# Visa policy of Brunei

Visitors to Brunei must obtain a visa from one of the Bruneian diplomatic missions unless they are citizens of one of the visa-exempt countries or citizens who are eligible to obtain a visa on arrival. All visitors must have a passport valid for at least 6 months.

## Visa exemption
### Ordinary passports

Holders of ordinary passports of the following countries and territories (including all ASEAN member states) may enter Brunei without a visa for stays up to the duration listed below:
| Canada  Iceland  Liechtenstein | Norway  Switzerland  United Kingdom$^1$ | United States |
| Japan  Laos  Malaysia  New Zealand | Oman  Singapore  South Korea | Turkey  Ukraine  United Arab Emirates |
| Cambodia  China  Costa Rica  Hong Kong  Indonesia | Macao  Maldives  Myanmar  Peru | Philippines  Russia  Thailand  Vietnam |
$_{1-forBritishnationals,onlyBritishcitizensandBritishsubjectswithrightofabodeintheUKenjoyvisa-freeentry.}$

### Non-ordinary passports

Holders of diplomatic or official / service passports of the following countries may enter Brunei without a visa for 30 days (unless otherwise noted):
| Bangladesh  Cambodia$^1$  China  Costa Rica$^1$  Hong Kong$^1$  India$^1$  Iran  Japan$^1$  Macao$^1$ | Maldives$^1$  Mongolia$^1$  Morocco  Myanmar$^1$  Oman  Pakistan  Peru$^1$  Russia$^1$ | South Korea  Tajikistan$^1$  Timor-Leste  Turkey  United Arab Emirates  Ukraine  United Kingdom$^3$  Vietnam$^1$ |
$_{1-14days}$ $_{2-15days}$ $_{3-90days}$
* Date of visa changes
* Under the Passports Act (Charter 146) and the Passports (Visa) (Exemption) Order 1985
* Malaysian and Singaporean citizens have never needed a visa to gain access to Brunei. The visa exemption for citizens of both countries was codified into Passports (Visa) (Exemption) Order 1985 upon its enactment on 1 March 1985.
* Unknown: Peru
* Ordinary passports:
* 1 September 1985: Canada, France, Japan, Liechtenstein, South Korea, Switzerland and United Kingdom
* 1 October 1986: Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands
* 24 January 1987: West Germany, as Germany from 3 Oct 1990
* 1 February 1987: Maldives
* 1 October 1987: Sweden
* 1 June 1988: Denmark
* 1 July 1990: Norway
* 1 July 1993: New Zealand
* 29 July 1993: United States
* 1 April 1997: Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand
* 1 May 1999: Spain
* 9 August 1999: Italy
* 1 February 2000: Oman
* 1 July 2003: Ireland and Poland
* 11 October 2003: Austria and United Arab Emirates
* 1 November 2004: Slovakia
* 1 January 2005: Hungary
* 1 May 2005: Laos
* 1 November 2005: Czech Republic
* 6 December 2005: Slovenia
* 1 October 2006: Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Portugal
* 1 August 2007: Vietnam
* 1 January 2008: Iceland
* 1 February 2008: Bulgaria and Romania
* 1 June 2010: Hong Kong
* 4 August 2011: Cambodia
* 30 April 2011: Ukraine
* 28 January 2012: Macao
* 1 September 2014: Myanmar
* 1 January 2016: Croatia
* 1 June 2016: Turkey
* 8 January 2018: Russia
* 1 September 2018: Costa Rica
* 6 February 2025: China
* Diplomatic and official passports:
* 12 May 1995: Iran
* 1 November 1997: Vietnam
* 15 May 1998: Laos
* 28 June 1998: Myanmar
* 1 August 2000: Cambodia
* 1 November 2000: Peru
* 1 January 2005: Ukraine
* 19 June 2005: China
* 1 February 2008: Bulgaria and Romania
* 20 June 2009: Pakistan
* 11 November 2009: Russia
* 3 April 2010: Tajikistan
* 11 August 2011: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom
* 1 August 2013: Mongolia
* 16 April 2015: Thailand
* 1 January 2016: Croatia and Liechtenstein
* 4 May 2016: India
* 1 June 2016: Turkey
* 30 January 2017: Kuwait
* 31 October 2018: Morocco
* 21 May 2019: Bangladesh
* 3 July 2024: Timor-Leste

## Visa on arrival
### Ordinary passports

Holders of passports of the following 7 countries and territories may obtain a visa on arrival for a fee at all immigration checkpoints. The availability of the type of visas obtainable on arrival depends on nationality.
| Australia$^{12}$  Bahrain$^{12}$  Kuwait$^2$ | Qatar$^{12}$  Saudi Arabia$^2$  Taiwan$^3$ |
$_{1-AmultipleentryvisaforB$30,validfor30days.}$ $_{2-AsingleentryvisaforB$20,validfor30days.}$ $_{3-AsingleentryvisaforB$20,validfor14days.}$

### Non-ordinary passports

Holders of diplomatic or official/service passports of the following countries may obtain a visa on arrival (V.O.A) for the following period:
| Bahrain  Kuwait | Qatar  Saudi Arabia |
* Taiwan

## Transit visa

Passengers transiting through Brunei International Airport for less than 24 hours do not require a visa.
Those traveling to a third country can obtain a transit visa on arrival for a maximum stay of 72 hours. This does not apply to nationals of Cuba, Israel and North Korea. Nationals of Bangladesh, India, Iran, Pakistan and Sri Lanka must have a sponsor such as an airline or a travel agent.

## APEC Business Travel Card

Holders of passports issued by the following countries who possess an APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) containing the code "BRN" on the back of the card may enter Brunei without a visa for business trips for up to 90 days.
ABTCs are issued to citizens of:
| Australia  Chile  China  Hong Kong  Indonesia  Japan  South Korea  Malaysia  Mexico | New Zealand  Papua New Guinea  Peru  Philippines  Russia  Singapore  Taiwan  Thailand  Vietnam |

## Israel

Entry and transit is refused to Israel citizens, even if not leaving the aircraft and proceeding by the same flight.

## Visa overstaying

Immigration offenses, such as visa overstaying, are punishable by jail, fines and caning.

## Visitor statistics

Most visitors arriving to Brunei on short-term basis in 2011 were from the following countries of nationality:
| Rank | country | 2011 |
| 1 | Malaysia | 61,470 |
| 2 | China | 32,853 |
| 3 | Indonesia | 20,350 |
| 4 | Australia | 18,845 |
| 5 | United Kingdom | 18,222 |
| 6 | Philippines | 17,446 |
| 7 | Singapore | 16,221 |
| 8 | New Zealand | 10,381 |
| 9 | Thailand | 4,809 |
| 10 | India | 4,616 |