2026 route guide
Exit Vietnam at Moc Bai, cross Cambodia, and pick up a Laos visa on arrival at the far border. A two to three day run with real numbers for 2026, plus the flight alternative.
The short answer
Most visa runs out of Ho Chi Minh City end at Moc Bai, and rightly so. The border is two hours away, the crossing runs around the clock, and you can be back in District 1 the same evening with a fresh stamp. But Moc Bai only gets you to Cambodia. If you need a Laos stamp, the trip is a different animal.
A Laos visa run from HCMC means leaving Vietnam at Moc Bai, driving through Cambodia to the far border, and picking up a Laos visa on arrival at the gate near Voeung Kham. Door to door it is a two to three day job, not a day trip. The drive alone runs about 700 kilometers each way once you count the whole arc from Saigon through Phnom Penh to the Laos frontier.
Why would anyone do it? The reasons are usually specific. Maybe you have already used Cambodia for your last several resets and want a different stamp in the passport. Maybe your visa situation needs an exit that Cambodia cannot provide cleanly. Or maybe you simply fancy a night in Phnom Penh on the way, which is a legitimate perk of this route. Whatever the reason, the mechanics matter more than on the Cambodia run, because there are two borders to cross, two entry stamps to collect, and one of them is issued by a country that still wants cash and paper photos.
This page walks the route in order: the Moc Bai exit, the Cambodia leg, the Laos visa on arrival, and the return into Vietnam on a fresh e-visa. Prices are 2026 numbers, and everything here assumes you hold a passport that qualifies for the standard tourist e-visa. If you are on a different visa type, check with the booking desk before planning the dates.
The route
The route has four legs, and each one has its own paperwork moment. Do not treat it like a single border crossing, because it is not.
Leg one: HCMC to Moc Bai, about 80 km, 2 hours. The run starts on QL22 heading northwest out of the city toward Tay Ninh province. This is the same road used for the standard Cambodia visa run, so the landmarks are familiar: the sprawling market traffic on the edge of the city, then open countryside once you clear Hoc Mon. The passenger checkpoint at Moc Bai runs around the clock, so there is no real opening hour to respect. You exit Vietnam here and get the exit stamp that closes your current stay.
Leg two: Moc Bai to Bavet, then Phnom Penh, about 170 km from the border, 3 to 3.5 hours. The moment you step onto the Cambodian side at Bavet, you pay for a Cambodia visa unless you already hold one. Most nationalities pay roughly 30 to 35 USD in cash at the counter. From Bavet, the road runs straight to Phnom Penh along National Highway 1. It is a good sealed road, faster than most people expect, and the city skyline shows up well before you are actually inside the traffic.
Leg three: Phnom Penh to the Laos border, about 350 km, 6 to 7 hours. This is the long one. You head north out of Phnom Penh toward Kampong Cham, then on through Kratie and Stung Treng before the road bends to the northeast and the border town of Voeung Kham. The highway is mostly sealed but sections narrow, and trucks set the pace. Most drivers plan a stop around Kratie for lunch and fuel. Do not skip the fuel stop; the stretch past Stung Treng is thin on services.
Leg four: the border itself. The crossing near Voeung Kham, also known as Dom Kralor on the Cambodian side, is quieter than Bavet by a wide margin. Cambodia stamps you out, and a short walk later Laos immigration issues the visa on arrival. The whole border procedure, both sides, usually fits inside an hour when the queue is short. The next section covers exactly what Laos wants from you at that window.
Laos visa on arrival
Laos issues visas on arrival at the Voeung Kham crossing for most nationalities, and you do not need to apply online in advance. The process is old school: a paper form, a passport photo, cash, and a wait while an officer checks your details and stamps your passport.
The fee runs about 30 to 40 USD depending on your nationality. Some passports are cheaper, a few are pricier, and the exact figure is set by Laos, not by the agent helping you. Bring clean USD bills. The counters accept cash almost exclusively, and the exchange rate at the gate works against you if you try to pay in dong. Torn or heavily creased notes get refused, the same as at Bavet, so bring bills that look fresh.
You need two passport photos, standard visa size. One goes on the application form; the second is a spare in case the first is rejected for being too dark, too small, or shot against a patterned background. Officers at quiet land crossings are pickier than airport staff, because they have time to be. Getting this wrong is the single most common delay on this route, so put two photos in your bag before you leave Saigon.
The form itself is a single page: name, passport number, dates, purpose of travel, and the address where you are staying in Laos. If you are turning around the same day or next morning, write the hotel you actually use in Phnom Penh on the way back, or simply the first town you will reach. Border staff have seen every answer; they care that the form is complete, not that your Laos itinerary is elaborate.
Once the stamp lands, you are in Laos. The visa is normally valid for 30 days, which is plenty for a visa run. You can stay the night on the Lao side if you want the full reset, or cross back to Cambodia within the hour. For the purposes of a visa run, the exit from Vietnam is what resets your stay, and that already happened at Moc Bai.
Coming back
The whole point of the trip is the stamp you collect on the way back into Vietnam. That re-entry is what starts your next stay, so the paperwork before you leave Saigon matters more than anything at the Laos border.
You need a valid Vietnam e-visa before you cross back in. For most people on this route that means a new 90-day e-visa, single entry at 2,400,000 VND or multiple entry at 3,100,000 VND, filed through the immigration portal a few working days before you travel. Standard processing runs 3 to 4 working days, so file it at least a week ahead of your departure date and print the approval. You cannot sort this at the border. The immigration officer at Moc Bai will not accept a phone screenshot and a promise.
On the way out, you exit Vietnam at Moc Bai and get the exit stamp. That stamp, photographed and sent to the visa desk, is what the team uses to trigger the new e-visa processing if you booked the add-on. On the way back, you re-enter Vietnam at the same crossing and present the printed approval. The officer stamps you in, and your fresh 90 days start from that moment.
Timing the return matters. The Moc Bai passenger checkpoint is open around the clock, so you are not racing a closing gate. But you do need the whole two-day arc to fit your schedule: out through Moc Bai, across Cambodia, the Laos stamp, back through Cambodia, and in through Moc Bai again. That return leg is the same 500-plus kilometer drive you did going out, just reversed, so budget a full day for it and do not plan a same-day flight home from Saigon after the run. Overnight in the city, then fly the next day.
2026 prices
A Laos run costs more than a Cambodia day trip, because it is longer, crosses two borders, and needs at least one night of accommodation. Here are the 2026 line items in USD so the total is easy to compare against the standard Moc Bai run.
| Item | Price (USD, approx.) |
|---|---|
| Vietnam 90-day e-visa, single entry | ~95 (2,400,000 VND) |
| Cambodia visa at Bavet | 30 to 35 |
| Laos visa on arrival | 30 to 40 |
| Transport, private car, round trip | 250 to 350 |
| One night in Phnom Penh | 25 to 60 |
| Meals and incidentals | 20 to 40 |
| Total, per traveler | ~450 to 620 |
The transport line is the one that moves. A private car with driver for the full two-day loop, including the wait at both borders, is the comfortable way to do it, and it is what the HCMC desk arranges for Laos runs. Sharing the car across a small group splits the cost the same way it does on the Cambodia run, which is why most people who book this route travel as two or three.
Compare that to the same-day Moc Bai loop: shuttle seat 2,000,000 VND, about 79 USD, Cambodia visa 30 to 35 USD, and a fresh e-visa on top. The Cambodia run lands around 200 to 220 USD all in. The Laos version is roughly double to triple that, and you spend an extra night away. That gap is the real reason Laos runs are the exception from HCMC, not the rule. People book them for a reason, usually a passport situation or a change of scenery, not because they are cheaper.
The bundle math changes if you already hold a valid Vietnam e-visa. Then the visa line drops out entirely and the run is transport, two border visas, and the hotel. Ask the desk for a Laos-run quote with your passport nationality and current visa status, and they will price it without the e-visa if you do not need one.
The shortcut
There is a faster way to get a Laos stamp, and it skips the road entirely: fly Ho Chi Minh City to Vientiane. The flight is a short hop, roughly two hours, and Lao Airlines and Vietnam Airlines both run the route regularly out of Tan Son Nhat. You still get the Laos visa on arrival, this time at Wattay airport in the capital, and you are back in Saigon the same night or the next morning.
The flight version changes the cost shape. Airfare round trip runs about 120 to 200 USD depending on how far ahead you book, which is cheaper than a private car for the road trip and dramatically faster. Laos visa on arrival at the airport runs the same 30 to 40 USD band, and you still need the fresh Vietnam e-visa for the return. Total lands around 250 to 350 USD, with zero nights on the road and a full day back in the city.
So when does the road make sense? Three situations. You want the Cambodian stamps in your passport too. You are traveling as a group and the car cost splits down to something reasonable. Or you simply want the experience of the overland route, Phnom Penh dinner included. If none of those apply, the flight is the sane choice, and honestly the one most people end up taking once they price both.
One warning on the flight version: check whether your nationality needs a Laos visa in advance or gets it on arrival. The vast majority of e-visa-eligible passports get Laos visa on arrival without drama, but a small number of nationalities are asked for an approval letter or an embassy-issued visa, and you find that out before you fly, not at the Wattay counter. The booking desk can check your passport against the current Laos rules when you enquire.
FAQ
Yes. You exit Vietnam legally at Moc Bai with an exit stamp, enter Laos on a valid visa on arrival, and re-enter Vietnam on a valid e-visa. Every stamp is issued by the relevant immigration authority. Visa runs are legal; the only thing Vietnam restricts is working on a tourist visa, which is a separate matter.
There is no minimum. The exit stamp at Moc Bai ends your current stay, and the re-entry stamp starts the new one. You can be in Laos for an hour and cross back the same day if you want. In practice the drive means you spend one or two nights on the road, but that is logistics, not a rule.
Most e-visa-eligible nationalities get Laos visa on arrival at the Voeung Kham border crossing and at Wattay airport, no advance application. A small number of passports need an approval letter or an embassy visa first. Confirm with the desk before you book, and bring two passport photos either way.
Not realistically by road. The round trip is about 1,400 kilometers through two border crossings, which does not fit one day even with the checkpoint open around the clock. The flight version, Saigon to Vientiane and back, can be done in a day, but most people take one night to keep the schedule relaxed.
Connected routes
Laos is a day trip for the central and northern cities, and the sister-site guides cover those routes properly. Moc Bai stays the HCMC border, but if you are comparing options or planning a trip north, these are the references:
Da Nang to Lao Bao
The central Vietnam Laos run: a 4 hour drive to the Lao Bao crossing, same visa on arrival.
Visa run to Laos hub
Lao Bao, Na Meo and Huu Nghi compared, with the Laos visa on arrival details for each gate.
Moc Bai route guide
The HCMC standard: same-day Cambodia loop, border hours, and what to bring.
If the Laos run is what your passport needs, message WhatsApp +84 369 308 237 or use the booking form on the home page and tell the team it is a Laos run, not the standard Cambodia day trip. They will confirm the quote, the Phnom Penh stop, and the e-visa filing window. Still comparing? The Cambodia run cost breakdown and the FAQ cover the cheaper same-day option.