Bhutan is a country whose constitution says it must remain 60% under forest cover at all times. Is visa overstays the reason it may wind up on the Trump travel ban list?
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A remote Himalayan mountain kingdom nestled between China, India and a bunch of clouds may be about to get more distant.
Bhutan is known as the “Land of the Thunder Dragon” and for its deeply Buddhist culture and for measuring national happiness.
On Friday, it could became one of 43 countries whose citizens face restrictions or demands on entering the U.S. because of a new Trump administration travel ban.
According to a draft list of plans developed by the State Department, Bhutan could join “red” list countries such as traditional American adversaries Iran and North Korea, whose citizens may be entirely barred from entering the U.S.
Another possibility is Bhutan could be designated an “orange” list nation, for which travel is restricted but not entirely cut off, or a “yellow” list country, which means it would be given 60 days to address concerns to its perceived immigration-related deficiencies. The draft memo was seen by The New York Times and Reuters news agency.
President Donald Trump imposed a ban on travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations in his first term. When he took office for his second term, he issued an executive order requiring the U.S. State Department to identify countries “for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.” Trump said that he was taking the fresh action to protect American citizens “from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.”
It’s not fully clear why Bhutan, home to fewer than 800,000 people and until relatively recently tucked away in the mountains in virtual isolation from the rest of the world, was added to the list.
Here’s some of the factors that might come into play.
First of all, what do we know about Bhutan?
Bhutan was an association of local fiefdoms until the 18th century; following British intervention, it became a hereditary monarchy in 1907. The country became a two-party parliamentary democracy about 100 years later, though Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck − Bhutan’s fifth “Dragon King” − is still the de facto constitutional head of state.
The country only started opening up to outsiders in the 1970s, when the first tourists were allowed in. Bhutan did not get television until 1999. It still has no traffic lights − perhaps the only country in the world without them.
Bhutan is approximately half the size of Indiana. Its constitution mandates that 60% of the country must remain under forest cover for all time as part of a commitment to conserve the environment. Since 2008, Bhutan has been using what it calls the “Gross National Happiness” index to track its citizens’ well-being, a gauge that goes beyond economic indicators to encompass social, cultural and environmental factors that contribute to happiness. However, Tshering Tobgay, Bhutan’s prime minister, has said the concept can mask real problems in Bhutan, such as chronic unemployment, poverty and corruption.
Michael Hutt, a professor at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, said Bhutan’s political elite has traditionally been dominated by Buddhists who emigrated from Tibet. There is also a large Hindu minority, originally from Nepal. In the 19990s, Bhutan’s Buddhists started to see its Hindus as a political threat, though the conflict was not over religion, it was over ethnicity and politics, sparked by resurgent Bhutanese nationalists.
After a rebellion, about 100,000 Bhutanese Hindus left for refugee camps in Nepal. Hutt said they lived in these camps for about 20 years until countries in the West, including the U.S., offered to resettle them. Around 65,000 moved to the U.S., chiefly to the East Coast; also to cities in western Pennsylvania and Ohio.
In recent years, Bhutan has become the world’s third largest cryptocurrency investor.
Why would Trump put Bhutan on a travel ban list?
The White House has not said why Bhutan could be specifically targeted.
But visa overstays may be one factor.
While the total number of travelers to the U.S. from Bhutan each year is relatively small − well short of 1,000 − data from the Department of Homeland Security’s 2023 “Entry/Exit Overstay Report” show that Bhutanese who entered the U.S. that year as students, for exchange visits, or for business or tourism purposes, had a high overstay rate.
The report said that more than a quarter − 26.6% − of Bhutanese students and exchange visitors remained in the U.S. beyond their authorized period. For Bhutanese nationals who entered the U.S. on business or tourist visas, the overstay figure in 2023 was 12.7%. By comparison, the average overstay rate for students and exchange visitors from the United Kingdom in 2023 was 1%; for business and tourist travelers, it was 0.4%.
The Bhutanese, a news website, reported that Bhutan’s inclusion in the travel ban could also be linked to a series of immigration fraud scandals. In one, Nepalese nationals falsely posed as Bhutanese refugees to try to gain entry into the U.S. In another, first made public in a 2010 cable by the WikiLeaks whistleblowing platform, a group claiming to be cultural performers from Bhutan was unearthed as front to get into the U.S. illegally.
According to the WikiLeaks cable, the group initially told the U.S. Embassy that their purpose of travel was to perform as members of a Buddhist folk music and dance troupe at several U.S. venues. Some members admitted they were actually intending to travel to the US. to work illegally and hoping to bring other with them.
Bhutan has a high youth unemployment rate that hit 19% in 2024, according to the World Bank. That may be one reason pushing many Bhutanese seek work and study opportunities overseas, with Australia the top destination.
Bhutan vs. Trump. What happens now?
Bhutan’s ministry of foreign affairs and external trade did not return a request for comment on what the country could be asked to do to satisfy U.S. immigration officials − to get off the Trump administration list.
According to Kuensel, a Bhutanese media outlet, the nation’s officials have formally requested a review of the listing, insisting that Bhutanese citizens do not pose a significant security threat to the U.S.
Karma Loday is a blogger and former Bhutanese politician. He wrote an open letter Trump on his Facebook page, saying he felt “it is unfair” to have his “beloved country enlisted with some of the countries with terrorism history.”
In other posts, Loday also appeared to suggest that Bhutan had ultimately been placed on the list as a result of having its reputation being “smeared using false narratives” by members of Bhutan’s diaspora. He didn’t elaborate.
Hutt, who wrote a book on Bhutan’s refugees, said it’s a misconception that Bhutan’s Hindu minority were persecuted. “They weren’t nice to them. They weren’t persecuting them” because of their religion, he said.
Still, he said Bhutan is not an easy for place to reach or procure a visa for and that refugees who fled the country find it “problematic” to go back because they are scrutinized by Bhutan’s security services.
A Human Rights Watch report published on Tuesday, based on findings from the United Nations, found that Bhutan’s government has locked up people for life without parole for expressing their political opinions.
“We may not have the answer to why Bhutan is on the list,” said Sudarshan Pyakurel, the executive director of the Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio, in an email. “We strongly believe that the White House should engage with Bhutan to establish diplomatic and bilateral relations rather than resorting to a one-sided travel ban.”
