Immigration at sunauli border

Rohan13

I have traveled from Nepal to India via plane and know that we have to go thru red and green channel. How about if i am going overland. I will be doing some shopping in Nepal and planning to go overland. Do the immigration officers check each and every luggage you are carrying or do you voluntarily declare the items?

Jorge Reverter

The border at Sunauli is like a mela with hundred/thousands people passing through with no control at all. Indian Inmigration juust stamp your passport and the luggage remain outside the office at the rickshaw. It takes a couple of minutes only.

Jorge

Rohan13

Did you say stamp the passport !!! But i will be holding an indian voter id card, nothing else. Where will they stamp. Is that a problem ?

Jorge Reverter

I'm a foreigner in India as well as in Nepal, so I must go both inmigration's office with my passport. Most of the people just cross the border without passing trough inmig. offices.

Jorge

livinhimalayas

you do not need a passport if you are an Indian citizen. You can simply walk through/drive through the border without declaring anything. But sometimes the customs department have raid parties waiting along the road to Sonauli and even beyond and may stop you and ask to check your luggage. If they do that please comply and let them check your luggage without protest. Most of the time they do not create any trouble if you have small items but sometimes it can get nasty - I remember once my uncle was made to strip down to his underwear in mid winter as they had a tip off and were looking for a guy on a bike who was a courier carrying narcotics, unfortnately my uncle was alone on his bike and thankfully he didn't have anything on him except a couple of T-shirts and loads of pens.

__________________
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Rohan13

So, what is the process like for those indian citizen.
a) Do i have to stop at the immigration office both nepal and india and show them my id ?
b) Do i have to fill any form?
c) Do they ask for proof , how and when i enter the country , by air or overland ?

livinhimalayas

Not that I remember - I have not been that side for a while now but earlier all you had to do was walk across the barrier and catch a bus/ rickshaw to Bhairanwa. If the immigration people had any doubts they would call you out. But as I said for Indians it is a free border. If you are taking your own vehicle with Indian registration, then you have to stop and get a permit for your vehicle and state the number of days you are going to stay (you cannot overstay even if you want to unless you want the Nepali wrath to descend on you), pay a certain amount per day for the vehicle and that is it.
I suggest that you leave your own vehicle on the Indian side of the border at Nautanwa or Sonauli and take a Nepali vehicle as it is easier and in the end less of a hassle.
But just in case, carry an ID proof anythign will do - the passport is ofcourse best.
Normally they do not ask anything at the most when you are coming in the Nepalese might want to check your luggage most of the times they just wave you through.
But I normally don't go across the border with luggage and I stay at Nautanwa or Sonauli and cross over only for short day visits.

heyjudy

hey!
I can see that you know well the border crossing.
do you happen to know if the indian side is computerized while the passport check or is it just stamped and checked regularly. I am asking this because i have an old passeport that cannot go threw computerize borders unless it is an an airport.
thanks

livinhimalayas

As I mentioned earlier, I haven't been back there a long time but the last time I was there it was still done the old fashioned way. Stand in a queue and get your passport stamped, so while the foreigners stood in a line we Indians walked through with no trouble at all.

heyjudy

thanks! when did you cross last time?

heyjudy

do you really live in the himalaya?

atala

No, not computerized at all... , there is not even an office, the poor guys sit out in the open inhaling fumes smoke and dirt right away at the road-side, behind a table. A PC would fall apart in short time, but humans don't so fast...
I expressed my sympathy with the people there (in Feb 2008) having to accept the situation day in and day out, and they said improvement was promised but not implemented.

livinhimalayas

about 4 years back but other members of the family keep going over every few months. we have a house in Nautanwa.
Yes I do if that is where Uttarkashi is

Rohan13

What about after crossing nepal and reaching indian immigration office. How are the officers there ?
Do i need to check with them even if i am an indian. I would be buying some gifts from Kathmandu and would like to declare and pay custom duty if i have to. Should i walk over to immigration office and declare. Do you think i can get into trouble if i don't pay custom. Anyone ?

livinhimalayas

If you have not bought anyting very expensive, then it is ok but if you have, you had better declare it. As i said before they often have raid parties on the road between Sonauli and Gorakhpur and also have informers on the other side (Nepal side) who do inform about big spenders. So if you do not want to be stopped enroute and face a humiliating episode to say the least, you had better declare.
I have personally never bought anything that may cause concern and brought it back to India but people do it all the time and most times it is a walk through.