Bhutan Visa

Bhutan visa cannot be given by Bhutan embassy or Bhutan consulate abroad. All tourists have to apply for their visa through a Bhutan Government licensed tour operator like us. We will apply for Bhutan visa and send a copy to you.

Tourist visa

Its mandatory by Royal Government Bhutan rule for all tourist(s) to deposit the full trip payment payable to the Bhutan agent in advance. Its only against this payment that the visa is granted.

All payments are by default deposited in Bhutan Government’s account.

All payments transferred in foreign currency is automatically segregated by the local bank and deposited either in Bhutan Tourism Council’s or Bhutan National airline’s account.

Once the payment has been automatically deposited in Government account we are given the visa based on the payment. All we need for the visa is a copy of your passport. We are given a visa approval letter with the details of the individual visiting Bhutan. All tourists can fly to Bhutan using the visa approval letter. The actual visa is stamped in the passport on arrival in Bhutan.

There is no visa restriction to any nationality and there is no limit on your duration of stay as long as you pay the daily tourist tariff fixed by the Royal Government of Bhutan.

Requirement for Bhutan visa

For tourist visa we require a copy of your passport with minimum six months validity. We require a clear picture of your first page of your passport. The copy can be scanned and emailed or sent through any of the social networking sites. For people without a scanner you can take a picture with your smart phone and directly email to us. The picture can be in colour or black and white but it should be clear.

A visa fee of US$40 is charged by the Department of Immigration. In case of extension of your visa you will have to pay US$20 as extension fee.

You can apply for a tourist visa for any length of time or ask for extension for any duration.

Tourist visa gives you permit to travel to all most all the places in Bhutan. For some places special permits are required which we will apply for you.

Personal guest Bhutan visa:

Personal guest visas are granted to friend(s) of a Bhutanese who have lived abroad for sometime. For this visa the host must write an application to the Department of Immigration and show proof of his/her stay abroad. Personal guest visas are given to a spouse of a Bhutanese too.

In most cases a person who has lived abroad is allowed to invite two personal guests. Personal guest do not have to pay the daily tourist tariff but have to pay the visa fee. A sample of a Bhutan visa given to tourist(s) coming to Bhutan.

Visa fee

Bhutan Government charges one-time visa fee of US$40 and an extension fee of US$20 if the stay is prolonged from the earlier applied duration of stay.

On approval of the visa a visa approval letter is given to the visitors. The actual visa is stamped in the passport on arrival at the immigration desk in Paro or other entry points in Bhutan. All visitors must be cautioned to carry a copy of the visa approval letter to board all Druk Air flights to Bhutan.

You will be denied to board the flight without a visa approval letter issued by the Immigration Department of Bhutan.

Visa for Indians and Bangladeshis

Indians and Bangladeshis do not require visa to travel to Bhutan. They can carry their passports and get permits at entry points. An initial one-week permit is given which can be extended in Thimphu.

Bhutan visa for Country Diplomats (white passport holders)

All country diplomats visiting on official tours, Bhutan visa is officially processed by the Royal Government of Bhutan and officially communicated with the respective Governments. Any diplomat travelling without an official invitation but traveling with an official white passport will have to travel as tourists. All tourist visas are processed by travel agents like us.

Important thing to keep in mind for dual passport holders

People with dual passports holders should carry the same passport that was submitted for Bhutan visa. You can be fined if the information on the visa letter and the passport you are carrying are different. Most of the time this is clearly communicated to all our guests.

Bhutan Visa Processing time

Personal guest visa might take few weeks as it requires verification and approval from the head of the Department of Immigration. Diplomatic visas are directly granted by the Royal Government of Bhutan and its processed based on the arrival of the guests and directly communicated with concerned organization/ Government.

Tourists visa will take a maximum of four working days to process. Sometimes we process the visa in one day for last minute arrivals. Tourist visa approval will depend on the advance payment deposit.