The Bhutanese Leading the way.
There was much outrage and shock earlier in 15th March this year when Bhutan was on a draft Red List of 11 countries scheduled for a travel ban according to reporting by the New York Times.
Bhutan was not sitting idle though, and it was already in touch with US authorities and started taking some steps that first moved Bhutan into a milder draft Yellow List of around 22 countries that would be given 60 days to clear up perceived deficiencies and after a while got off this list too.
This was why when on 9th June, 12 countries were announced for a travel Ban, Bhutan was not on the list along with partial restrictions on seven more countries.
However, Bhutan was not completely in the clear as Bhutan’s name was in a list of 36 countries that could potentially face full or partial restrictions if concerns are not addressed within the next 60 days.
The 60 days have come and gone by 5th August 2025 but nothing can be ruled out with a volatile Trump Administration and immigration still a top agenda in US politics.
The main reason Bhutan was on any list, in the first place, was due high visa overstay rates with Bhutanese coming to USA on visas overstaying at a higher rate than many other countries. The overall numbers were very small but the percentage was high between 1st October 2014 to 30th September 2015 financial year and 2022-23 financial year from available data. US financial years are between 1st October and 30th September.
The government went all out in 2025 through official notifications and direct appeals from the Prime Minister, no less, asking Bhutanese to comply with US immigration laws and even appealing to those illegally overstaying in USA to come back.
Just when Bhutan seems to be doing well on this front, the latest 2023-2024 Financial Year Entry Exit Overstay Report by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) again shows a high visa overstay rate for Bhutan.
The average rate of visa overstays for citizens of 154 countries (that do not have visa waiver) under the popular business and pleasure (tourism) visa category is 2.33% while Bhutan’s overstay rate in this category is 21.75%. There are 6 other countries with higher percentages than Bhutan.
This means Bhutan’s rank is 7th highest in this category between October 2023 and September 2024.
423 people were supposed to exit but 92 did not.
This is compared to 12.71% overstay rate in 2022-23 FY with Bhutan at 20th position and 23 people not exiting out of 181 in this visa category.
In 2021-2022 FY, Bhutan’s Overstay rate for the business and pleasure (tourism) visa category was 60.18% ranking in second place. In 2020-21 FY it was 9.02% ranking in 26th place. In 2019-20 FY it was 16.67% ranking in 8th place. In 2018-19 FY it was 13.07% ranking in 11th place. In 2017-18 FY it was 14.21% ranking in 5th place. In 2016-17 FY it was 25.89% ranking in 3rd place. In 2015-16 FY it was 24.89% and in 2014-15 FY it was 20.29% ranking in second place in both years.
The above DHS data is important as this is the main visa category which causes problems for Bhutan.
As for Students and Exchange Visitors visa category, the average rate of overstay for 193 countries in 2023-24 FY is 3.23% while it is 24.32% for Bhutan. 148 were supposed to exit and 36 did not. There are around 15 countries that have higher numbers than Bhutan.
In 2022-23 FY, Bhutan’s Overstay rate for the Students and Exchange Visitors visa was 26.67%. In 2021-22 it was 21.94%. In 2020-21 it was 10.61%. In 2019-20 it was 14.11%. In 2018-19 it was 12.02%. In 2017-18 it was 19.44%. In 2016-17 it was 24.24%.
While the percentages are high, the absolute numbers are very small when compared to other larger countries, however, the problem is that US authorities are more focused on the percentages than the numbers.
Despite the grim numbers above, the saving grace for Bhutan is that all of the above figures are prior to 2025 when the government went all out to get out of various lists.
What could really matter is the overstay data from the 2024-25 FY onwards.
It will be important for the government to discourage organized groups of Bhutanese going there to overstay. These groups are helped by certain people who get a commission for getting them there.
With the US Embassy in Delhi getting tougher on Bhutanese visa applications over the years, one modus operandi for such groups was to get US visas from far away US embassies and missions in Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, etc., as there were higher chances to get the visa due to lower scrutiny.
The pathway for such groups and people is becoming narrower because apart from the official notifications and appeals from Bhutan to not overstay and to even come back, the US State Department, as part of its global efforts, is asking that all non-immigrant visa applicants must apply in their country of residence or nationality.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade (MoFAET) recently notified the public based on a recent communication from the US Embassy in New Delhi.
It said Bhutan falls under the consular jurisdiction of the US Embassies and Consulates in India, and therefore, Bhutanese nationals will be considered “in-country” applicants only when applying at US visa posts within India.
Accordingly, Bhutanese citizens applying for US visas from countries other than India could face a high likelihood of rejection, possibly without an interview, unless they can prove legal residence in the country from which they are applying.
Further, visa appointments cannot be transferred between countries.
Bhutanese applicants who make visa fee payments or schedule interviews in countries other than India may, therefore, experience processing difficulties if they do not adhere to this new guidance.
All Bhutanese nationals are requested to adhere with the new guidance when applying for US non-immigrant visas.
The US is implementing this in all countries with the aim of better scrutinizing visa applicants as the home embassies can do more background checks and verifications on applicants from that same country.
A senior MoFAET official said the US notification is for all countries. The official said that as it is the majority of US visa applications already happened through the US Embassy in Delhi.
However, one concern is that given India’s huge numbers of its own applicants, this could cause delays for Bhutanese applicants.
Here, the MoFAET official said Bhutanese should plan ahead and apply for visas earlier then.
Currently, visas can be applied online by submitting documents, but for the final interview one has to go to Delhi.
