Visa

For nationals of most countries visas can be obtained from all Indian embassies for the period of six month as a tourist visa. To extend those one has to leave the county first.

Inner Line/Restricted Area Permit

For some of the North Eastern states of India one needs to apply for an Inner Line or a Restricted Area Permit.
For Sikkim the Inner Line Permit can get obtained from the embassy together with the Visa and is free of charge. The validity of the 15 day permit starts with the day of entrance into Sikkim. The Permit can get extended three times of further 15 days each. This sounds very complicated but the procedures are very short, the Sikkimese officers extremely helpful and friendly and one should not get discouraged to travel Sikkim because of the permit issue.
Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram require Restricted Area Permits. It is compulsory to travel with a minimum of four people, but recently it has become possible to travel with less people for which the charges are higher. It is advisable to get these permits through a travel agency because the procedure is extremely difficult and time consuming. The maximum period of stay is 10 days but in special cases extensions are possible.
For the Andaman&Nicobar Islands one receives the permit on arrival by air for a maximum period of 30 days.

Trekking Permits

In the entire North East and even in some parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal one needs to obtain special permits for trekking. Generally the trekking has to be organized through a registered travel agency.

If you want Desire Earth to organize your permits/tours please keep in mind to book well in advance, especially for the more difficult permits in North East which have to be obtained from Delhi.