Except Indian people, all foreigners must have visa to travel Nepal. Nepal visa can be issued on your arrival either at Tribhuban International Airport or at road borders at Nepalganj, Birganj, Sunauli, Kakarbhitta, Mahendranagar, Dhangadhi and Kodari checkpoint to Tibet border. Nepali embassies and consulates overseas also issue visas with no fuss. You passport must have at least six months validity to obtain Nepal visa that valids for three to six months from the date of issue. Nationals from Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Cameroon, Somalia, Liberia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan will need to obtain visa from Nepal Embassies or Diplomatic Missions in their respective countries, as they do not get visa on arrival at the immigration entry points of Nepal.
To obtain a visa upon arrival by air in Nepal you must fill in an application form and provide a passport photograph. Visa application forms are available on a table in the arrivals hall, though some airlines provide this form on the flight. For people with electronic passports there are now visa registration machines in the immigration hall which, after inserting your passport, will automatically fill out the visa form for you. However you do it, getting through immigration can take up to an hour, depending on the numbers. A single-entry visa valid for 15/30/90 days costs US$25/40/100. There is no Visa fee for children below 10 years. Visa can be obtained only through payment of cash in the following currency in Kathmandu Airport : Euro, Swiss Franc, Pound Sterling, US Dollar, Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Hong Kong Dollar, Singapore Dollar and Japanese Yen. But at land borders officials require payment in cash US dollars only. Credit card, Indian currency and Nepali currency are not accepted as payment of visa fee.
Multiple-entry visas are useful if you are planning a side trip to Tibet, Bhutan or India. You can change your single-entry visa to a multiple-entry visa at Kathmandu’s Central Immigration Office for US$20.
Don’t overstay your visa. You can pay a fine of US$3 per day at the airport if you have overstayed less than 30 days (plus a US$2 per day visa extension fee), but it’s far better to get it all sorted out in advance at Kathmandu’s Central Immigration Office, as a delay could cause you to miss your flight.
Every visa extension requires your passport, the fee, one photo and an application form which must be completed online first . Visa extensions are available from immigration offices in Kathmandu and Pokhara only and cost a minimum US$30 (payable in rupees only) for a 15-day extension, plus US$2 per day after that. To extend for 30 days is US$50 and to extend a multiple-entry visa add on US$20. If you’ll be in Nepal for more than 60 days you are better off getting a 90-day visa on arrival, rather than a 60-day visa plus an extension.
It’s a good idea to keep a number of passport photos with your passport so they are immediately handy for trekking permits, visa applications and other official documents. You can get up-to-date visa information at the website of the Department of Immigration (www.nepalimmigration.gov.np).
