The visa, step by step
Bhutan’s entry process is often described as complicated. It is not. It is simply unlike most countries, and it runs through your operator rather than around them.
There is no embassy queue and no interview. Almost everything happens after you have booked, and it is handled on your behalf.
Who needs one
Everyone except nationals of India, Bangladesh and the Maldives. Indian nationals apply for a permit rather than a visa, using a passport or voter ID, and may do so online in advance or at the point of entry.
How it works
Your journey is confirmed and paid. We submit your passport details and photograph to the Department of Immigration along with the Sustainable Development Fee. Approval typically takes five to seven working days. You receive a visa clearance letter, which the airline checks before you board. The visa itself is stamped on arrival at Paro.
No operator can guarantee a government decision. Anyone promising guaranteed approval is telling you something they cannot know.
What you need to supply
A passport valid for at least six months beyond your travel dates, with a clear scan of the photo page, and a passport-style photograph. That is genuinely all.
Changes worth knowing
Travel insurance is no longer mandatory for visa processing, though we would still strongly advise carrying it, medical evacuation from a Himalayan valley is not something to improvise. The Sustainable Development Fee is paid at application, not on arrival.
Timing
Apply once dates are fixed. For festival travel, the constraint is never the visa. It is accommodation, which should be held six to twelve months ahead.
We handle the paperwork.
You send a passport scan and a photograph. We do the rest.
Design Your Journey→A boutique travel company creating private journeys through Bhutan, Ladakh and Darjeeling.