The Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order, 1958 states that a Protected Area Permit (PAP) is required for non-Indian citizens to visit certain areas in India (mainly in the

Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...

). Certain requirements have to be fulfilled in order to get this permit. Indian citizens who are not residents in these areas need an Inner Line Permit (ILP) to enter these places. The Inner Line Permit is significantly easier to get. In addition, the Foreigners (Restricted Areas) Order, 1963 states that a Restricted Area Permit (RAP) is required for non-Indians to visit certain areas in India. As of 2009, RAP are required for visits to parts of the union territory of the

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

and parts of the state of

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

. Unlike PAP, RAP are generally available for individual travellers and can be issued by overseas embassies or even, in some cases such as

Port Blair Port Blair (), officially named Sri Vijaya Puram, is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headqu ...

's Veer Savarkar International Airport, on the spot. Indian citizens do not need special permission to visit restricted areas.

List of Protected and Restricted Areas

As of 2018:

Protected Areas

* Whole of

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

* Parts of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

* Parts of Jammu and Kashmir * Whole of

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

* Whole of

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

* Whole of

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

* Parts of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

* Whole of

(partly in Protected Area and partly in Restricted Area) * Parts of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

Restricted Areas

* Parts of

. 30 inhabited islands no longer need RAP for foreigners since 2018. * Parts of

Formerly Protected or Restricted Areas

* All of

Lakshadweep Lakshadweep () is a union territory of India. It is an archipelago of 36 islands divided into three island subgroups: the Amindivi Islands in the north, the Laccadive Islands (separated from Amindivi roughly by the 11th parallel north), and th ...

* Parts of

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland were formerly excluded from the Protected Area regime between 30 December 2010 and 31 December 2012 by MHA vide MHA ID Note No.13/6/99-NE.II Vol.V dated 23 March 2012.

General Protected Area Permit requirements

* Tourists must travel in groups of at least 2 * Tourists must travel with a registered travel agent * In some areas only certain entry/exit points are allowed. In certain areas non-Indians cannot enter at all * Citizens of Pakistan, Bangladesh, China and Myanmar can get the PAP only with approval of the

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

Normally the PAP has a duration of 10 days, with the option of extending for another 7 days. The PAP is issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. However, the different authorities of the concerned Indian states can also issue the PAP, and also the Indian missions abroad. Normally the travel agent will take care of getting the PAP for the tourists.

References

External links

Bureau of Immigration

Foreigners (Restricted Areas) Order 1968

Sikkim government page on PAP

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