Ok, great, thanks. That pretty much lines ip with what Leo has told me as well. He's in Laos at the moment, but we'll get the process started once he gets back.

18,000 is actually quite expensive, idn't it? For us it's fine, because I'm happy to fork over 18,000 for it, plus Leo doesn't have any living costs. If you don't have a sponsor though, and just want to grab a job at a hotel or restaurant in Bangkok, wouldn't that be a little expensive for your average Laos guy? You're probably only going to make around 9000 baht/month, and after living costs probably won't have much left over at the end of the month. It'd probably take a year to save up enough for the 18,000 VISA fee, no?

Oh well, doesn't apply to our situation. Thanks again for the info.