Latest info + Do’s & Don’ts re permits for Sikkim?

We’d much appreciate up-to-date advice on avoiding problems in getting a permit for Sikkim.

We wanted to get one with our postal application for an India visa to the Indian High Commission in Birmingham. But the latter now says it does not give Sikkim permits. If we try London, that means applying in person.

If we wait to get the Sikkim permit at the border, does that limit our choice of crossing points? We’d wondered about entering at Jorethang. At which entry points / pre-entry points can we definitely get a permit?

Are there things which can get you refused a Sikkim permit?

Is it worth trying to get permits sorted out before leaving UK?

Not sure if this is the "latest" information, but we crossed into Sikkim at Jorethang in Nov 2005. Obtained a permit at the border in about 10 minutes. No problems at all. They just looked at our passport and filled out the usual ledger with our information. Easy.

This may not help the British poster, but I wanted to pass on our experience in the US. We just got our passports with new visas back from the San Francisco consulate with the endorsement "Permitted to visit Sikkim for 15 days only one time". I had just included a simple letter with our visa application stating our plans to visit southern Sikkim and our approximate dates. (I don't know if it would have been as easy if we had planned a more extensive tour).
I sent the application by FedEx on Thursday last week and we got it back today (Wednesday) by USPS Express mail.

i applied for my permit to sikkim at the indian high commission in london years ago (still haven't managed to visit but that's another story). i was asked to state exactly which places i wanted to visit and when i received the permit, it allowed me to visit only those places during my 15 day stay. i guess it has become much more relaxed since then (late 90s).

Hi,

It's very easy to one upon arrival in Sikkim: in Rangpo you can get a two or three day permit for free, which can then be extended in Gangtok very easily for another 15 days. There's a maximum number of days, I stayed almost three months and just kept extending. No hassles, no fees, no corruption. (assuming you drive in, if you take the helicopter then I don't know what the process is because you'd bypass Rangpo checkpost).

Note that the permit allows to travel to Gangtok, Rumtek and some other close-by places. For other areas you need additional permits, which are usually organized by the agency in Gangtok you use to go for sightseeing. If you plan for a visit in North Sikkim (esp. if you go trekking), things are much more complicated but I assume that's not on your itinerary.

- Carsten

PS: You could also get the permit in Darjeeling I believe, but I've never done that.

Thanks very much everyone. That's been very helpful.