Bhutan Permit procedure

[asishdas]

Bhutan Entry Permits for Indian citizens

May I chip in my two cents on the issue?

1. Indian citizens do not require any Passport or/and Visa to travel to Bhutan.
2. They need Entry Permit to enter Bhutan and this Entry Permits enables them to visit Thimphu and Paro only.
3. For travelling further, they need Restricted Area Permit in addition to Entry Permit.
4. For travelers flying in, get their Entry Permit at Paro Airport.
5. For travelers crossing land border can get their Entry Permit issed either from Bhutan Consulates (including Kolkata Deputy High Commission of Royal Govt. of Bhutan) or from the Immigration Office at Phuentsolling.
6. The document needed for getting the Permit is any Govt. ID with Photograph (most commonly, it is Voter ID) and a copy of Passport Sized Photograph.
7. Please note that even if you possess Passport, still you will need Entry Permit. Since there is no Visa requirement for Indian citizens visiting Bhutan, the Passport would act as ID proof only.
8. I believe people who are not having Voter ID or Passport, only they are required to report to Indian Embassy for getting their identity (citizenship) authenticated. But surely, those holding Voter ID and/or Passport do not need to visit Indian Embassy. They can get their Entry Permit directly from the Bhutan Consulate or from Immigration Office, as the case may be.
9. For Restricted Area Permit, Indian travelers are required to report to the Immigration Office at Thimphu only. Similarly, if someone likes to extend their Permit validity date, he/she would require to report same office.

I have listed all the relevant points applicable to Indian travelers only. The feedback is based on my personal experience only based on my Bhutan trip about an year and half back. Kindly re validate the data with the latest developments, if any. I had not taken my own vehicle and as such I am not aware of vehicle Permit procedure.

 

[Dimitrz]

thanks dimitriz for the info. plan to do a trip to bhutan in may 2014. could you pleas tell m about the various plces that need to be visited and those that can be skipped.

Thats a hard call, because based on individual likes and dislikes place of interest would vary.

However since you asked me based on my experience I would say visit Haa Valley, Paro, Thimpu , Punakha

If you have more time try Bhumthang (Jakar) & Phobija valley


Places like Trongsa , Wangdue, Samdrup , Mongar can be avoided as there is not much to see from a average time based travelers point of view (Read - Traveler who doesn't have too much time on hand)

 

[Manan]

Bhutan Entry Permits for Indian citizens

1. Indian citizens do not require any Passport or/and Visa to travel to Bhutan.
...
6. The document needed for getting the Permit is any Govt. ID with Photograph (most commonly, it is Voter ID) and a copy of Passport Sized Photograph.
...
8. I believe people who are not having Voter ID or Passport, only they are required to report to Indian Embassy for getting their identity (citizenship) authenticated. But surely, those holding Voter ID and/or Passport do not need to visit Indian Embassy. They can get their Entry Permit directly from the Bhutan Consulate or from Immigration Office, as the case may be.

Slight discrepancy here. My experience has been:
You can directly go to the Bhutan Immigration Office directly ONLY if you have a passport. For *any* other document (including the voter's id), you will need to visit the Indian Embassy and get your document validated there.

Also to be allowed to enter at all, it *has* to be the voter's id or passport & not just any govt. document. For example, usually, your driving license won't do.

If you are going in a group and at least 1 person has a passport & the others have some other documents (which are not usually accepted like the driving license), you *might* be allowed to enter by giving the person with the passport's guarantee ... but you will be taking a huge chance.

Rest all was accurate

 

[asishdas]

Slight discrepancy here. My experience has been:
You can directly go to the Bhutan Immigration Office directly ONLY if you have a passport. For *any* other document (including the voter's id), you will need to visit the Indian Embassy and get your document validated there.

Sorry, I beg to disagree. I reiterate that I had personally got my Bhutan Entry Permit issued by the Dy. Consul General's Office at Mall Road, Kolkata on production of my Voter ID only. I repeat there was no need to produce Passport at any stage either before the Permit is issued or during my trip to Bhutan. Based on my advise many of my friends and few others (who are known to my friends) went to the same office at Kolkata and got their Permit issued on the strength of their respective Voter ID. Nobody had asked for production of Passport at any point of time.

 

[sanuroxz]

Sorry, I beg to disagree. I reiterate that I had personally got my Bhutan Entry Permit issued by the Dy. Consul General's Office at Mall Road, Kolkata on production of my Voter ID only. I repeat there was no need to produce Passport at any stage either before the Permit is issued or during my trip to Bhutan. Based on my advise many of my friends and few others (who are known to my friends) went to the same office at Kolkata and got their Permit issued on the strength of their respective Voter ID. Nobody had asked for production of Passport at any point of time.

Hello Ashis Sir.Hope i am not forgotten.

And yes Passport is not mandatory to get the Bhutan entry permit.

 

[Manan]

Sorry, I beg to disagree ... I repeat there was no need to produce Passport at any stage ...

Of course I never said that a Passport was necessary. Just that there was an extra layer of bureaucracy to be overcome in case you don't have one ... at Phuentsholing specifically. Though with my experience with the Bhutanese bureaucracy, I believe consistency is hardly their strong point

 

[sanuroxz]

My Bhutan Entry Permit

 

[Rahul4640]

A few days ago I was looking up at several forums on the net, as I myself was interested to visit Bhutan. As I stay in Calcutta, I wish to procure the entry permit from the "Bhutan House" here before I leave for Bhutan. My intention is to halt either at Siliguri or at Chalsa (a place in north Bengal) for the night and start for Phuntsholling very early in the next morning, possibly at five. I wish to reach the RSTA office before 10 O'clock at least, obtain the vehicle permit and leave for Paro/Thimpu.
That is the reason I came across this page. I felt that it might be somewhat useful. Knowledgable persons please share their views and opinions.
Warm regards,
Rahul

 

[sanuroxz]

Rahul what exactly your query is?

 

[Rahul4640]

Rahul what exactly your query is?

In case I procure the entry permit well in advance before starting from Calcutta and halt at Siliguri for the first night, is it possible to reach Paro on the second day? On the second day I plan to leave Siliguri early, say by five in the morning, so that I may reach Phuntsholling by 10 O' clock and collect the required vehicle permit from the RSTA office on my way to Paro. How much time is normally required at this RSTA office, if I reach there by ten in the morning?