In December 2024, my friend Badri and I were planning a trip to Southeast Asia. At this point, we were planning to visit Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. My Singapore visa had already been approved, and Malaysia was visa-free for us. For Vietnam, we had to apply for an e-visa online.
We considered adding Brunei to our itinerary. I saw some videos of the Brunei visa process and got the impression that we needed to go to the Brunei embassy in Kuching, Malaysia in person.
However, when I happened to search for Brunei on Organic Maps1, I stumbled upon the Brunei Embassy in Delhi. It seemed to be somewhere in Hauz Khas. As I was going to Delhi to collect my Singapore visa the next day, I figured I’d also visit the Brunei Embassy to get information about the visa process.
The next day I went to the location displayed by Organic Maps. It was next to the embassy of Madagascar, and a sign on the road divider confirmed that I was at the right place.
That said, it actually looked like someone’s apartment. I entered and asked for directions to the Brunei embassy, but the people inside did not seem to understand my query. After some back and forth, I realized that the embassy wasn’t there.
I now searched for the Brunei embassy on the Internet, and this time I got an address in Vasant Vihar. It seemed like the embassy had been moved from Hauz Khas to Vasant Vihar. Going by the timings mentioned on the web page, the embassy was closing in an hour.
I took a Metro from Hauz Khas to Vasant Vihar. After deboarding at the Vasant Vihar metro station, I took an auto to reach the embassy. The address listed on the webpage got me into the correct block. However, the embassy was still nowhere to be seen. I asked around, but security guards in that area pointed me to the Burundi embassy instead.
After some more looking around, I did end up finding the embassy. I spoke to the security guards at the gate and told them that I would like to know the visa process. They dialled a number and asked that person to tell me the visa process.
I spoke to a lady on the phone. She listed the documents required for the visa process and mentioned that the timings for visa application were from 9 o’clock to 11 o’clock in the morning. She also informed me that the visa fees was ₹1000.
I also asked about the process Badri, who lives far away in Tamil Nadu and cannot report at the embassy physically. She told me that I can submit a visa application on his behalf, along with an authorization letter.
Having found the embassy in Delhi was a huge relief. The other plan - going to Kuching, Malaysia - was a bit uncertain, and we didn’t know how much time it would take. Getting our passport submitted at an embassy in a foreign country was also not ideal.
A few days later, Badri sent me all the documents required for his visa. I went to the embassy and submitted both the applications. The lady who collected our visa submissions asked me for our flight reservations from Delhi to Brunei, whereas ours were (keeping with our itinerary) from Kuala Lampur. She said that she might contact me later if it was required.
For reference, here is the list of documents we submitted -
- Visa application form
- Passport
- A photocopy of passport
- Authorization letter from Badri (authorizing me to submit his application on his behalf)
- Airline ticket itinerary
- Hotel bookings
- Cover letter
- 2 photos
- Proof of employment
- 6 months bank statement (they specifically asked for ₹1,00,000 or more in bank balance)
I then asked about the procedure to collect the passports and visa results. Usually, embassies will tell you that they will contact you when they have decided on your applications. However, here I was informed that if they don’t contact me within 5 days, I can come and collect our passports and visa result between 13:30-14:30 hours on the fifth day. That was strange :)
I did visit the embassy to collect our visa results on the fifth day. However, the lady scolded me for not bringing the receipt she gave me. I was afraid that I might have to go all the way back home and bring the receipt to get our passports. The travel date was close, and it would take some time for Badri to receive his passport via courier as well.
Fortunately, she gave me our passports (with the visa attached) and asked me to share a scanned copy of the receipt via email after I get home.
We were elated that our visas were approved. Now we could focus on booking our flights.
If you are going to Brunei, remember to fill their arrival card from the website within 48 hours of your arrival!
Thanks to Badri and Contrapunctus for reviewing the draft before publishing the article.