For the past two weeks, I’ve been traveling through beautiful Bhutan, which is considered to be one of the happiest places on earth. This tiny Himalayan Kingdom (the last Buddhist Kingdom in the world), is one of the most peaceful nations in the world, and they even institutionalized a Gross National Happiness index to prioritize national happiness over the production of goods and economic growth.

So, imagine my surprise when, during the middle of my Bhutan hiking trip, I learned that Bhutan was added to the Travel Ban List. Everyone in Bhutan was shocked to learn their country was placed in the same red category as countries like Yemen, Afghanistan, and North Korea, which pose legitimate safety risks to American travelers. We spent several days trying to make sense of it, searching for answers. Will we face challenges leaving Bhutan? What about when we return to the US? Will the quote I got on travel insurance any potential issues? What does this mean for the Bhutanese?

In a year with a seemingly endless number of significant travel changes that could affect your trip, get ready for another. Here's why Bhutan was added to the new US Travel Ban list and what it means for your trip.

1. What is the new US Travel Ban list?

Unlike the Do Not Travel list, this latest travel ban list is not a list of places that Americans should avoid visiting. Rather, it’s a list of nations whose citizens can be barred from traveling to the United States. In instances like these, there is often quite a bit of overlap between nations where it’s not safe for Americans to travel and nations where citizens may be denied travel privileges to the US (take North Korea and Afghanistan, for instance).

This current travel ban draft list is part of a larger travel ban proposal that could impact citizens of 43 nations. The list was actually leaked and is not 100% finalized so it’s a bit of a waiting game to see who ends up on the final list.

The new US Travel Ban list breaks down countries across three colors:

- Yellow: Has 60 days to address concerns

- Orange: Visas will be sharply restricted

- Red: All travel banned

Diplomatic and security officials suggested that 11 countries be included on the “red” list, meaning their citizens would be completely barred from entering the United States, including Bhutan. These countries are: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.

2. Why was Bhutan added to the new US Travel Ban list?

Given US diplomatic relations with Syria, North Korea, and Iran, it’s not too surprising to see those countries on the list. But given how safe Bhutan is and how friendly relations have been between the two countries, and given that neither of the countries surrounding it (China and India) were added to the list, Bhutan’s red designation was an enormous shock.

Kinley Gyeltshen was one of the first officially trained guides in Bhutan after it opened its doors to tourism in the late 1970s. Having led history, culture, hiking, and adventure trips through Bhutan for Wilderness Travel for nearly three decades, Gyeltshen has seen countless changes in the country’s tourism industry, but this latest announcement shocked him.

What has been frustrating for those in Bhutan’s tourism industry, including Gyeltshen, has been the lack of clarity on the new ruling and the slowness with which the US released additional details. Eventually, the US released some details about why they added Bhutan to the list—that an outsized portion of the very few Bhutanese who visit the US overstay their visa, not because the country poses any danger to US citizens.

Even casual hikers will want to make their way to the mountaintop Tiger's Nest Monastery in Bhutan (Wirestock via Getty Images)

3. What the Travel Ban list means for Bhutan

Fewer than 1,000 Bhutanese visit the US each year but data from the Department of Homeland Security's 2023 "Entry/Exit Overstay Report" indicate that those Bhutanese who did enter the U.S. had a higher overstay rate. Most of these visitors were students, on exchange visits, or visiting for business or tourism purposes, and over a quarter − 26.6% − of the students and exchange visa visitors remained in the U.S. beyond their authorized period. Regarding those entering on business or tourist visas, 12.7% overstayed their visa in 2023.

As a comparison, only about 1% of students and exchange visitors from the UK overstayed their visas in 2023, and .4% of those did so when traveling as business and tourist travelers. While the percentage of Bhutanese visa overstayers is much higher than UK travelers, because so few Bhutanese visit the US in the first place, the actual number of travelers overstaying their visas is extremely low—dozens or hundreds, compared to hundreds of thousands from other countries (many in Europe).

While this is still a preliminary list and the details are still being finalized, Bhutanese are worried what this could mean for Bhutanese hoping to visit the United States. Gyeltshen hopes that the news will not discourage Americans from visiting his country and he hopes his government increases diplomatic discussions with the US to have Bhutan removed from the ban.

4. Will the new US Travel Ban affect my trip to Bhutan?

When my fellow tour mates and I heard about the ban (at breakfast while overlooking rolling hills and magnificent monasteries), our first concern was “will the new travel ban affect Americans traveling to Bhutan”? After all, we were in Bhutan at the time. Did we have to worry about facing issues when leaving the country? Would the US hit us with hard questions when we returned to the US? I was extra glad I got a quote on travel insurance for this trip.
As mentioned previously, Bhutan is focused on happiness; they are not a petty nation and nobody is expecting them to react with travel bans for Americans. In fact, they would love if more Americans would visit their country, and they have no plans to make things more difficult for those o fus who are already jumping through hoops to visit them on the other side of the world.

My fellow travelers and I were all able to leave Bhutan seamlessly and everyone but me easily re-entered the United States without facing interrogations from immigration officials. I’m still in Asia for a few more weeks but I don’t expect to face any issues when returning to the US. And when I do, I look forward to writing more about how gorgeous Bhutan and what an extraordinary hiking destination it is.

U.S. Bhutan relations

This week, U.S.-Bhutan relations took a turn for the worst after they deported a refugee to Bhutan. As reported by NPR, Ray, a man in his late 20s, was born in a refugee camp in Nepal after his Nepali-speaking Bhutanese family was expelled from Bhutan. Though he grew up in the U.S., he was recently deported to Bhutan—a country he had never lived in and where his ethnic group has historically faced persecution. Within a day of his arrival, Bhutanese authorities ordered him to leave. Now, Ray is hiding in India without legal status, family, or a passport, relying entirely on the help of a local pastor.

His case is part of a troubling pattern: Despite longstanding U.S. laws that prohibit deportation to countries where individuals may face harm, over two dozen Nepali-speaking Bhutanese have been deported under President Trump’s second term—even as Bhutan reportedly refuses to accept them. Advocates, like Aisa Villarosa of the Asian Law Caucus, say U.S. immigration officials falsely assured families that Bhutan would welcome them, only for them to be rejected or expelled on arrival.

Today, deportations continue largely out of public view. Bhutan’s consulate and U.S. immigration authorities have remained silent on recent removals. Ray, speaking under an alias for safety, remains in limbo, telling NPR “I have nothing here,” he says. “It’s desperation right now for me.”

@yahoo.com