Do You Need a Permit for Meghalaya? Rules for Indians, Foreigners and OCI Holders

No. Indian citizens don't need an Inner Line Permit or any other entry permit to visit Meghalaya, and most foreign nationals don't need a special permit either. The permit questions start when a trip extends into Arunachal Pradesh or Nagaland, and that's where nearly all the confusion comes from.

Permit rules in the Northeast change, and getting one wrong can get you turned back at a checkpoint. Use this as a map of what to check. Then confirm the current rule on the official source before you travel.

Meghalaya

Indian citizens: no Inner Line Permit, no entry permit. Carry government photo ID, because your hotel or homestay will record it, as it would anywhere in India.

Foreign nationals: no Protected Area Permit is needed for Meghalaya. Your accommodation has to register your stay with the authorities on Form C, exactly as it does anywhere in India, so expect to hand over your passport and visa at check-in.

Anyone staying more than 24 hours is covered by the state's visitor-registration rule, under the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act. In practice your hotel or homestay records your details: the state now requires them to register guests. You may also have read about an Inner Line Permit for Meghalaya. Some groups have campaigned for one for years, but as of 2026 there isn't one.

Kaziranga, in Assam

No permit. You need a park entry ticket and a safari booking, which your operator arranges. Foreign nationals pay a higher entry fee than Indian citizens, as at most Indian national parks. The park is open 1 November to 30 April; there's more in Kaziranga with Meghalaya.

Arunachal Pradesh

Indian citizens from outside the state need an Inner Line Permit. It's issued online through the Arunachal Pradesh government's e-ILP system and checked at the entry points.

Foreign nationals need a Protected Area Permit, applied for through an approved local tour operator. At least two foreign nationals have to travel together; a single foreigner can't get one alone. Allow a few weeks.

Nagaland

Indian citizens from outside the state need a Nagaland Inner Line Permit, which you can apply for online. That includes anyone going to the Hornbill Festival in Kohima, held 1 to 10 December, which a lot of Meghalaya travellers add on.

Foreign nationals need a Protected Area Permit again. The Government of India re-imposed the permit regime for Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur in December 2024, citing security. For Hornbill 2025 it was relaxed for the ten festival days only. Whether the same happens in 2026 is announced close to the festival, so check before you book.

OCI cardholders

This is where people get caught out.

An Overseas Citizen of India card carries a lot of rights, but for permits in the Northeast, OCI holders are treated as foreign nationals, not as Indian citizens. They can't get an Inner Line Permit. Since March 2021 they have needed a Protected Area Permit for protected areas, which today means Arunachal, and Nagaland outside any festival relaxation.

For Meghalaya and Kaziranga it makes no difference. Neither needs a permit.

Mixed groups

If your group mixes Indian citizens, OCI holders and foreign passport holders, plan to the strictest rule in the group.

A route that needs no permit for anyone, such as Meghalaya plus Kaziranga, is by far the simplest. Add Arunachal or Nagaland and every person's paperwork has to be checked separately, well in advance, and the whole group moves at the pace of the slowest permit.

The Dawki border

At Dawki you can walk up to the India and Bangladesh boundary and look across, with photo ID on you. Crossing into Bangladesh is different. It's an official international land crossing, and you need a passport and a valid Bangladesh visa. You can't wander over for lunch.

Where to check

• Meghalaya: the state tourism portal at meghalayatourism.in. The old megtourism.gov.in address is offline, even though many travel blogs still link to it.
• Arunachal Pradesh: the state government's official e-ILP portal.
• Nagaland: the state's official ILP portal.
• Foreign nationals: the Bureau of Immigration, and the local Foreigners Regional Registration Office.

If you're booking with us, send every traveller's nationality and document type with your enquiry. We'll tell you what each person needs for your route before you pay anything.