Permits and paperwork for the Andaman Islands

Most people arrive in the Andamans expecting a permit queue and find none. A few arrive without the one permit they needed and are refused entry at the airport. This is the difference between the two.

These rules change. Everything below was checked against the Andaman & Nicobar Administration's own notification on 2 September 2026. If you are reading this much later, check the official page before you rely on it.

If you hold an Indian passport

You need nothing. No permit, no prior application, no form on arrival.

Carry photo ID — you will be asked for it at the airport and at ferry counters, and hotels are required to record it. That is the whole of it.

If you hold any other passport

For tourism, on the islands that are open to tourism, you do not need a Restricted Area Permit. Twenty-nine islands have been excluded from the RAP regime outright. A further eleven are exempt for day visits only, and that exemption runs until 31 December 2027.

So for an ordinary trip — fly in, stay on one of the main islands, dive, go home — a valid Indian visa is what you need.

The exception that gets people turned away

The relaxation does not apply to what the notification calls Prior Reference Category countries:

"Citizens of Afghanistan, China (including Hong Kong & Macau), and Pakistan, as well as foreign nationals having their origin in these countries, shall continue to require a valid Restricted Area Permit (RAP) to visit the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Such RAP shall be granted only after obtaining prior approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs."

Two things about that are worth reading twice.

"Origin" is broader than citizenship. The notification defines it as a person who, or either of whose parents or any of whose grandparents, was born in and was permanently resident in one of those countries — or who held that citizenship at any point. A British passport holder with a grandparent born in China falls inside this rule.

Arriving without one is not fixable on the day. The notification is explicit: where such a person arrives without a RAP granted before arrival, "entry shall be refused as per law." There is no counter to sort it out at.

Applications go through the Ministry of Home Affairs at indianfrro.gov.in, and they need time. If this paragraph might describe you, start months before you book anything.

Myanmar passports, two specific places

Citizens of Myanmar still need a RAP to visit Mayabunder and Diglipur, both in North Andaman, and it is issued only with prior MHA approval. Everywhere else follows the ordinary rules above.

The permits nobody mentions until you are there

The RAP relaxation covers entry. It does not cover everything you might want to do once you have entered, and these catch Indian and foreign visitors equally:

• Reserved forests, wildlife sanctuaries and tribal reserves need separate approval from the relevant authority. This is the one that affects trips — several of the places people want to see sit inside one of these.
• Defence and other sensitive areas are not opened by the relaxation. Specific permission is still required.
• Islands not designated for tourism need a RAP in advance, for any foreign national, regardless of nationality.
• Any purpose other than tourism — research, filming, work — needs a RAP.

If your trip is a boat, a dive site and a beach, none of this applies to you. If it involves a camera crew, a protected forest or an island nobody else is going to, all of it does.

What to actually do

1. Indian passport: carry ID. Stop reading.
2. Other passport, ordinary tourism, main islands: check your visa is valid for your dates. Nothing else.
3. Afghan, Chinese, Pakistani citizenship or origin: apply for a RAP at indianfrro.gov.in well in advance, and do not book travel until it is granted.
4. Anything unusual — a protected area, an island off the tourist list, a purpose other than a holiday: assume a permit is needed and ask first.