Hi,
My Chinese boss needs to enter Boten, Laos located just south of the border crossing in a former casino area operated by Chinese businessmen. As the casino area (which apparently has become a ghost town these days) is a Chinese concession, I'm wondering if my boss could cross into Laos, take over the goods my company is transporting into China and then cross back without a visa. I know that Chinese citizens normally need a visa for entering Laos BUT I read somewhere that for entry to the 4 northern provinces only a border pass is required. However, a source I read here on GoKunming mentioned that a Chinese lady was refused exit from China at Mohan as she did not have a Lao visa, even though they are available on arrival for Chinese citizens.
nope..Chinese need a visa to leave china,even if the country they are going to would let them. Laos will give a chinese a visa on arrival but the chinese side will not let they pass without a visa!! If a chinese is in Thailand first then they can head to laos without a visa. stupid.ahahah but thats the way it is..
Your boss will need an exit visa to go and collect his contraband. What is it, protected timber/animals or controlled herbs/powders? Or is he just going to gamble local tax payer/shareholder money at the casino?
I already went to the border area and fortunately, my boss brought someone who could enter Laos to arrange for the transport of the goods across to China. Therefore I can confirm that Chinese citizens can't enter Laos without pre-arranging a visa in Jinghong or Kunming, which apparently takes 3 days now.
@Dazzer, nothing illegal about the "contraband" just agricultural goods.
Also, the casino zone at the border closed 2 years ago and is really a ghost town now - get up to date. The new casino area is located some 300km away on the Thai border and close to the Golden Triangle region where Laos, Thailand and Myanmar meet. It's called 金三角特区 in Chinese.
Just on another note though, it seems that some foreigners are able to obtain a Chinese visa on arrival at the Mohan border crossing. On the 2nd floor, there is a visa-on-arrival counter 口岸签证 in Chinese. I am wondering if anyone has used this before. Of course it's still better to obtain a visa in advance but this option appears to be an option if you have no other choice - a Chinese official at that border seemed to confirm this to me.
The 2nd floor looks very very very very unused. I don't doubt some foreigners of some countries could get china voa's there, but it's not the vast majority of travelers entering from SE Asia.
Yes, I agree with you there. Best to have a visa in advance unless you have a very flexible schedule and don't mind the possibility of being turned back in case you aren't allowed to apply for a voa there.
It could be that the voa is only for Lao passport holders.
Rather like the Thai consulate in KMG only processed visas for Chinese citizens a couple of year back (don't know about now).
@tigertiger, Now the Thai consulate in Kunming definitely processes visas for foreign nationals as I got one there in 2011.
Actually, Lao citizens CAN'T apply for a voa at Boten. Apparently voa are only available under specific circumstances, or as the official put it to us, they are available for some foreign citizens under normal circumstances, but the Lao officials may be reluctant to let anyone, Lao or foreigner pass without a visa for China except with special paperwork. Having said that, I didn't actually try to get a voa there as I had no need for one on that trip so I really don't know for sure...
