL9 through the DMZ corridor for another 80 km to the border gate. With early pickups it takes around 3.5–4 hours of driving each way.
Yes. The whole QL9 stretch from Dong Ha to the DMZ border crossing at Lao Bao runs through the former DMZ corridor, past landmarks like the Dakrong Bridge, the Rockpile, and Khe Sanh. It is a safe, normal highway today — you are not entering a restricted zone, just driving the main road to the border. On request we add a short Dakrong Bridge photo stop while you stretch your legs.
Partly, yes. The route itself passes through DMZ country and we can pause at the Dakrong Bridge on the outbound leg, but a full DMZ tour (Vinh Moc tunnels, Hien Luong Bridge, Khe Sanh Combat Base) takes a full day on its own. If you have a spare day, book a dedicated DMZ tour separately; on run day the priority is clearing the border before the crowds.
Yes. Lao Bao–Dansavanh is an official international border crossing used by thousands of travelers, trucks, and tour buses every week, and the DMZ area along QL9 is ordinary countryside today. Our bilingual drivers and Quang Tri fixers cross this corridor daily, monitor weather and road conditions, and will adjust the departure time if QL9 is affected by storms.
The main Vietnam–Laos land crossings are Lao Bao (Quang Tri), Cha Lo (Quang Binh), and Cau Treo (Ha Tinh) to the north, plus several further south. From Hue, Lao Bao is the closest and fastest option — Cha Lo and Cau Treo add hours of driving. That is why every Hue, Da Nang, and Hoi An visa run uses the Lao Bao–Dansavanh gate.
In the rainy season (September–December) Quang Tri storms can slow QL9, so we depart 30 minutes earlier, carry ponchos and towels, and stage backup drivers north of Dong Ha. The dry, cool months of January–April give the fastest border windows, while summer heat (May–August) means earlier staging, chilled towels, and electrolyte drinks. Dispatch sends weather updates on WhatsApp before you leave.
No special permit is needed beyond your passport, your current Vietnam visa or exemption stamp, and — if you are not visa-exempt for Laos — the Laos visa-on-arrival fee in cash. There are no DMZ-specific permits for driving QL9 to the border. Our fixers handle the forms at both immigration counters so you only sign and pay.
Pickups run between 04:00 and 05:30. Drivers sweep Hue City and the Citadel area first, then Phu Bai and Lang Co, and head north on QL1A before sunrise so you reach Lao Bao ahead of the tour-bus rush. You get a live location pin about 10 minutes before the car arrives at your hotel.
The Lao Bao–Dansavanh international gate is open daily from roughly 07:00 to 18:00, which is exactly why Hue visa runs leave before sunrise. We time the crossing between 08:30 and 11:00 so you clear both checkpoints in the quiet morning window and are back in Hue by late afternoon. The gate is officially open every day, but staff can close early on major holidays, so we confirm the day's status before departure and message you if anything changes.
For a plain stamp reset you are usually out of Vietnam for 1–2 hours: Vietnamese exit stamp, the short walk across to Dansavanh, Laos entry and exit stamps (plus visa-on-arrival if needed), then back through Vietnamese entry control. With a same-day e-visa tier, add 30–60 minutes for the border systems to sync your approval before you re-enter. It is the shortest time you can legally be out of the country on a visa run from Hue.
Getting there
We cover Hue City (Citadel, Phu Hoi, An Cuu, Perfume River, Thuan An), Phu Bai Airport hotels, Lang Co, Lap An Lagoon, and the Bach Ma foothills. Riders coming from the Da Nang direction can be met along QL1. Lang Co, Laguna, and Bach Ma pickups can finish their return leg in Hue City at no extra cost — just note it on the booking form.
Private cars seat up to 4 travelers and come with air conditioning, charging ports, Wi-Fi, cold towels, and water. Larger groups can upgrade to a Hiace (7 passengers) or a mini-bus (10 passengers) for a tailored quote. Up to 10 travelers per reservation can use the e-visa upload desk.
Be ready in your hotel lobby between 04:00 and 05:30 — dispatch confirms your exact window the evening before, and you receive a live location pin 10 minutes before arrival. Drivers collect Hue City riders first, then Phu Bai and Lang Co, so pickup order depends on where you are staying.
04:00–05:30 pickups along the coastal highway; 08:30–11:00 Lao Bao immigration with fixers managing both the Vietnamese exit and the Laos side; 11:00–14:00 lunch in Dong Ha (bun bo Hue) or a packed meal while refueling; 15:30–17:00 drop-offs back in Hue City or Phu Bai Airport. A WhatsApp summary of your e-visa submission follows in the evening.
The outbound leg usually includes a bun bo Hue stop in Dong Ha, and the return leg often stops for Ba Don seafood or a DMZ café. If you prefer not to stop, a packed meal is provided and drivers keep coolers stocked with Central Vietnam fruit and chilled towels.
Yes. Return drop-offs are flexible within Hue City and Phu Bai Airport at no extra cost, and Lang Co riders can finish in Hue. Need a drop at the airport, a different hotel, or a workshop on the way back? Mention it on the booking form or WhatsApp +84 369 308 237 so dispatch can plan the sequence.
Private cars allow regular luggage plus a personal item per person. Surfboard and golf bag trailers are available on request for Lang Co and Lap An pickups — just note it when booking. If you are overstaying a hotel checkout, your driver can hold bags while you clear the border.
You get a live location pin before pickup, WhatsApp updates through the whole day, and an evening summary of your e-visa or push submission time. Bilingual drivers and coordinators speak English, and dispatch monitors WhatsApp and email from 05:00 to 23:00 daily in case you need to change plans mid-route.
You can, but it is far more stressful: public buses run fixed schedules that often miss the early border window, and riding a motorbike 300+ km round trip leaves you dealing with immigration alone. Our private car handles the driving, the Laos forms, and the queues so you stay fresh and make it home the same evening.
Yes — Dong Ha sits right on the QL1A leg of the route, so riders there are collected after the Hue City sweep, and the fare stays the same 2,800,000 VND per car. Quang Tri pickups actually save you an hour of driving each way and let you sleep later. Just note on the booking form that you are in Dong Ha and dispatch will slot you into the correct pickup window with a live location pin.
Immigration
Bring your passport valid for at least 6 months with two blank visa pages, your current Vietnam visa, e-visa, or TRC printout, and two spare 4×6 photos. Keep 40–50 USD in cash for the Laos visa-on-arrival fee, and carry an onward ticket and proof of accommodation if you have them. We send a full checklist 48 hours before departure.
Most nationalities need a Laos visa-on-arrival, which is issued right at Dansavanh in about 15–30 minutes. The fee depends on your nationality and is paid in USD cash — typically around $30–40. A few nationalities are visa-exempt for Laos for short stays. Our fixer prepares the form, collects the fee, and escorts you between the counters.
Yes. Our fixer handles the Laos VOA form, collects the USD fee, and walks you between the Vietnamese and Lao counters so the stamps land in the right order. Even visa-exempt nationalities follow them to make sure both exit and entry stamps are recorded correctly.
At the Vietnamese gate our fixer takes your passports, manages the exit line, and gets your Vietnam exit stamp. You walk across to Dansavanh, get the Laos entry and exit stamps (with VOA if needed), then return to the Vietnamese gate for a fresh entry stamp. The whole loop usually takes under an hour once you are at the front.
Both Vietnamese and Lao officers generally expect passports valid 6+ months from the date of entry, and a short-validity passport can be refused at either gate. If your passport is close to expiring, renew it before the run or contact us first — we will tell you honestly whether the crossing is likely to accept it.
Yes. Every traveler, including newborns, needs their own passport, and children must have their own valid Vietnam visa or exemption status — they do not travel on a parent's visa. Families are welcome on the run, and our fixers handle the extra paperwork for kids so you are not juggling forms at the window.
TRC holders usually do not need a visa run at all — a valid TRC lets you stay in Vietnam continuously. If your TRC is expiring or you hold a single-entry TRC and have left Vietnam, we can still drive you to Lao Bao for a clean re-entry, but check with us first: in many cases renewing the TRC or using a re-entry permit is the smarter move.
Do not attempt to exit with an expired visa without help — you will be fined at the border. Under Decree 282/2025 (in force since 15 December 2025) overstay fines run about 500,000–2,000,000 VND for under 16 days, 5,000,000–10,000,000 VND for 16–29 days, and up to 40,000,000 VND for longer overstays. Contact us before booking; we regularly escort travelers in this situation, help you calculate the exact fine for your overstay period, and get you out cleanly so you can re-enter with a fresh e-visa. The full 2026 bracket table and the Hue process are in our Vietnam overstay fines guide.
Severely damaged passports, torn photo pages, or water-damaged chips can be refused by either Vietnamese or Lao officers. If the damage is minor we can usually still cross, but if the bio page is badly damaged you may need a replacement passport first. Send us photos of the damage before booking and we will advise you honestly.
Land border officers at Lao Bao rarely ask for onward tickets or hotel bookings — that is mostly an airline requirement. Still, carry your accommodation address and, if you have one, an onward ticket, because the Laos visa-on-arrival form asks for an address in Laos and our fixer fills that in for you. The documents that truly matter are your passport (6+ months validity, two blank pages) and a valid Vietnam visa or exemption stamp.
No — a single-entry e-visa is consumed the moment you exit Vietnam, so re-entering requires a new visa. That is exactly why riders pair their Lao Bao run with our e-visa desk: while you are out of the country, we file your new 90-day single- or multiple-entry e-visa so the approval is ready when you walk back to the Vietnamese gate. If you cross borders often, the multiple-entry e-visa skips this loop entirely.
E-visa desk
You upload your passport photo page and a white-background portrait when you book — up to 10 travelers per reservation. The moment Lao Bao stamps your exit, our visa desk submits your chosen e-visa tier through the official government portal and keeps you updated by WhatsApp and email until the approval PDF lands, so you re-enter with a fresh 90-day visa.
Standard tiers start around $65–85 for single entry and $85–110 for multiple entry at 3–4 day processing, scaling up through 2-day and 1-day options to same-day tiers: 4-hour ($95 single / $120 multiple), 2-hour ($130/$150), and 1-hour Rush ($165/$180). Rush tiers need a weekday exit because Vietnam immigration only processes e-visas Monday to Friday.
Choose single entry if you plan to stay inside Vietnam for the whole 90 days. Choose multiple entry if you will leave and return during that period — for example, side trips to Laos, Cambodia, or Thailand. Multiple entry costs about $20–30 more per tier and saves you doing another visa run when you come back.
The official government fee is separate from our service fee: US$25 for a single-entry e-visa and US$50 for a multiple-entry e-visa, paid through the official portal with a government payment receipt. Our desk handles the filing and payment for you and stores the receipt in your private booking folder.
Yes. If you already submitted an e-visa and it is stuck in processing, provide your application ID before departure and we can escalate it (push-only service) the moment you exit Vietnam at Lao Bao. Push fees start at $25 for 4-day acceleration and go up to $125 for a 1-hour push, and you only pay if we successfully accelerate it.
Yes, on weekdays. With the 4-hour tier you can often walk back through the border the same afternoon — border checkpoints sync within 30–60 minutes of approval, and we WhatsApp you the green light to return. The 2-hour and 1-hour Rush tiers give you even more buffer, but they require a Monday–Friday exit and a morning crossing.
A clear photo of your passport bio page (under 5 MB), a selfie with a white background, your Vietnam address and phone/email for the form, and your desired re-entry date and processing tier. Upload them as soon as you book so our team can prefill the form and verify everything before you leave.
You can upgrade or downgrade tiers mid-trip by paying the difference, and re-entry dates can usually be adjusted before submission. Your documents live in a private booking folder shared only with you, your driver, and the visa desk, and you get a dedicated WhatsApp thread for changes and approvals.
The US$25 single-entry / US$50 multiple-entry government fee is mandatory and goes to the official portal whether you apply yourself or through us — it is always separate from our service fee. What the desk adds is accuracy and speed: compliant passport and portrait photos, a correctly filled form, submission the moment you exit at Lao Bao, live monitoring, and rush tiers that deliver approval in 1–4 hours instead of 3–5 working days. For a same-day return on a 90-day visa, that speed is only realistic through the service.
This is the most common rush-tier scenario, and it works: border checkpoints sync approved e-visa numbers within 30–60 minutes, so the moment our desk sees the approval PDF we WhatsApp you the green light to re-enter. If you are mid-loop at Dansavanh, you simply wait in Lao Bao town — your driver stays with the car — until the confirmation lands. If approval has not arrived by gate closing (18:00), we arrange a clean overnight option and re-entry the next morning.
Payments & policies
A private car from Hue City, An Cuu, Perfume River, or Phu Bai costs about 2,800,000 VND (≈ $113 USD) per car for up to 4 travelers — the same price for the Lang Co, Lap An, and Phu Loc zone. That is door-to-door, per car, not per person, and includes the driver, fuel, tolls, and fixers. Larger groups pay more for a Hiace or mini-bus.
The fare covers the private car, a bilingual English-speaking driver, fuel, DMZ tolls, the Quang Tri fixer team at both border gates, cold towels, water, snacks, Wi-Fi, and WhatsApp updates through the day. Laos visa-on-arrival fees and Vietnam e-visa government fees are separate, and fixer tips (100–200k VND) are appreciated but optional.
You pay on arrival back in Hue — cash in VND or USD, or by bank transfer. There is no prepayment for the car itself, which is why we can hold your seat with a simple booking confirmation. E-visa and push fees are paid separately, usually via Wise or Revolut, before the desk submits your application.
Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before your pickup time. Same-day cancellations incur 50% of the fare to cover the driver and fixer who were already staged for your run. If the border unexpectedly closes or a storm blocks QL9, we reschedule you at no charge rather than cancel.
The private car price is per car, so a family of 3–4 traveling together splits one fare — that is effectively the best group deal. For 5+ people we quote a Hiace or mini-bus, and school or company groups of up to 10 can share a reservation and use the same e-visa desk. Message WhatsApp +84 369 308 237 for a tailored quote.
Carry 40–50 USD in cash for the Laos visa-on-arrival fee (exact amount depends on your nationality), plus a little extra in VND for snacks, lunch, and an optional fixer tip of 100–200k VND. Cards are rarely accepted at the border windows, so cash is essential.
Almost always. A round-trip flight to Bangkok, Singapore, or Kuala Lumpur plus airport transfers and a hotel night typically costs several times more than a private car run, and the flight schedule rarely lets you return the same day. The Lao Bao road run is the cheapest same-day reset available from Central Vietnam.
Yes. If your school, company, or embassy needs an invoice for the visa run or e-visa service, mention it on the booking form and we will prepare one. Coordinators can also issue confirmation letters for your records after the run.
A solo traveler on the most economical package pays roughly 2,800,000 VND (about $113) for the private car, $30–40 for the Laos visa-on-arrival, and about $90–110 for the standard 3–4 day single-entry e-visa (service fee plus the $25 government fee) — around $240–260 total. The car fare is per car, not per person, so four travelers splitting it bring the same package down to about $150–160 each. Rush tiers add $30–100 depending on how fast you need approval.
No — the car is booked with no deposit, and you pay in cash (VND or USD) or by bank transfer when you return to Hue. The only prepayment is the e-visa or push-service fee, which is settled before the desk submits your application, usually via Wise or Revolut. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before pickup, so a no-deposit booking carries no financial risk if your plans change.
Special situations
Do not panic and do not keep delaying — overstay fines under Decree 282/2025 (in force since 15 December 2025) run roughly 500,000–2,000,000 VND for under 16 days, 5,000,000–10,000,000 VND for 16–29 days, and up to 40,000,000 VND for very long overstays, which can also mean deportation or a 1–3 year re-entry ban. Message us before booking so we can plan the exit properly, help you prepare for the fine at Lao Bao, and file a fresh e-visa so you can return legally.
Yes on both counts, with a caveat. A recently issued passport is fine as long as it has 6+ months validity left and at least two blank pages — the blank pages are what the exit and entry stamps consume. If you are down to your last page or two, bring a spare passport or renew first, because both Vietnam and Laos need room for stamps.
Probably not. A valid temporary residence card already gives you continuous stay, so a border run adds nothing unless you have left Vietnam and need a fresh entry. For expiring TRCs, renewal through immigration is usually the correct path — but if you need to be out of the country while it processes, we can time a Lao Bao run to fit.
Families with babies and toddlers are welcome and our fixers will handle the extra forms, but you must carry the child's own passport with a valid Vietnam visa or exemption. Car seats can be requested when booking, and the private car gives you space for a pram and baby gear — far more comfortable than a shared bus.
Lao Bao–Dansavanh operates daily and rarely closes, but heavy Quang Tri storms can slow QL9. If that happens we either depart earlier, use backup drivers staged north of Dong Ha, or reschedule at no charge. Dispatch monitors conditions overnight and will message you the moment anything changes so you are never left guessing at the gate.
It depends on your exemption length. Since August 2023, citizens of 13 countries — Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belarus, Japan and South Korea — get 45 days of visa exemption, and a few nationalities enjoy longer stays under bilateral agreements. If you have used up your days, a Lao Bao run resets the clock; if you still have days left, you may not need the run at all. For stays beyond your exemption, the 90-day e-visa is the alternative.
Stay with the fixer team and tell your driver immediately — they have dealt with lost passports before and can guide you through reporting to the Vietnamese or Lao authorities. Preventing it is easier: keep your passport in a zipped pocket, use the provided document pouch, and only hand it to our fixer at the window.
Message dispatch on WhatsApp +84 369 308 237 right away. If the car has not left yet we will wait; if it has, we can sometimes slot you into the next departure window (runs leave in 2-hour intervals) or rebook you for the following day — same-day no-shows follow the 50% cancellation policy, so always call rather than staying silent.
Yes — under Decree 282/2025, in force since 15 December 2025, immigration can open a deportation review from 16 days of overstay, and since April 2026 Decree 59/2026 lets authorities deport immediately if the fine cannot be paid on the spot. Fines scale steeply: roughly 500,000–2,000,000 VND for under 16 days, 5,000,000–10,000,000 VND for 16–29 days, and up to 40,000,000 VND for very long overstays. Repeat or long violations carry a re-entry ban of one to five years. If you have already overstayed, message us before going to the border so we can plan the exit, the expected fine, and your fresh e-visa.
Holders of the 5-year visa exemption certificate (EX5) can stay up to 180 days per entry, and each exit and re-entry resets that 180-day clock — so a visa run from Hue to Lao Bao is a legitimate way to renew your stay without applying for a new visa. Your certificate itself must stay valid, and you still need a passport with 6+ months validity and blank pages. If your EX5 is expiring soon, renewing the certificate through the overseas Vietnamese office is usually the better move than a run.
Travel insurance is not required at Lao Bao, but it is strongly recommended: QL9 is a long mountain highway, and if you had an accident or fell ill in Laos, treatment and evacuation would be paid out of pocket without cover. A policy that includes both Vietnam and Laos, medical cover of at least $50,000, and repatriation costs only a few dollars a day. Note your policy details on the booking form so the driver has them in an emergency.
The historic DMZ was the strip of land on either side of the Ben Hai River at the 17th parallel, but the whole corridor west of Dong Ha — including Highway QL9 that leads to the border — is still known as DMZ country. Lao Bao–Dansavanh is the international gate at the western end of that former DMZ corridor, so travelers and tour operators describe it as the DMZ border crossing. The immigration counters that reset your stay are at Lao Bao, not at the river monuments, and that is the gate every visa run from Hue drives to.
No. Hien Luong Bridge over the Ben Hai River is a war monument and tourist site in Vinh Linh district, not an international border gate — there are no immigration counters there, so you cannot stamp out or back in. Quang Tri province’s two official Vietnam–Laos crossings are Lao Bao–Dansavanh and the smaller La Lay gate. From Hien Luong Bridge it is roughly another 100 km west along QL9 to Lao Bao, which is why visa runs from Hue drive straight through Dong Ha to the gate rather than stopping at the river.
La Lay is a smaller Vietnam–Laos border gate in the mountains of Dakrong district, south of Lao Bao, used mostly by local residents and border trade. It is an official crossing, but facilities are limited, hours are shorter than Lao Bao’s, and the Laos side has no reliable visa-on-arrival window — without a Laos visa arranged in advance you risk being turned back. Every visa run from Hue uses Lao Bao–Dansavanh for exactly this reason: it is the closest gate where the Laos visa can be issued at the window on the day.
Lao Bao, by a wide margin. Lao Bao is about 150–180 km from central Hue via QL1A and QL9 (3.5–4 hours of driving), while Cha Lo sits in Quang Binh province to the north and adds roughly two hours of driving each way. Cha Lo also does not issue a Laos visa on arrival — like Cau Treo and Tay Trang, it expects you to arrive with a Laos visa already arranged — so it is impractical for a same-day run. That combination of distance and paperwork is why the Hue, Da Nang, and Hoi An visa run services all use Lao Bao–Dansavanh.
US dollars — the Dansavanh counter quotes in USD and treats clean dollar bills as its reference currency. Kip and Thai baht are accepted at rates that favor the counter, so a 40 USD visa paid in baht can effectively cost 45–50 USD, and dong is rarely useful on the Laos side at all. Bring 40–50 USD in fresh, undamaged notes — Laos refuses torn or heavily folded bills — plus a little dong for snacks and the Vietnam side of the day. Cards never work at the window and there is no ATM once you cross.
Yes — the Laos visa on arrival needs two passport photos, which is why two spare photos are on the checklist we send before every run. Hue photo shops know the Laos specification and charge pocket change, so buy them in the city rather than at the border. If you arrive without photos, the booth at Dansavanh sells them for about 1–2 USD and adds waiting time to your crossing.
No — Laos sets the fee by nationality, and while roughly 40 USD has been the practical figure for most passports through 2025–2026, some nationalities pay more and a few pay nothing. Citizens of ASEAN countries plus Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Mongolia are visa-free and walk straight through the Laos window. Tell us your passport when you book and the fixer team will confirm the exact fee — and whether you need the visa at all — before you leave Hue.
Not for that reason. Since Resolution 389/NQ-CP took effect in December 2025 the e-visa is valid at 83 checkpoints and the approval PDF no longer prints a port of entry, so a visa that names another gate is still accepted at Lao Bao, which is on that list. A visa issued under the older format works only at the gate it names. The refusals that do happen at Lao Bao come from a single-entry visa spent on the exit stamp, a name or passport number that does not match the passport, or a validity start date still in the future. Our desk checks all of those before you leave Hue, and the wrong port of entry page explains why the refusal warning you may have read elsewhere is out of date.
Border officers scan the QR code on the e-visa approval letter, and a phone screen usually works if the PDF is saved offline and the screen is bright. A paper printout is still the safer backup — scanners at land gates can be temperamental and mobile signal around the border is patchy. Carry both, and the fixer team keeps a copy in your booking folder as well.
No — treat a pending temporary residence card application as a reason to stay in Vietnam. Exiting while your dossier is with immigration can interrupt the process, because a first-time TRC is tied to your current entry status and legal presence in the country. A visa run is for travelers on visas or visa exemptions who need a fresh stamp; if your situation involves a pending or expiring TRC, message us first and we will point you to the right fix rather than a border run.
A settled overstay — the fine paid and your exit completed normally — does not put you on a ban list, and routine crossings at Lao Bao continue without trouble. What causes problems is repeat or very long overstays, which since April 2026 can bring immediate deportation when a fine is unpaid on the spot and a re-entry ban of one to five years. If your overstay was recent or ran into weeks, message us before booking so we can plan the exit properly.
Entry is always at the officer’s discretion, but there is no published limit on exits and re-entries, and travelers who do a Lao Bao run monthly or a few times a year are processed normally. What draws attention is the grey area — repeated same-day loops combined with working in Vietnam without a work permit — which Decree 286/2026’s real-time data sharing makes easier to spot from 15 September 2026. Keep a valid visa, clean stamps, and an honest purpose for travel, and a visa run from Hue stays routine.
No — we do not carry pets on scheduled visa runs, and a same-day border loop is the wrong tool for pet travel anyway. Moving a dog or cat between Vietnam and Laos requires export and import health certificates, vaccination records, and clearance from both countries’ authorities, which the pedestrian border process cannot accommodate. Leave your pet with a sitter for the day, and use a dedicated pet transport service if you are relocating with an animal.
2025–2026 updates
Yes — no decree has banned the exit-and-re-entry loop, and the Hue to Lao Bao run remains a routine same-day crossing in 2026. The recent rules target violations rather than legal border runs: Decree 282/2025 roughly doubled overstay fines from 15 December 2025, Resolution 389/NQ-CP widened the e-visa port list to 83 gates including Lao Bao, and Decree 286/2026 adds real-time data sharing from 15 September 2026. Leave Vietnam with a valid visa or exemption stamp and the run is unchanged.
Yes — Lao Bao is a confirmed e-visa land gate on the expanded 83-port list (17 airports, 27 land gates, 39 seaports) under Resolution 389/NQ-CP signed 2 December 2025. When you apply, select “Lao Bao” as the port of entry, then print the approval letter or save the PDF offline — officers scan its QR code at the gate on re-entry. Our e-visa desk submits the application the moment you exit Vietnam and double-checks that the port on your letter matches Lao Bao.
Decree 282/2025, in force since 15 December 2025, roughly doubled Vietnam’s overstay fines and lets immigration open a deportation review from 16 days of overstay. Fines now run about 500,000–2,000,000 VND for under 16 days, 5,000,000–10,000,000 VND for 16–29 days, and up to 40,000,000 VND for overstays of a year or more. A properly timed visa run from Hue — out through Lao Bao before your stamp expires — keeps you clear of the whole scale.
Since April 2026, Decree 59/2026 lets Vietnamese authorities deport a violator immediately when an overstay fine cannot be paid on the spot, and repeat or long violations carry a re-entry ban of one to five years. The decree tightens enforcement of existing rules; it does not touch legal visa runs. The practical takeaway is unchanged: never let your stamp expire, and if you already have, contact us to plan the exit instead of rushing to the border.
Decree 286/2026, effective 15 September 2026, makes immigration, visa, work-permit, and residence data flow between Vietnamese agencies in real time. It does not change e-visa fees, the 90-day validity, or which nationalities are visa-exempt, and a genuine traveler doing a routine Lao Bao run sees no difference — a clean exit and a valid re-entry look the same in the new system. What tightens is the grey area: repeated same-day loops combined with working without a permit now stand out in the data, so keep your stamps clean and your paperwork honest.
No. An entry ban linked to overstays, unpaid fines, or immigration violations cannot be cleared by crossing the border, and attempting to re-enter with an active ban can mean detention at the gate rather than a stamp. If you suspect you are on a list, send your passport details to us on WhatsApp before booking and we will check your record where possible. A fine that was already paid and settled is a different situation — it does not create a ban.
There is no legal minimum — you may exit on your final valid day and the border will process you normally. In practice we recommend booking with 1–2 days of buffer in case the gate is slow or QL9 is affected by weather, because the moment your stamp expires before you exit, you are overstaying and the process changes completely. Since our cars run every day, there is rarely a reason to cut it that fine.
No — exiting Vietnam consumes your current period of stay, and re-entering at Lao Bao grants a brand-new period under the rules for your nationality: 45 days for citizens of the 13 visa-exempt countries, or whatever your new visa allows. Unused days are lost rather than banked, which is why most travelers book a run when the stamp is nearly finished rather than halfway through. The same logic applies to single-entry e-visas, which are also consumed the moment you exit.
Exit Vietnam and re-enter on the same passport, and buy the Laos visa on arrival on that same passport so both countries’ stamps line up in one book. Use the passport whose Vietnamese visa or exemption fits your plan — for example, one carrying a valid multi-entry visa over one that would need a fresh e-visa. Switching passports mid-loop, out on one and back on the other, confuses both countries’ records and invites extra questions at the window.
Extra angles
Not as a same-day trip. The nearest Vietnamese-Cambodian gate, Bo Y in Kon Tum, is roughly 380 km from Hue – a full day's driving each way – and you would need a Cambodian visa arranged in advance because most of those crossings do not issue one on arrival. Lao Bao is about 170 km and back the same afternoon, which is why every visa run from Hue goes west to Laos rather than south to Cambodia.
Only if the run doubles as a trip. Phu Bai (HUI) is a small domestic airport – Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Lat and a few seasonal charters – so an international reset by air means a two-hour transfer south to Da Nang (DAD), a flight out and a hotel night, which usually lands at several times the 2,800,000 VND car fare and rarely gets you back the same day. For a clean same-day reset, Lao Bao wins on both time and money.
No – Laos e-visas are not accepted at any Vietnam-Laos land crossing, and Lao Bao-Dansavanh is the only one of those crossings that issues a Laos visa on arrival at all. If you need a Laos visa, buy it at the Dansavanh counter on the day (typically USD 30-40 depending on nationality, cash, one passport photo) or have a full visa in your passport before you travel. Travellers are turned away regularly for arriving with nothing but a Laos e-visa printout.
Use the Lao consulate in Da Nang at 16 Tran Quy Cap – about two hours from Hue, open Monday to Friday 08:30-11:30 and 13:30-16:00, passport plus one photo and a short form, often issued the same day for roughly USD 40-50 (the embassy in Hanoi takes longer). You only need this if you will cross somewhere other than Lao Bao or want the visa in hand before the run; at Lao Bao itself our fixer handles the visa-on-arrival counter for you.
No. A multiple-entry Vietnam e-visa lets you leave and re-enter as often as you like until its expiry date, so there is nothing to reset – a run only makes sense once the visa has run out or you need a fresh period of stay. If you are on a single-entry e-visa or a 45-day exemption stamp, the Lao Bao crossing is what restarts the clock.
Yes. Crossing out at Lao Bao does not cancel a multiple-entry visa: you come back in on the same visa and keep its remaining validity, so nothing has to be filed while you are away. A single-entry e-visa is different – it is consumed the moment you exit, which is why single-entry holders need a fresh approval before they can re-enter.
No. The officer scans your approval at the gate and entry is only possible inside the validity window printed on it, so the start date must be on or before your crossing day. Give us your run date when you book and the visa desk sets the requested start date to match; if a letter has already been issued with a later date we re-file it rather than risk a refusal at the counter.
Refusals are uncommon but real – a blurred photo, a name that does not match the machine-readable line of the passport, or an unclear entry port are the usual causes. If our desk's submission comes back refused we correct and resubmit, and if it puts the run day at risk we move the crossing to the next day rather than leave you exposed at the border. That is why we ask for your passport page at least three working days before a standard-tier run.
The border counters are cash only – no cards and no QR payments – so carry USD 40-50 for the Laos visa on arrival plus a little VND for lunch, drinks and an optional 100-200k VND fixer tip. Draw the dollars in Hue before you leave: there is no ATM at the gate you should count on, and Dong Ha, an hour short of the border, is the last town with banks and cash machines.
The gate has a rhythm. 08:30-11:00 is the quiet window our cars target, then from about 11:00 to 14:00 the freight convoys pile up and both counters slow to a crawl. Weekends and the weeks either side of Tet and Lao New Year (14-16 April) are the heaviest of the year, so if your stamp allows, take a midweek run rather than leaving it to the last day of your visa.
Yes. Lao Bao town has simple guesthouses minutes from the Vietnamese gate, and the Dansavanh zone on the Lao side has hotel rooms if you would rather sleep after crossing. With a private car we can turn the run into a two-day trip – cross late, sleep, and re-enter Vietnam the next morning with the fixer – which is the safe fallback when an e-visa approval is still pending. Tell dispatch when you book.
You can. Route 9 runs east from Dansavanh to Savannakhet, roughly 250 km of good highway, with Pakse another half-day further south if you want to turn the border stop into a Laos trip and fly back to Vietnam later. The car can drop you on the Lao side, but check current flight schedules before you commit and make sure your Vietnam visa or exemption covers the day you actually re-enter, not the day you left.
Nothing happens at the border beyond the stamps themselves – Vietnamese immigration passes your new entry details on automatically. Hotels register your stay at check-in, but if you live in a Hue rental, send your landlord or agent a photo of the new entry stamp so they can update your temporary-residence declaration with the local police, because the filed entry date has to match the stamp in your passport. Keep a phone photo of the stamp and visa page until your next renewal.
Yes. The walking is short: the driver parks at each gate and the only real stretch is the bridge between the Vietnamese and Lao control points, a few hundred metres on paved ground with no steps. A folding wheelchair or walker fits in the car and the fixer walks at your pace, so mention it when you book and we plan the car, the timing and the lunch stop around you.
The lunch stop in Dong Ha is the comfortable break of the day: bun bo Hue, air-conditioning and clean toilets. The border itself has basic toilets on both the Vietnamese and Lao sides, so carry tissue and hand sanitiser. Mobile signal holds along QL1A and dips on the mountain stretch of QL9 past Cam Lo, and the car's Wi-Fi keeps you on WhatsApp for the rest of the run.
No. Every traveller has to carry their own passport across both borders, and a certified copy, a photo on your phone or a police letter will not get you stamped out of Vietnam or into Laos. If your passport is lodged with immigration or an agent for a TRC or work-permit file, wait until it is back in your hands – the run itself is only four hours of driving, so a delay of a few days rarely costs you anything.
No. The exit and entry stamps go into your passport with you standing at the counter, and Vietnamese immigration photographs travellers as they cross, so neither a fixer nor a family member can run the loop on your behalf. Sending a passport over the border by courier is illegal and a fast way to lose it. The car has to carry you, not just the book.
Yes, you still pass through Lao immigration and collect entry and exit stamps: the Lao stamp is what proves to Vietnamese immigration that you genuinely left the country, which is the whole legal basis of the run. Visa-exempt nationalities – most ASEAN passports, plus Japan, Switzerland and Luxembourg for 15 days – skip the visa-on-arrival queue and the fee, so the crossing is often 20-30 minutes quicker and the fixer simply walks you through both counters.
There is no scheduled shared-seat van from Hue, so the fare is always quoted per car: 2,800,000 VND for up to four travellers, about 28 USD each when the car is full. The cheap way to run solo is to travel as a pair or group – a Hue expat group post usually finds a partner within a day – or ask dispatch when you book whether another traveller on your date can be paired. The DIY public-bus route exists for a few dollars less but leaves you alone at both counters, which is where the day tends to go wrong.
Run day, hour by hour
Pickups run from 04:00 to 05:30, hotel lobby or your rental address, so the car is north of Hue on QL1A before the morning traffic builds. The driver checks your passport and your e-visa approval (printed or on your phone) against the booking list, hands you water, and confirms the drop-off point you want on the way home. You get the driver's name, vehicle type and pickup window by WhatsApp the evening before, so nothing is decided at 04:00 at the kerb.
North on QL1A for roughly 65–70 km to Dong Ha — passing the Truong Son National Cemetery and Quang Tri Citadel on the way — then west on QL9 for about 80 km through Cam Lo, past the Rockpile and the Khe Sanh turn-off, to the Lao Bao gate. QL9 is the old Route 9 that ran through the DMZ corridor, so the second half of the drive is the historical half. The road is sealed the whole way; the only real bends are the Truong Son foothills west of Cam Lo.
Budget 340–360 km door to door, about 7–8 hours of driving split across the day. A private car from Hue City, An Cuu, the Perfume River area, Phu Bai Airport or the Lang Co and Phu Loc zone costs 2,800,000 VND (≈ $113) per car for up to four travellers — per car, not per person — and that covers driver, fuel, tolls and the fixer team at both counters. Groups of five or more are quoted a Hiace or mini-bus instead.
On a clean day the car is back in Hue City or at Phu Bai between 15:30 and 17:00. If the freight convoys pile up at the gate between 11:00 and 14:00, or QL9 is slow with rain and mist, expect 18:00–19:00 instead. Tell dispatch when you book if you have a flight or a work commitment that evening and the driver will sequence the drop-offs around you rather than the other way round.
There is a comfort stop in Dong Ha on the way west — bun bo Hue, air-conditioning, clean toilets and the last ATMs and banks before the border — and a shorter fuel and toilet stop near Cam Lo if the schedule is running late. Petrol stations line QL1A and QL9, but there is nothing to rely on in the last stretch to the gate. Bring tissue and hand sanitiser for the toilet blocks at the border itself.
Passport, your Vietnam e-visa approval (printed plus a phone copy), one or two 4×6 cm passport photos for the Laos visa on arrival, US$40–50 in cash for that fee, some VND for lunch and drinks, water and a snack, a light layer for the 04:00 air-conditioned car, and a power bank. Save the WhatsApp number +84 369 308 237 offline before you leave Wi-Fi, because signal is patchy on the mountain stretch of QL9. Nobody needs a suit or a printed itinerary — this is a casual border day.
Yes — the car has a hotspot and most travellers answer email on the QL1A leg, which is the flattest and best-connected part of the drive. Mobile signal dips in the Truong Son foothills west of Cam Lo and again inside the border compound, so do not schedule a video call between about 08:00 and 11:00. Laptops and phones are fine, but photography inside the Vietnamese and Lao immigration halls is not.
Message the WhatsApp number immediately rather than waiting for the next call: if the car is still inside Hue, a second pass at your address is often possible. If the convoy has already cleared the city, dispatch moves you onto the next available departure day — the e-visa side is untouched, because an approved approval letter keeps its validity window and does not have to be re-filed. Set two alarms; the pickup window is the one part of the day that cannot be recovered at the border.
Quang Tri's storm season runs September to November, and QL9 west of Cam Lo can slow to a crawl in heavy rain or mist — occasionally a section closes for a few hours. Dispatch and the fixer watch the road reports the night before and on the morning, and if the gate is shut or the queue is not moving the run is moved to the next available day rather than leaving you at the counter with an expiring stamp. It is worth building one spare day into your planning between October and December.
Hue City, An Cuu, the Perfume River hotels, Phu Bai Airport and the Lang Co, Lap An and Phu Loc zone all sit inside the standard 2,800,000 VND per-car rate. Dong Ha and Quang Tri Town pickups are quoted as a shorter, cheaper run. Da Nang and Hoi An are a different service with their own published rates — worth knowing if you are deciding where to spend run night, because Da Nang adds roughly two hours of driving each way to the same border.
The DMZ, decoded
Because QL9 runs through the old DMZ corridor. Between 1954 and 1975 the Demilitarized Zone was a strip about 5 km either side of the Ben Hai River, stretching from the coast west to the Laos border, and Route 9 was the main road that crossed it. Lao Bao sits at the western end of that corridor on the Laos border, so the Vietnam–Laos gate there has been known ever since as the DMZ border crossing. Today it is an ordinary international crossing with modern counters, not a war-era checkpoint.
Not inside the 5 km strip itself. Lao Bao town and its border gate are on the Laos frontier roughly 80 km west of Dong Ha, while the DMZ proper runs east from the border along the Ben Hai River to the sea at the 17th parallel. What the two share is the corridor: the Rockpile, Camp Carroll and the Khe Sanh Combat Base all sit on the QL9 stretch you drive to reach the gate. If you came looking for the Ben Hai line, it is a separate trip north of Dong Ha.
No. Since reunification in 1976 the Ben Hai line has been an internal boundary between Quang Tri and Quang Binh provinces — crossing Hien Luong Bridge is a domestic trip with no immigration post, no stamp and no effect on your visa. The only crossing in this part of central Vietnam that actually resets a Vietnam visa is the Vietnam–Laos gate at Lao Bao, with La Lay further south-west as the alternative. Confusing the two wastes a day at best.
The QL1A leg passes the Truong Son National Cemetery and Quang Tri Citadel; the QL9 leg passes the Rockpile, the Camp Carroll side road and the Khe Sanh Combat Base about 20 km before the border. Hien Luong Bridge and the Ben Hai flagpole are north of Dong Ha on a different road, and the Vinh Moc tunnels need a coastal detour that the run does not include. So you get the western DMZ for free; the eastern DMZ is a separate tour.
Realistically no. A worthwhile DMZ tour runs 10–12 hours from Hue along the coast to the Ben Hai, Vinh Moc and the Khe Sanh area with a guide and a minibus, and the visa run is a 12-hour loop in the opposite direction with fixed border timings. Doing both means skipping the substantive stops at one end. The practical sequence is the tour one day, the run the next morning with a 04:00–05:30 pickup.
No. DMZ tours stay inside Vietnam the whole way: there is no immigration window, no exit stamp and nothing that counts as leaving the country, and a guide cannot file or stamp a visa for you. Some operators advertise a "DMZ border" tour, which simply means they visit the old demarcation line and the Khe Sanh area near the frontier. Only the counters at Lao Bao or La Lay produce the stamps a visa run exists to get.
Guided group tours are usually priced per person in the US$30–50 range depending on group size, stops and whether lunch is included, and private cars with a guide cost more; check current quotes with the operator, as these move with the season. It is genuinely worth a day if the war history is why you came to central Vietnam. Budget it as a separate day from the visa run — the two do not merge, and the run already shows you Khe Sanh and the Rockpile from the road.
Yes — QL9 has routine police checkpoints around Cam Lo and the Khe Sanh area, plus occasional immigration and forest-ranger stops. Carry your original passport, not a photocopy or a phone photo, because that is what the officers want to see; the check itself usually takes a couple of minutes. Foreign travellers driving themselves also get licence and vehicle-paper checks, which is one more reason the run is normally done with a local driver.
The signposted sites — Hien Luong, the Khe Sanh base, the Rockpile viewpoint — are cleared and safe, and you should stay on the marked paths rather than cutting across fields. Quang Tri is still one of Vietnam's most UXO-affected provinces, so never pick anything metal up off the ground and do not wander off-trail near the former firebases. On run day the walking is limited to the border compound and a few hundred metres on paved ground between the counters.
The corridor has its own microclimate: September to November brings storms and heavy rain, and west of Cam Lo the QL9 climbs into the Truong Son foothills where fog and slick bends can add 30–45 minutes each way. In the dry months from February to August the drive is quicker and the light on the Khe Sanh plateau is spectacular early in the morning. Dress in layers — it can be 19°C and misty at the border while Hue is warm and humid.
Repeat runs, budgets & variants
With a multiple-entry visa, yes — you can exit at Lao Bao and come back in at any of the ports on Vietnam's e-visa list, including Cau Treo, Nam Can, Moc Bai and the international airports. On a single-entry e-visa the visa is consumed the moment you step out, so a different return gate only works with a fresh approval naming that port. Remember the geography: exiting at Lao Bao and re-entering at Cau Treo in Ha Tinh means a long drive through Laos, not a short hop.
Taking the 90-day rhythm: four runs a year at 2,800,000 VND per car, roughly US$40 for the Laos visa on arrival each time, and a 90-day multiple-entry e-visa at about US$85 service plus the US$50 government fee adds up to roughly 29,000,000 VND (≈ US$1,140) a year for a solo traveller. Split the car with one companion and the same year lands nearer 23,000,000 VND (≈ US$900) each. Figure on four runs, not twelve — the 90-day multiple-entry visa is what makes that spacing possible.
Yes, clearly. Eight 45-day exemption runs a year cost about 30,560,000 VND in car fares and Laos fees before any e-visa, while four 90-day runs with a multiple-entry e-visa come in around 29,000,000 VND including the visa itself — same money, half the travel days. Add the second visa's $25–50 government fee and the gap widens, because the multiple-entry approval covers 90 days of stay per cycle instead of 45.
Three ways, depending on your situation: repeat the 45-day visa exemption on runs (cheapest per trip, four to eight car fares a year), hold a 90-day multiple-entry Vietnam e-visa and refresh it with a run every 90 days (best value for most long-stayers), or qualify for a temporary residence card or work permit if you have an employer or a family basis, which removes the run entirely for up to two or three years. A run is always the fallback when nothing else is available; it is rarely the cheapest option once you stay past a few months.
Some travellers do: it is roughly 170 km and 3.5–4 hours each way on QL1A and QL9, fuel costs 200,000–300,000 VND, and you still pay the Laos visa on arrival at Dansavanh. The catches are real, though — most rental contracts do not permit leaving Thua Thien Hue province, you need a Vietnamese licence or a 1968-convention IDP to ride legally, and the mountain fog and bends west of Cam Lo are unforgiving on a two-wheeler. Bring the bike's registration and your rental agreement, or take the car and arrive fresh for the counters.
Self-drive rentals are rare in Vietnam and usually exclude the border, because the vehicle needs current registration and green-card insurance and the Lao side asks for vehicle papers plus a temporary import form at Dansavanh. A hire car with a driver sidesteps all of that paperwork, and it is what our 2,800,000 VND per-car rate covers. If you specifically want to drive, plan the vehicle documents at least a week ahead and confirm the Lao side's requirements before you set off.
Tuesday to Thursday, arriving at the gate in the 08:30–11:00 window, is the quietest slot of the week. Mondays bring freight convoys and Friday to Sunday brings tour traffic and Lao and Thai shoppers; the holiday clusters to avoid are Tet in February (the whole week either side), 30 April–1 May, 2 September, the Hung Kings' anniversary, and Laos' Pi Mai new year on 14–16 April. On top of that, September to November is the storm season on QL9, so if your stamp allows, run between December and August.
A private car can usually be confirmed the same evening for the next morning, and a same-day departure is possible if the car and the fixer are free. What sets the real lead time is the e-visa: the 3–4 day tier needs your passport page about three working days before the run, the 1-day tier the day before, and the 4-hour, 2-hour and 1-hour rush tiers can finish the same morning — weekday exits only, because Vietnam's immigration system processes e-visas Monday to Friday. Send your details on WhatsApp +84 369 308 237 and the desk will tell you which tier actually fits your stamp's expiry.
Yes, and most people throw it away. Keep the government e-visa receipt (US$25 single, US$50 multiple), your booking confirmation and photos of every new entry stamp and visa page — together they show a clean, documented immigration history, which is exactly what a work-permit or temporary-residence-card file asks for. We store copies of your approvals and receipts in your private booking folder, but keep your own phone photos too, since they are what you will have if you change phone or country.
No. Vietnam's tax residency test counts the days you are physically present in the country, and a 12-hour exit does not scratch a calendar year of presence — travellers who run every 90 days are still in Vietnam well over 183 days a year. If you are working remotely from Hue, the run keeps you legal on immigration but does nothing for your tax position, so take proper advice on residency and any home-country treaty. It also does not create a work permit: that is a separate filing.
In the first and second trimester it is normally fine — it is a private car with air-conditioning, a driver who can stop whenever you need, and a lunch break in Dong Ha. The third trimester is a judgement call: it is 7–8 hours of driving with winding mountain road west of Cam Lo, and medical facilities are thin between Dong Ha and the border, so speak to your doctor first and travel with a letter. A private car is better than flying here, because airlines restrict travel from about 28–36 weeks while a car run has no such rule, and you control the stops.
Dispatch responds 05:00–23:00 daily via WhatsApp or email. Special nationalities, overstays, or group bookings — ask us before you book.