East Sikkim permits explained: PAP, RAP and Nathu La

An Indian passport holder or Aadhaar holder can drive into Sikkim at Rangpo and spend a week in Gangtok without any permit at all. The permit question starts only when you head east of Gangtok towards the border. Tsomgo Lake (3,753 m), Baba Harbhajan Singh Mandir and Nathu La (4,310 m) all sit inside a protected area, and so does the old trade road beyond Rongli to Zuluk, Nathang and Kupup.

You do not apply for this permit yourself. A registered Gangtok travel agent, or the driver's union through an agent, files it with the Tourism and Civil Aviation Department and the police. The fee for Nathu La has been around ₹200 per person and is usually folded into the vehicle price. For the Silk Route, permits are also issued at Rongli, the small market town where the climb to Zuluk begins, through the local administration and police. Agents in Gangtok handle this too if you start from there.

Since 2025 Sikkim has been moving permits online, with QR-coded passes in trial for Nathu La, Tsomgo, Zuluk and the North. Your agent will tell you whether you need to show one on your phone at the check post. Keep the photo ID you gave for the permit in your pocket, not in the boot.

Nathu La is open to Indian tourists only, on set days. As we understand it, that is Wednesday to Sunday, with the pass closed to visitors on Monday and Tuesday. Agents need your documents a day ahead, often by early afternoon, so a Tuesday arrival in Gangtok can still make a Wednesday trip if you hand in papers on time. The army can shut the pass on any day after heavy snow, a security alert or road damage, and it happens most often between late December and March.

Operators usually will not take children under 5 to Nathu La because of the altitude. Pregnant travellers and anyone with heart or lung trouble should ask a doctor first; the road climbs from 1,650 m to 4,310 m in about three hours, which is a big jump for the body. Check current status before you travel, and if Nathu La closes, most drivers will still run the Tsomgo and Baba Mandir part of the trip at a lower price.

Every foreign national needs a Restricted Area Permit, also called an Inner Line Permit, to enter Sikkim at all. It has been free, valid for 30 days and extendable. For years you could pick one up at the Rangpo check post or at Sikkim Tourism offices in Siliguri, Delhi and Kolkata. In January 2026 the state said paper permits would no longer be issued to foreigners and that applications must go through the e-FRRO portal (indianfrro.gov.in), filed after you reach India and before you enter Sikkim. Check current status before you travel, and give yourself a few days of margin.

Inside Sikkim, the only protected spot in East Sikkim open to foreigners is Tsomgo Lake, on a day permit arranged by a registered agent. Agents usually need at least two foreign travellers to file it, so solo travellers often join a small group. Nathu La, Baba Mandir beyond the lake and the whole Zuluk–Nathang–Kupup Silk Route are closed to foreign passport holders. Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card holders are treated as foreigners for these permits; ask your agent before you book anything.

Pack the paperwork at home so you are not hunting for a photo studio in Gangtok at 6 pm. For a group of four, this list takes about ten minutes to sort and saves a day.

Hand everything over the evening before, or the day before for Nathu La. The agent returns a printed or digital permit with every name on it; check spellings against your ID, because a wrong letter can turn a car back at the check post.

• Indian citizens: one photo ID per person (Aadhaar, passport, voter ID or driving licence) plus a photocopy.
• Two recent passport-size photographs per person, including children.
• Children: a school ID or birth certificate copy, since many have no other ID.
• Foreign nationals: passport, Indian visa, the approved RAP, and copies of each.
• Your Gangtok hotel name and the vehicle number, which the agent adds to the form.
• The ₹50 Sikkim tourist fee receipt from your hotel check-in, introduced in 2025; keep it until you leave the state.

Lachung, Lachen, Yumthang and Gurudongmar need a separate protected area permit, again through a Gangtok agent. These permits are the most fragile in the state. In 2025 they were suspended for weeks after landslides in April and June, and the same can happen in any monsoon. If North Sikkim is the heart of your trip, book a plan that can switch: our usual fall-back is an extra East Sikkim day to Tsomgo, Rumtek or Ranka while you wait for the road to reopen.

Never pay a large advance for a North Sikkim package in July or August without a written refund rule for permit suspensions. Check current status before you travel, and again the night before you leave Gangtok.

One more rule catches families out. The protected area permit lists the vehicle as well as the people, so you cannot swap cars halfway or add a cousin at the check post. If someone in your group is unsure about the altitude, decide before the agent files the papers, not at 6 am in the hotel lobby. A late change usually means a fresh application and a lost day, and the money already paid for the car is rarely returned.

We see the same slips every season. Each one is cheap to avoid and expensive to fix once you are in Gangtok.

• Booking Nathu La for a Monday or Tuesday. The pass is closed to tourists on those days.
• Arriving in Gangtok in the evening and expecting a Nathu La permit for the next morning.
• Bringing a foreign friend on a Silk Route or Nathu La trip. They cannot enter, and the whole car may be held up at the check post.
• Hiring a car from Siliguri for Tsomgo. Only Gangtok-registered tourist vehicles are allowed on the permit routes, so you pay twice.
• Forgetting photographs. A studio near MG Marg can print them, but that eats an evening.
• Treating a permit as a guarantee. Snow or a landslide can close a road after your permit is issued; ask about refunds before paying.