🇧🇳Brunei

The forms matter more than the visa

• British citizen passport holders enter as visitors for up to 90 days without a visa. Other British nationalities have to check with Brunei immigration, and any stay for work, study or business needs the right permit rather than a visitor entry.
• You must submit an e-arrival declaration to enter. Do it before you travel, because it may be asked for at check-in rather than at the border.
• A health declaration form is separate, completed before or on arrival.
• The customs declaration is a third thing, through the Customs.BN app or on arrival at the airport. Anything prohibited, taxable or dutiable has to be declared.

The passport

• At least 6 months' validity after the day you arrive.
• It must not be damaged or missing pages. The FCDO is explicit that a passport failing these conditions can mean refusal of entry and detention, which is a stronger consequence than most countries state.
• Get the stamp. The FCDO says so twice on its own page, for air and for land crossings.

Dual nationals

• Brunei does not recognise dual nationality of Bruneians. Immigration can refuse entry to someone holding a Bruneian passport and another one.
• If you enter on a Brunei passport you cannot get British consular assistance, because you are treated as a Bruneian national throughout.
• Use the same passport to enter and to leave. The one you entered on determines your nationality in Brunei.

Overstaying

• Penalties include detention and caning. That is the FCDO's wording, not a euphemism, and it is a good reason to know your exit date precisely.

If you arrive by land or sea

• Border posts are not open 24 hours. Check the opening times before you set out, and check your exit and entry stamps are right before leaving the post.

Vaccination certificates

• A yellow fever certificate is required if you are arriving from a country listed as a transmission risk, and a polio certificate in some circumstances.

The two hospitals

• Standards of healthcare are generally acceptable, though the FCDO notes basic hospital supplies can occasionally run low.
• There are two significant facilities: the government RIPAS hospital in Bandar Seri Begawan, and the private Jerudong Park Medical Centre.
• RIPAS carries antivenom for snakebite, which is the one thing worth knowing where it is before you need it.

Evacuation is the real insurance question

• You may need medical evacuation to Singapore if there are complications. Singapore is close, which makes this practical, and expensive, which makes the policy wording matter.
• The insurance needs to cover treatment, evacuation and repatriation, with accessible funds. A policy that reimburses later does not charter an air ambulance now.
• Call the insurer as soon as you are referred to a facility, before treatment starts.

Medicines

• Some things sold over the counter in the UK need a prescription in Brunei. Most branded pharmaceuticals are available.
• Check the legal status of anything you carry. The rules on what may be brought in differ from home, and Brunei enforces its customs rules.

Before you go

• Check the vaccine recommendations at least 8 weeks ahead.
• A yellow fever certificate is an entry requirement if you are arriving from a transmission-risk country, and polio in some circumstances, so this overlaps with the border rules rather than being only medical advice.

Registration is a legal requirement, not a shop policy

• AITI's Code of Practice for the registration of mobile prepaid SIM cards took effect on 4 September 2024. It obliges the licensed mobile providers and their resellers to record subscriber details.
• A visitor registers on a valid original passport from their country of origin. Bring the physical document; a photograph of it is not the requirement as written.
• You can register in person at a provider's or authorised reseller's storefront, or online through the provider's own platform. Those are the only two routes in the Code.
• The minimum age is twelve, and a card for a younger user is registered to a parent or guardian with the child listed as the user.
• If the SIM changes hands, the provider has to be told so the registration follows the new owner. A SIM handed to you already active is registered to someone else.

Practically

• Buy from a provider's own shop. The registration step is theirs to perform, and it is what makes the card legally yours.
• Set up Dart before you need it. The ride-hailing app is the one piece of software that matters on arrival, and account setup is easier on a connection you already have than on airport wifi with a new number.

The week is not the one you expect

• Friday is a non-working day for government offices and local schools. They open on Saturday instead.
• Shops, restaurants and offices shut between midday and 14:00 every Friday for prayers. Plan the arrival day around that two hour window rather than discovering it outside a locked door.

Power

• Type G sockets, the British three pin, at 240 V and 50 Hz. A UK plug goes straight in; most of Europe needs an adapter.

Etiquette

• Islam is the official religion and Brunei enforces standards that are matters of taste elsewhere. Dress modestly, especially in government and public buildings.
• Public displays of affection may cause offence.
• Do not criticise the Sultan or the Royal Family in public.

Getting about without a car

• Buses run 06:00 to 20:00 and cost about BND 1.
• Dart is the ride-hailing app. Uber and Grab are not here.
• Water taxis are the way to see Kampong Ayer, BND 2 to 5, negotiated. Check there are enough life jackets, and keep hands inside the boat, because there are crocodiles in the river.

One currency in two countries, near enough

• The Currency Interchangeability Agreement has been in force since 1967. Under it the Brunei Darussalam Central Bank and the Monetary Authority of Singapore accept each other's notes and coins at par and without charge.
• Banks in both countries take the other's currency for deposit at par, from the public and from businesses. MAS's own wording is that businesses and members of the public should not be concerned about accepting payments in Brunei currency.
• In practice this means Singapore dollars circulate in Brunei and Brunei dollars circulate in Singapore. If you are arriving from Changi with leftover cash, it is not dead money.
• It is an interchangeability agreement, not a shared currency. A shop can decline, and the notes look different. Do not plan a whole trip on it, but do not throw the change away either.

Cash and cards

• Carry some cash. Water taxis are negotiated in cash, buses are cash, and the fixed-price airport taxi list is a cash-and-paper arrangement.
• A foreign-registered car buys fuel at designated stations, usually cash only. Another reason not to arrive with none.

What things cost to move around

• A bus ride averages about BND 1. A metered taxi starts at BND 3.50 and adds BND 3.00 for the airport. A day's car hire is BND 60 to 100.
• Those three numbers set the scale of everything else here.

No travel advisory, and low crime

• The FCDO advises against travel to no part of Brunei. Crime levels are low, with occasional petty theft against tourists and house burglaries.
• Take normal care of the passport, avoid carrying valuables and do not leave things in an unattended car even out of sight.
• There is no recent history of terrorism in Brunei, though the FCDO notes attacks cannot be ruled out anywhere.

Alcohol: banned to sell, legal to import, illegal to get wrong

• The sale of alcohol and tobacco is illegal in Brunei. There are no bars and no off-licences.
• Non-Muslims aged 17 and over may import a limited amount. It must be declared to customs on arrival and drunk in private.
• Undeclared alcohol is a customs offence, so the duty-free bag is exactly the thing to declare rather than walk past.

Drugs

• There are severe penalties for drug offences, including in some cases the death penalty. Other offences can be punished by caning and long prison sentences. There is no visitor allowance and no leniency worth counting on.

Laws that surprise people

• Adultery, and private closeness between an unmarried man and woman, is illegal if one person is Muslim. Public displays of affection may cause offence generally.
• Possession of pornographic material is illegal.
• Public criticism of the Sultan or the Royal Family causes great offence and may result in legal action.
• Firearms, ammunition, explosives, fireworks and firecrackers are all strictly prohibited, including replicas.
• Smoking is illegal in many public places, including shopping and eating areas, bus stops and stations, car parks and near public buildings.

LGBT+ travellers

• Brunei criminalises same-sex sexual activity, with a maximum penalty of death by stoning, whipping, imprisonment and fines. There is currently a moratorium on the death penalty and the FCDO notes limited evidence of the same-sex laws being enforced in recent years.
• The gender expression of trans people is also criminalised, and that law is occasionally enforced with fines.
• This is not a country where the law can be treated as dormant. Read the FCDO's advice for LGBT+ travellers before deciding to go.

Ramadan

• It is against the law to be seen eating, drinking or smoking in public during fasting hours. Dress modestly, and do not wear shorts in government and public buildings such as health centres.

Wildlife and the outdoors

• Saltwater crocodiles have attacked and killed people on riverbanks around Bandar, and have been seen on beaches and in the ponds of the Panaga golf course. Stay back from the water's edge and read the warning signs.
• Police advise against hiking alone in the forest, even at well-known recreation areas. Use a recognised guide, stay on the trail, carry food, water, a whistle and a torch, and wear closed shoes.
• Venomous snakes are present. Indoors or in a confined space, call the fire service on 995. RIPAS hospital in Bandar Seri Begawan carries antivenom.

On the road

• Vehicles do not always stop at red lights or pedestrian crossings, seatbelts and child seats are often unused, surfaces are uneven and accidents are common. Monitor lizards, snakes and monkeys use the roads too.
• After an accident, do not leave the scene or move the vehicle until the police arrive. Call 993.
• A UK licence is valid for up to 90 days, after which you need a Bruneian one.

The numbers

Which one to use

• Brunei splits the services across four numbers, so there is no single number that reaches everything. Save all four.
• 995, the fire service, is also who you call about a snake indoors or in a confined space.
• 993, the police, is who you call after a road accident and you must not move the vehicle or leave until they arrive.

Before you need them

• Call your insurer as soon as you are referred to a hospital. The private Jerudong Park Medical Centre will want to know who is paying.
• Save your embassy's number offline. A contact stored in the cloud is not saved when there is no data.