Passport, Visa & Entry Requirements
| Package: | Highlights of Nepal & Bhutan |
Nepal: Travelers should arrange their own Nepal visa, either in advance or upon arrival. Please see details here.
Bhutan: The Bhutan Visa fee and Sustainable Development fee is included in your tour price. Travelers to Bhutan will need to submit documentation to our team prior to your final payment deadline so we can process the visa. Please see details here. See below for more information.
Information by Destination
Nepal
U.S. citizens must have a passport which is valid for at least six months after your date of return to the U.S. with one blank page. U.S. passport holders must also have a visa to enter Nepal. The necessary tourist visa will be issued upon arrival in Nepal upon payment of the Visa fee. Applications can be completed inside the airport using self-service kiosk machines. However, as there are only a few kiosk machines, to avoid long queues, we recommend completing the application online, no earlier than 15 days prior to your arrival in Nepal. Full instructions will be provided in your final documents. (as of Mar. 23, 2018 the fee is $30 per person but is subject to change at any time.)
If you do not hold a U.S. passport, please see the entry requirements.
Bhutan
U.S. citizens must have a passport which is valid for at least six months after your arrival date.
U.S. passport holders must have a visa for entry into Bhutan, which must be obtained through a licensed tour operator such as Friendly Planet. Consult a Bhutan Embassy or the U.S. Dept. of State website for more information.
We will pre-arrange your travel visa, and the visa fee is included in your tour price. Please send the following to documents@friendlyplanet.com:
- A scanned color copy of the signature and picture pages of your passport
- A scanned color copy of a recent passport size photo in order to process your Bhutan visa
If you do not hold a U.S. passport, you are responsible for determining all entry requirements and obtaining any necessary visas. Consider using an expedited visa service.
General Requirements & Guidelines
- We provide visa & entry requirement information for the convenience of our travelers, and we try to keep it up-to-date. Ultimately, however, it is your responsibility to determine the passport and visa requirements that apply to you and to comply with them, including securing proper travel documents by the required deadlines and carrying them with you. Requirements are subject to change, sometimes without notice, and we suggest you verify them with the relevant embassy or consulate, the U.S. State Dept (if you're a U.S. passport holder), and/or with an expedited visa service such as VisaHQ. Airlines and cruises may deny boarding, your trip may be disrupted, and travel insurance may not cover your losses if your passport and visa are not in order.
- To travel abroad, U.S. citizens must have a passport. In general, it should be valid for at least six months after your return date, and passports expiring before then should be renewed as soon as possible. We recommend that passports contain at least 2 blank pages for each country visited. If your passport does not have this many pages, you should obtain a new passport as soon as possible.
- Any changes in names or passport information should be reported to us immediately. Airlines and cruise ships may deny boarding if the name on your passport does not match your tickets.
- Minors (age 17 or younger) departing and/or returning to the U.S. without parents or with only one parent may be required by U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) to present a notarized parental consent letter and/or unabridged birth certificate (more information). Many other countries have similar entry requirements, especially for minors traveling with a parent/guardian with a different surname; check with the consulates of all countries you'll be visiting to learn more.
Expedited Visa Service
Need to obtain your own visas? Though it is possible to obtain a visa directly from an embassy or consulate, we generally recommend using a fee-based visa service, such as our preferred provider, VisaHQ. Here's why:
- It is much easier and faster to arrange your visa through a service.
- You can complete the entire process online, including all forms.
- Your information is stored on a secure server and can be re-used for multiple visa applications.
- For a nominal cost, you enjoy professional and expert handling of your visa application. If there's a problem, a specialist with contacts at the various consulates will ensure you get your visa in a timely way.
To get started, select the countries that you will be visiting.