We recently visited one of the most beautiful states in India – Meghalaya, in the North East. We spent a week in the state, backpacking and discovering the natural gems that Meghalaya has on offer.

Our first visit to the North East was in 2020 when we travelled to Sikkim between February and March, just before the coronavirus pandemic brought the world to a standstill. The Meghalaya trip was also planned for the same year but the first wave meant, we could not go ahead with it.

However, after being fully vaccinated earlier in 2021, we decided to resume our journey in the North East. We did our thorough research before zeroing down to Meghalaya in November. We flew to Guwahati and from there we crossed over to Meghalaya by road. The border process was smooth and easy.

Due to the covid-19 pandemic, the Meghalaya government has set up a few rules for travellers entering the state.

Here’s what you need to do to be allowed entry into Meghalaya:

  • Install the Meghalaya tourism app from Google Play Store.
  • Generate an E-Invite. For this, you must declare your entire itinerary, including accommodation for at least first two days. You also have to upload a passport size photo and ID proof of each member.

We saw a lot of people stopped at the border for not having an E-Invite as they were not aware of this rule. To save time at the border process, it is always best to generate the E-Invite before you start your journey.

Meghalaya’s border centre © Journo Travellers
You receive this slip once you are allowed entry. Keep it safe for a day, at least. © Journo Travellers
  • You must either have a fully vaccinated certificate or an RTPCr negative report taken 72 hours before your arrival. These are checked at the Guwahati airport and the Meghalaya border. Also, if you are not fully vaccinated, you may have to undergo a test on arrival at the Guwahati airport.
  • It is also mandatory for everyone entering Meghalaya to register themselves prior to their travel at http://meghalayaonline.gov.in/covid/testing.htm and to download the Arogya Setu app and the Behavioural Change Management app of Meghalaya from Google play store or App store.

Once you have all this, be assured, you will have a smooth border crossing into Meghalaya.