Nepal, Bhutan travel without passport: new order lists ID rule for Indians

Indian citizens travelling to Nepal or Bhutan by land or air will not need a passport if they show one of the identity documents listed in the government's Visa Manual, under a change notified by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) (Amendment) Order, 2026, dated 4 November, was published in the Official Gazette on Thursday, 5 November 2026. It amends the Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025, and keeps the passport rule for anyone using the Nepal or Bhutan route to reach a third country.

For travellers to India's two Himalayan neighbours, the question at the border has always been which document to carry. The new order answers it in law: a passport is not compulsory for direct travel between India and Nepal or Bhutan, but a recognised identity document is, and the immigration officer may ask further questions.

The order does not itself list the accepted documents. It points to the Visa Manual, which the government can revise from time to time, so travellers should not assume that every identity card will be accepted. The exemption is also narrow. It covers only travel between India and Nepal or Bhutan. An Indian who uses a Nepal or Bhutan crossing to travel to, or return from, any other country is treated as an international traveller, needs a passport and must cross at a designated immigration post.

For citizens of Nepal and Bhutan the order mirrors the Indian rule, with one condition: anyone who boards from, or transits through, China, Macau, Hong Kong or Pakistan must hold both a passport and a visa to enter India.

The order also covers foreign nationals already living in India. According to the reports, Pakistani nationals who entered on or before 31 December 2009 to settle permanently are exempted from passport renewal rules if they cannot renew their papers because they lack a Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC), Pakistan's national ID. Minority refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered on or before 31 December 2024, registered Sri Lankan Tamils who arrived on or before 9 January 2015, and certain Tibetans are also covered, though they must obtain an appropriate visa to stay.

Peepals timeline: The cut-off dates in the order show how far back it reaches. The earliest is 31 December 2009, for Pakistani nationals who came to settle; then 9 January 2015, for registered Sri Lankan Tamils; then 31 December 2024, for minority refugees from three neighbouring countries. The parent rules, the Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025, were amended by an order dated 4 November 2026, which reached the Official Gazette on 5 November 2026 and was reported the same day. Our timeline from the dates in the reports.

Short-term: Travellers to Nepal or Bhutan can go without a passport, provided they carry an identity document listed in the Visa Manual and answer any immigration questions. Travel agents will need to tell clients which documents are accepted.

Long-term: Because the accepted documents sit in the Visa Manual rather than in the order, the list can change without a fresh gazette order, so frequent travellers and border traders will need to keep track of it.

Who is affected: Indians travelling to Nepal and Bhutan, Nepalese and Bhutanese citizens visiting India, travel agents on these routes, and the groups of foreign nationals in India named in the order.

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