All Nepalनेपाल

This page is for the things that do not change with the city: which level of government handles what, which services are national, and how to plan movement across a country where distance and time are only loosely related.

The individual city pages are at local. How the country's systems work in detail is at Nepal.

Three tiers, and which one you need

The single most useful thing to understand about Nepali administration. Since the federal restructuring, government operates at three levels, and going to the wrong one is the commonest reason people waste a day.

Level	Handles
Local - ward and municipality office	Residence and relationship certificates, vital registration, local permits, property and local taxes
Provincial	Provincial-level administration, some licensing, provincial services
Federal	Immigration and visas, passports, citizenship, foreign investment approval, national policy

Start local. A surprising share of what people assume is a central matter - a certificate of residence, a birth or marriage registration, a recommendation letter - is handled at the ward office nearest your house, quickly and cheaply.

Immigration is federal and concentrated. Visa extensions and most permits mean the Department of Immigration in Kathmandu, and provision elsewhere is limited. Check before relying on a local office. Government and administration covers the structure, and visa and immigration covers the process.

What is only in Kathmandu

Worth knowing before choosing where to live:

• The Department of Immigration, for extensions and permits.
• Embassies and consulates.
• Most international schooling.
• The most specialised medical care, and the hospitals insurers direct people to.
• The main long-haul airport.
• Foreign investment and company approvals above local thresholds.

Count how often you will need these. Four times a year is manageable from anywhere; monthly is a reason to live in the valley. Kathmandu covers it.

Services that work everywhere

More than people expect. Mobile and internet coverage is good across populated areas and the budget operators work nationally. Banking is national, with branches and agents in every district and digital payment widely accepted. Emergency numbers are the same nationwide - 100 police, 101 fire, 102 ambulance, with the honest caveat that response capability varies enormously by location.

Telecom and internet and banking and finance cover the national picture, and emergency covers preparation.

Moving across the country

Three rules that save a great deal of frustration.

Distance is not time. A hundred kilometres across the Terai and a hundred kilometres into the hills are different propositions, and the road, the season and the vehicle decide the journey. Ask locally rather than reading a map.

Fly when the road is long. Domestic flights are the only fast way between the far east, the far west and the valley, and for the mountain strips they are the only way at all. Weather cancels them routinely, so build a buffer before anything that cannot be missed.

The monsoon changes everything. Landslides, washed-out sections, delayed flights and unreliable schedules, roughly June to September. Autumn and spring are the good months for travel, which is also why they are the busy ones. Transportation covers the networks.

The calendar everything runs on

Nepal uses its own calendar, and this trips up newcomers constantly.

The new year falls in mid-April, and the fiscal year begins in mid-July - which is when budgets, tax deadlines and government programmes turn over. Official notices, deadlines and documents are frequently dated in that calendar, so learn to read the conversion or keep a converter to hand.

The autumn festival season closes offices for days at a time, repeatedly, and strikes and processions close roads with little notice. Build slack into any deadline that depends on an office being open. Events and festivals covers the calendar.

Documents, wherever you are

A small number of habits that save days anywhere in the country.

Carry originals. Nepali offices want original documents and physical signatures far more than you expect, and a photocopy or a photograph is frequently refused.

Carry photographs. Passport-sized, in the local specification, more than you think you need. Every application wants some.

Keep certified copies of anything authenticated abroad. The legalisation chain starts in the issuing country and cannot be repeated quickly from Nepal, so order several copies once. Legal and government covers the chain.

Keep your address current where you are registered, because notices go to the address on file and offices match records by exact string.

Expect to be asked for a recommendation letter from your ward office for things that seem unrelated to it. It is routine, cheap and quick.

Where this goes wrong

• Going to a central office for something the ward office handles.
• Assuming immigration services exist outside Kathmandu.
• Reading distance off a map and planning a journey from it.
• A tight connection in the monsoon, by road or air.
• Missing a deadline given in the Nepali calendar.

Where to go next

Local covers the individual cities, and Nepal covers how each of these systems actually works.

Money, nationwide

What works the same wherever you are, and what does not.

Banking is national. Branches and agents reach every district, transfers between Nepali banks are routine, and mobile wallets work across the country. Cash is still necessary outside the cities, and small notes more than large ones.

Taking money out of Nepal is governed by central bank rules rather than by your branch, needs documentation of the source, and is the thing to understand before you need it rather than at the airport. Banking and finance covers it.

Prices vary by distance from a road. The further a place is from the highway, the more everything costs, because it was carried there. That is the single best predictor of local prices in the country.