Global Foreigner Communication Platform
Topic
Tourist, business, study, work and non-tourist visas - fees, durations, extension rules and the Department of Immigration process.
One rule shapes most visitors' plans and is consistently misunderstood. A tourist visa allows a maximum of 150 days in a single visa year, and the visa year runs January to December - not from the date you arrived. Arrive in October and the clock resets in January; arrive in February and you are counting against one allowance all year.
Most nationalities obtain a tourist visa on arrival, at Tribhuvan International Airport or at designated land border crossings, in durations of 15, 30 or 90 days. Fees are set in US dollars and payable on arrival. Completing the online application form before travelling speeds the airport process considerably but does not replace it.
Two exceptions worth knowing. Indian citizens do not require a visa. And a small number of nationalities must obtain a visa from a Nepali diplomatic mission before travelling rather than on arrival - if there is any doubt about yours, confirm with the mission rather than assuming.
It does not permit employment, paid or unpaid, and it does not permit running a business. It also does not accumulate toward any form of residence.
This matters because the gap between "staying a while" and "living here" is a legal one, not a duration. People who intend to stay drift along on tourist extensions and then find that the months spent did not count toward anything and that converting required documents they could have arranged at the start.
Extensions are handled by the Department of Immigration in Kathmandu and the Immigration Office in Pokhara, through an online application followed by an in-person visit. The minimum extension is fifteen days, with a per-day rate beyond that, and a surcharge for multiple-entry.
The practical details that catch people - which fields cause rejections, what the fee arithmetic actually comes to, why the printed receipt matters - are in the visa extension guide.
Extend before the visa expires. Doing it a day late moves you into a different and more expensive conversation.
Beyond tourism, Nepal issues visas tied to a specific underlying reason, each requiring documentation from the relevant body:
| Visa | For | Granted on the basis of |
|---|---|---|
| Business | Investors and company owners | Investment approval and company documents |
| Employment | Foreign nationals working for an employer | A work permit obtained by the employer |
| Study | Students at a recognised institution | Institutional enrolment and ministry approval |
| Marital | Spouse of a Nepali citizen | Registered marriage |
| Residential | Certain investors and people of Nepali origin | Category-specific criteria |
Each is applied for on the basis of something that must exist first. You do not get an employment visa and then find a job; the employer obtains the work permit, and the visa follows. Residence covers each category and its renewal cycle.
Nepal shares land borders with India and China, and several crossings issue visas on arrival. The main Indian crossings - Sunauli, Birgunj, Kakarbhitta and others - are used heavily and are straightforward, though facilities are basic compared with the airport and queues at peak times are long.
Two things differ from flying in. Carry US dollars in cash for the fee, because card facilities at land borders are unreliable. And make sure you receive an entry stamp - the single most expensive border mistake is leaving a crossing without one, because every later extension and departure depends on that date matching your application.
You can apply to convert from a tourist visa to another category while in Nepal, but only once the underlying basis exists and is documented - the job offer with its work permit, the enrolment letter, the registered marriage. The conversion is an application to the Department of Immigration with those documents attached, not a conversation.
What you cannot do is accumulate tourist days and present them as a reason to stay. Duration is not a qualification. Start assembling the documents for the category you actually want early, because most of them come from third parties on their own timelines. Residence sets out what each category needs.
Overstaying carries a daily penalty and, for longer overstays, more serious consequences including difficulty re-entering. It is also entirely avoidable, because the extension system is functional and online.
If you have overstayed, do not leave it longer. Go to the Department of Immigration, pay the penalty, and regularise. The problem compounds with time and the department deals with this routinely.
Border runs are a familiar strategy and a limited one, because the 150-day cap is annual rather than per-entry. Leaving and returning does not reset it. Multiple-entry status is about convenience of travel within your allowance, not about extending the allowance.
If you intend to stay beyond a tourist allowance, read residence now rather than later - the preparation it describes takes months. For the arrival sequence as a whole, moving to Nepal.
Diarise the expiry rather than the extension date, because the window opens earlier than you think and the office fills. Keep a photograph of your passport data page and your current visa separately from the passport itself. Never let a passport run close to expiry while holding a Nepali visa. And treat any fee or process offered outside the department as a warning rather than a shortcut.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit)
Visa extension in Nepal is an online form followed by an in-person visit. The form is easy. The rules around the annual limit are what catch people.
