Laos civil certificates guide: required documents, legal basis and eligibility for 12 matters

ID card, household book, birth certificate, single-status certificate, marriage registration, police clearance, residence certificate, kinship certificate, land and house documents, vehicle transfer, stay permit card and work visa — statutory document lists, competent authority and citations to the Lao Official Gazette, in Chinese, Lao and English. Compiled by LaoPaniti; not a government body.

  1. Taxpayer identification number (TIN) · tax registration Tax authority (enterprises receive the number together with the enterprise registration certificate through the registration system, with no separate trip to the tax office; foreign enterprises earning income in Laos: the Tax Department or the provincial or capital tax office where they operate; organisations: their supervising tax office; individuals: the tax office where they reside, or where they operate if they have no residence)
  2. Land title (land use certificate): registration / transfer / inheritance / mortgage / reissue One-stop service unit of the district Agriculture and Environment Office where the land lies (the 2019 Land Law and the 2022/2024 guidance still call it the Natural Resources and Environment Office; regulations from 2026 use the new name); state-land lease/concession and time-limited state land purchases → provincial Agriculture and Environment Department
  3. Business licence (enterprise registration certificate): new / change / reissue / dissolution Enterprise registration authority of the Industry and Commerce sector (capital: Enterprise Registration Department; province: provincial Industry and Commerce Department; district: district Industry and Commerce Office, sole proprietorships only; special economic zone: zone management committee)
  4. Business operating licence (sector licence) The Industry and Commerce sector issues it at three levels (Art. 3): central, the Industry and Handicraft, Domestic Trade or Import-Export Department; provincial, the provincial or Vientiane Capital Industry and Commerce Department; district, the district or municipal Industry and Commerce Office. Other sectors license their own activities, and controlled-list activities go to the Planning and Investment one-stop window
  5. Driving licence (civil vehicle) Testing and issue at your provincial or capital vehicle and driving management office, with class 4 applications also accepted at the district or municipal transport office; the licence is signed by the Transport Department. Foreign licence exchanges and certificates of use go first to the Transport Department and then back to the office where you live for testing
  6. Investment licence The one-stop investment service office: centrally the Investment Promotion Department is the hub and in a province the provincial Planning and Investment Division (Arts. 77 and 78); a feasibility memorandum goes to the investment service office (Art. 45); special and specific economic zones apply to the zone management committee (Art. 63); and a controlled-list investment also registers the enterprise with the Industry and Commerce sector (Art. 35)
  7. Construction (building) permit: new build / extension / change of use / repair / rebuild / demolition File at the district/municipal urban-planning authority (Housing & Urban Planning office) or a one-stop service window where the site is (three sets of documents); approval and issuance by level: Level 3 → district/municipal administration; Level 2 → provincial/capital Public Works & Transport Department; Level 1 (including controlled buildings) → provincial/capital administration via a construction meeting. In Vientiane Capital this runs through the capital Public Works & Transport (Housing & Urban Planning) system. Design-correctness certification for controlled buildings is done by the building-control authority (2019 Decision Arts. 6, 10, 11; Building Control Regulation Art. 73)
  8. Environmental certificate · Environmental impact assessment of an investment project (IEE / detailed ESIA) IEE → the provincial / capital Natural Resources and Environment Department where the project is located; detailed ESIA → the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Environment Department, central); the district NRE Office handles local management and monitoring (EIA Decree Arts. 71, 73, 74). Note: authority names changed with the 2025 reorganisation; confirm the current counter name locally.
  9. Social security registration (employer registering the unit and its workers / individual voluntary enrolment) The National Social Security Organisation (under the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare), by administrative tier: Vientiane Capital and provinces → social security service centre or provincial Labour and Social Welfare Division; districts → Labour and Social Welfare Office (Arts. 90, 105, 107, 108; guidance item 37)
  10. Certificate of Origin for exports (preferential origin: Confirmation of Product Originality + preferential Certificate of Origin / exporter self-certification) Authorities for preferential origin (Guideline Art. 15): (1) Import-Export Department, MOIC (nationwide); (2) provincial/capital Industry and Commerce offices; (3) one-stop investment service units in special economic zones; (4) the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry and provincial/capital chambers; (5) other bodies authorised by the Minister. Self-certification eligibility is registered with the Import-Export Department (the 2020 self-certification decision).
  11. Employment registration and foreign-worker permit (quota · entry approval · work permit · renewal) Quota: the MoLSW Skills Development & Employment Department (Arts. 18, 19). Entry approval and work permit: the provincial/Vientiane Labour and Social Welfare Department and employment service centres (Arts. 22, 25, 38, 39). The labour authority runs: ministry → provincial department → district office → village unit (Labour Law (revised), Art. 155).
  12. Import-export licence and trader registration certificate It depends which sector governs the goods. The management authorities are the sectors concerned, among them industry and commerce, agriculture and forestry, public health, science and technology, information and culture, defence, and public works and transport, with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce leading and publishing six lists, the sixth being the roster of which authority manages which goods (Decree, Art. 11). The trader registration certificate is issued by the ministry Import-Export Department (Registration Decision, Arts. 3.3, 14 and 15). The temporary track runs at two levels, centrally the ministries concerned and in a province the authorised department, led by the Import-Export Department and the provincial and capital Industry and Commerce Departments (Temporary Decision, Arts. 16 and 19)
  13. Mineral licences: field data collection, prospecting, exploration, feasibility study and mining Mining administration runs at three levels (Art. 117): the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the provincial and capital departments and the district offices. The ministry decides all five stages, field data collection, prospecting, exploration, the feasibility study and mining (Arts. 43, 46, 50, 58 and 71); provincial departments issue and renew licences under Arts. 86 and 92 and may propose suspension or withdrawal (Art. 119). The investment licence before concession negotiation and the intake for industrial non-metallic minerals sit with the one-stop investment service office (Arts. 67 and 92)
  14. Tourism business licence: accommodation, restaurants, entertainment, guiding, travel agency and other categories Tourism administration runs at four levels (Art. 117): the ministry, provincial and capital divisions, district and municipal offices, and village administrations. Arts. 119.4 and 120.4 both provide that provincial divisions and district offices consider, issue, suspend and revoke tourism business licences, so the ministry is not the only door. Controlled-list businesses must first register the enterprise and obtain an investment licence (Art. 100)
  15. Electricity business licence: general electricity services, specific power generation, and transmission line concessions The general service licence is applied for with the energy and mines sector (Art. 38) and issued under that sector rules (Art. 40); administration sits with the ministry (Art. 104), the provincial and capital departments (Art. 105) and district offices (Art. 43.1). Generation and transmission concessions are filed and extended at the one-stop investment service office (Arts. 54 and 56), while approval runs at five levels by installed capacity, from district head up to the National Assembly Standing Committee (Art. 43)
  16. Food registration certificate for industrial plants, family-scale workshops and imported food The government administers food centrally and entrusts the Ministry of Health with direct responsibility (Food Law, Art. 66). For registration, industrial plants and imported food are decided by the Food and Drug Department (Agreement, Art. 18) and family-scale workshops by that department with the provincial and capital health departments (Art. 19), on a form the department prescribes (Art. 8.1). Provincial and municipal health departments (Art. 68), district health offices (Art. 69) and village health committees (Art. 70) take part within their remits, and transit approval goes to the ministry or the provincial or municipal health department (Art. 36)
  17. Road transport business licence: passenger transport, freight, terminals, vehicle hire and logistics Land transport is administered centrally through the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (Art. 73) at four levels: the ministry (Art. 74), provincial and municipal departments (Art. 75), district and town offices (Art. 76) and village administrations (Art. 77). For the business licence, controlled-list activities are filed with the investment office and issued after the sector committee reports to the minister (Agreement, Arts. 8 and 18), while activities off the list are filed with the central, provincial or district one-stop investment service office (Arts. 9 and 19)
  18. Licence for a pharmaceutical or medical product business, and product registration The government administers drugs and medical products centrally through the Ministry of Health (Art. 99) at three levels: the ministry, the capital and provincial health departments (Art. 101) and the district health offices (Art. 102), with a food and drug management committee alongside. For the licence, register the enterprise with the industry and commerce sector first and then apply to the public health sector on the ministry form (Art. 83); product registration goes through the online system to the Food and Drug Department (Agreement, Arts. 10 and 34), and cosmetics import, export and transit go to the capital or provincial health department (Arts. 49 and 50)
  19. Sign permits: use, installation and the sign business licence The government administers signs centrally through the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism as the lead body, coordinating with public works and transport, industry and commerce, health and other authorities (Art. 40), at four levels: the ministry, the capital and provincial departments (Art. 42), the district offices (Art. 43) and the village culture and social units (Art. 44). Use permission is filed with the culture and tourism sector (Art. 19), installation permission with the public works and transport sector (Arts. 22 and 45), and the sign business licence follows enterprise registration with industry and commerce (Arts. 25 and 46)
  20. Insurance business licences: insurer, reinsurer, broker and agent The government administers insurance centrally through the Ministry of Finance (Art. 87). Insurers and reinsurers obtain the investment licence and enterprise registration first, then the business licence from the ministry (Art. 36); brokers file within thirty days of registration and are decided in seven (2023 guideline, Art. 2); agents act on an insurer authorisation subject to Art. 61, and inspection runs internally and externally (Art. 89)
  21. Printing and publishing: the printing permit and the licences for publishers, print shops and distributors The government administers printing and publishing centrally through the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism (Art. 61) at three levels: the ministry, the provincial and capital departments (Art. 63) and the district offices (Art. 64). Printing permits go to the ministry for nationwide works and to the provincial department for provincial publications, decided within fifteen working days (Art. 11); the three business licences are filed with the same sector under Arts. 29, 44 and 51, while copyright is registered separately with industry and commerce (Art. 12)
  22. Internet service business licence: domestic, international and satellite The Ministry of Technology and Communications issues, renews, suspends or revokes the internet service licence and approves changes of type, form and activity (Art. 31), while the capital and provincial departments act within the delegated tiers and issue the fee notices (Art. 32), with the telecom regulator coordinating implementation (Art. 37). A first application is decided within thirty days and refusals explained in writing within fifteen working days (Art. 11); renewals are filed thirty days before expiry and reviewed within fifteen working days (Arts. 13 and 16)
  23. Postal service business licence: international, nationwide, provincial and postal financial or product services The Postal Department issues, renews, suspends, withdraws or revokes licences for international and nationwide delivery and full postal services, notifying the planning and industry sectors (Art. 42), while the provincial departments do the same for within-province delivery and agency services and report monthly, quarterly and annually (Art. 43). Applications run in three steps under Art. 26: the investment licence where the service is listed, enterprise registration, then the postal licence, with provincial departments guiding applicants on a one-stop basis in three stages (2020 guidance, Art. 5)
  24. Setting up and operating a wood-processing factory: sawmills, processing plants and furniture factories Wood-processing factories go through two stages and are split by size: small and medium factories are licensed by the provincial agriculture and environment department on forms HGM 02 and RM 05, while large ones are approved by the minister on form HGM 03 and licensed by the Forestry Department on form RM 06 (Arts. 28 and 34). Site inspection follows the same split, led by the province or the Forestry Department together with district offices, public works and transport, the sub-district and the village (Art. 27), and enterprise registration with industry and commerce comes first (Art. 22)
  25. Divorce registration and the divorce certificate, by agreement or by court judgment Lao citizens register a divorce at the district home affairs office where the couple lived; where one spouse is a foreigner, alien or stateless person it is the provincial or capital home affairs department; abroad it is the Lao mission or the law of the country of residence (Household Registration Law Art. 17; 2016 decision Art. 13). An agreed divorce is routed through the village administration while a court divorce may be filed directly with the district office (Art. 11; 2021 guidance Art. 4), and the two texts give different issuing deadlines of five and three working days
  26. Inheritance: opening a will, certifying estate documents and registering the transfer of property Three authorities: the court registry opens wills and certifies estate documents, opening within fifteen days, recording jointly with the village administration and the heirs, who must declare acceptance or renunciation in writing within six months (sections 3.8, 4.2.3 and 4.9); the district natural resources and environment office registers inherited land under the 2024 guidance; and condominium units pass under the 2025 guidance, with the place of succession fixed by Civil Code Art. 569
  27. Tourist visa T-B3: where to apply, how it may be extended, and when it is the wrong visa The Ministry of Public Security leads entry, exit and foreigner administration, coordinating with Foreign Affairs and Labour (Art. 59). Tourist visas are issued by Lao embassies and consulates no more than twice, or once by checkpoint visa units, with anything further needing the prior agreement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Art. 22), which also issues multiple-entry visas (Art. 61). The immigration department (Art. 41) and provincial immigration offices (Art. 42) handle cases and review extension applications, which must be filed before the stay expires (Art. 27)
  28. Health checks and health certificates: who must be examined, and how often The government entrusts the Ministry of Health with hygiene and health promotion (Art. 65), administered at five levels: the ministry, provincial and capital departments, district offices, health centres and village health committees, with most people starting at the district office or a health centre. The law names no clinic, tests or fee and creates no health certificate as such
  29. Household book reissue / update Civil registration authority of the public security department
  30. Birth certificate Family registration officer (Ministry of Home Affairs)
  31. Single / marital status certificate Ministry of Home Affairs (interior department)
  32. Marriage registration Ministry of Home Affairs (family registration)
  33. No-criminal-record certificate People's Court
  34. Residence / address certificate Public security authority (temporary residence permit) / village administration (address proof)
  35. Kinship certificate Ministry of Home Affairs (family registration)
  36. Land / house basic documents District land office
  37. Vehicle sale / transfer documents Land Motor Vehicle Registration Office
  38. Stay permit / residence permit card Foreigner-management police
  39. Work visa / work permit pre-check Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare

This page is compiled from statutory texts published in the Lao Official Gazette, for reference only; it is not legal advice and does not represent any government body. · Sources checked: 2026-09-10