Brunei is a Southeast Asian country situated in the north of Borneo island. The South China Sea surrounds it in the north and Malaysia in the south. This small country has a population numbered around 500 000. It is a Sultanate and does not receive too many visitors. Although the country is not well-known by people, it is a promising land in terms of tourism. Travelling to Brunei, the hidden gem of Southeast Asia can be a refreshing experience.
Furthermore, lack of tourists at tourist sights can give you enhance your travel quality. You will not need to stand in lines to get a ticket, or the tourist crowds will not disrupt views of the sights. As you can see in Brunei, you can take advantage of this situation.
Brunei offers travellers beautiful landscapes, exciting architectural marvels, lush green rainforests, untouched natural life, and unforgettable cultural experience. Brunei is in the equatorial region; hence the weather is favourable for travels year-round. The climate is the main factor forming nature life here. It played an active role in forming and extending rainforests that are home to many endangered species. A huge part of the country (80%) consists of Virgin rainforests. Only 1% of these forests are open to visitors. Here you can enjoy the beauty of nature, jungle trekking, canopy walks, and swimming in natural pools.
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The country has so much to offer for people taking great photos as it has so many picturesque places. Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah and Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosques to Kampong Ayer are exceptional in this context. These architectural marvels amaze visitors with their beauties and sheer sizes.
Brunei is one of the most hospitable countries you will ever see. Here everyone has a great attitude towards guests. As humble as they are, they will do their best to please their guests. You will get invitations to dinner after talking a little bit with a local. Speaking of dinner, Brunei cuisine is delicious foods heavily influenced by the neighbouring countries’ cuisines. However, it still protects its uniqueness.
Brunei is a small but wealthy country. Although the country’s economy is entirely dependent on the revenues from crude oil and natural gas exports, it is open to domestic entrepreneurship and foreign investments. It is a developing country, and there is a need for skilled workers. If you seek employment abroad, Brunei can be a great option. This article will mainly focus on two Brunei visa types, namely tourist and employment visas. To start, we will look at Brunei visa policy to identify if you need to get a visa to Brunei.
Brunei Visa Policy
The Brunei visa policy informs us that countries can either be Brunei visa free countries or visa-required countries. You might wonder, “Which are Brunei visa free countries?”. The list is so long to put here. Therefore I advise you to check it on the visa policy section of our website. There, you will choose Brunei and then find lists of countries that a visa is not required and ones that a visa is required. As for Brunei visa types, they are distinguished according to their features like validity, longevity, possibilities, and cases that they are granted. We are interested in tourist and employment visas, and they have some major differences, which we will elaborate on in the next paragraphs.
Brunei Tourist Visa
As you know, this is the visa that you normally apply for when you are travelling to Brunei for a tourism purpose. To do that, you have to meet some Brunei visa requirements:
• Brunei visa application form. Recently taken a coloured photo that should be 3.5 x 4.5 cm, and 70-80% of the size should cover the head. Your eye line should meet the camera. Do not wear clothes that have the same colours as the background of the photo.
• You should present your passport, which should be valid for the next 6 months. In that passport, there should be two blank pages that are ready to be processed.
• Copy o your national ID card.
• You should prove the financial sufficiency and accommodation. For financial sufficiency, you can present a bank statement indicating the last 3 month’s activity. For accommodation, reservation of hotel is enough.
To start your application, you will need to go through some procedures. There are two ways to get a tourist visa for Brunei. However, none of them allows you to Brunei visa apply online. You will either contact the nearest embassy or Brunei Darussalam’s Mission Abroad or apply for a visa on arrival, but there is a catch. Not everyone can apply for a visa on arrival. Only the nationals of few countries can take advantage of this service. If you have contacted Brunei Darussalam’s Mission Abroad, you will need to present the required documents and fill out the Brunei visa application form to get a visa. If Brunei Darussalam’s Mission Abroad is not available, you will need to send your Brunei visa application with a secure courier.
Regarding fees, it can vary greatly depending on entry types and your nationality. In single-entry type, the fee charged will be 15-25 USD to get a visa to Brunei. For multiple entries with 3 months validity, the fee amount will be 25-30 USD. If it is multiple entries, but the visa validity is more than 3 months, the fee will be 30-45 USD.
What about processing time? How long does it take to get a visa to Brunei? Thankfully, the Brunei visa application is processed within a short period. It takes around 7 days to get your application processed.
Brunei Employment Visa Requirements
Before checking Brunei employment visa requirements, it is in our best interest to define employment visas, and learn what is different. Such visas are granted in the case of having employment in Brunei. With these visas, individuals can enter and work in Brunei. Some can confuse these visas with business visas. However, they are different from many prespectives. First of all, businessmen visas are only granted for business activities such as business meetings, conferences, training, etc. To keep it short, we can say these visas do not give you the right to work in Brunei.
Furthermore, business visas have short validity, while Brunei employment visa validity is much longer. The Brunei employment visa checklist is different from others as some additional documents are asked to get an employment visa. These specific documents in Brunei employment visa checklist are given below:
• The applicant should fill out the employment pass form.
• If you are applying from a country that is not the country you are a citizen of, then you will need to present a residence permit or visa.
• Invitation letter provided by the employer in Brunei.
• Employment contract between you and the employee.
• Medical certificate showing that you are healthy and have no disease that can jeopardize public health.
• Copy of Company Labour License and criminal record of yours
To work in Brunei for a long time, you need to acquire Lesen Pekerja Asing (LPA) and an employment pass. If having an employment pass for more than 3 months, an application should be ready to get a Green Identity card.
How to get Brunei employment visa?
Acquiring an employment visa is a whole different process. First of all, the application will be complete with the help of the employer. Employer will provide essential documents that are part of Brunei visa requirements. It starts with getting a foreign worker license then the employment pass. Once these documents are ready, you can start your application to get an employment visa.
What is the Brunei employment visa validity? Employment pass allows the international workers to work in Brunei for over 2 years. After two years, they can extend it if the conditions are right. How long does it take to get an employment visa? The average processing time for these visas is around 7 working days. As for fees, similar to tourist visas, they change depending on entry types and nationality. You will get the most precise numbers at Brunei Darussalam’s Mission Abroad.
To conclude, Brunei can be a great place to take up employment or spend your time seeing around. To do these things, you need to get a visa. Getting a visa to Brunei can be challenging. If you want to avoid such an overwhelming process, you can benefit from the services Pickvisa offers.
