{"question":{"passport":"COL","destination":"IOT","entryDate":"2026-09-12"},"dateBasis":"reference-date","status":"conditional","headline":"Permit, stay set by the visa","requirement":{"kind":"permit","message":"Before you travel: entry is by permit from the administering authority, not a visa. See the conditions for who issues it."},"stay":{"kind":"SET_BY_VISA","phrasing":"How long you may stay is set by your visa."},"conditions":[{"kind":"PROCEDURE","text":"A permit issued by the Commissioner of the British Indian Ocean Territory (the BIOT Administration) must be obtained before travelling; the application is made to the BIOT Administration in London, not at an embassy or consular post."},{"kind":"TRAVELLER_STATUS","text":"The FCO guidance states that 'All persons, except those who are connected to the military facility on Diego Garcia, require permits to visit BIOT', so a person connected to the Diego Garcia military facility does not need the ordinary visitor permit."},{"kind":"COMMENCEMENT","text":"As of 31 March 2026 the BIOT Administration paused substantive consideration of new permit applications except in exceptional circumstances and except for permits needed for Diego Garcia military operations or official BIOT Administration business."},{"kind":"COMMENCEMENT","text":"The permit requirement of the Immigration Order 2004 remains in force; the 2025 Immigration (Unlawful Entry) Ordinance expressly provides that nothing in it derogates from the Order."}],"caveat":null,"source":{"documentId":"fco-guidance-visitors","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20070715022337/http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029394365&a=KArticle&aid=1174558806718","passage":"Under the British Indian Ocean Territory (Immigration) Order 2004 '… no person shall enter the Territory or be present there unless he is in possession … of a permit …'. … All persons, except those who are connected to the military facility on Diego Garcia, require permits to visit BIOT.","explanation":"The FCO guidance covers all persons collectively — 'All persons, except those who are connected to the military facility on Diego Garcia, require permits to visit BIOT' — and quotes section 5(1) of the Immigration Order 2004, the provision that makes entry and presence conditional on holding a permit; the Commissioner's 2023 Statement on Process confirms that Order is the Territory's primary immigration law.","publisher":"Country Profiles Foreign & Commonwealth Office"},"checkedAt":"2026-08-29","snapshotAsOf":"2026-09-10","dataVersion":"4f66864a7d4f8a08b6c8c7e446d7f16addcd9303","upcomingChange":null,"alternatives":[],"scope":{"covers":["recorded entry requirement","recorded stay allowance"],"notEstablished":["personal admission decision","work permission","residence rights","tax position","individual eligibility for every condition"],"passportType":"ordinary"}}