Nepal's visa system has a lot going for it. Most visitors can get one at the airport. The fees are modest. There's no embassy appointment six weeks in advance, no proof of travel insurance in triplicate, no financial statement demanding you demonstrate you won't spontaneously go broke somewhere between Lukla and Namche. By the standards of international visa bureaucracy, it is refreshingly simple.
What it isn't, unfortunately, is well documented online. Search for Nepal visa information and you'll wade through a swamp of outdated fee tables, tour operator blogs dressed as official sources, and genuine government pages that haven't been updated since the website redesign broke half the links. This guide cuts through that. All information is current as of early 2026 – but as with any visa details, check the Nepal Department of Immigration website before you travel, since things do change.
Indian citizens are the major exception. Under the 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Indian nationals can enter Nepal without a visa and stay indefinitely. They need only valid identification at the border – an Indian passport, voter ID card, or similar. No form, no fee, no stamp required.
SAARC nationals (citizens of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka – Afghanistan is excluded from this arrangement) receive a free 30-day tourist visa on their first visit to Nepal in any given calendar year. The second visit in the same year is subject to standard fees. This free visa still involves the normal on-arrival process; there's just nothing to pay at the counter.
Chinese citizens get a free tourist visa on arrival for any duration (15, 30, or 90 days), with no limit on visits per year.
Everyone else pays the standard tourist visa fees detailed below. This covers nationals of the US, UK, EU countries, Australia, Canada, and the vast majority of the world. If your country isn't India, China, or a SAARC member state, you're paying.
A small number of nationalities cannot get a visa on arrival at all and must apply in advance through a Nepalese diplomatic mission. The list includes Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Iraq, Somalia, Syria, and a handful of others. If your nationality is from a region that frequently faces visa restrictions globally, check the Department of Immigration's official eligibility list before you book flights.
Children under 10 are generally exempt from visa fees regardless of nationality, with one exception: US children under 10 pay the same fees as adults, due to the reciprocity arrangement (or lack of one) between Nepal and the United States. For every other nationality, children under 10 go through the normal process but pay nothing.
The catch: the online payment system can be unreliable. International cards don't always work, the portal sometimes errors out, and payment confirmations don't always arrive promptly. Don't attempt this the night before your flight. If it works, excellent. If it doesn't, fall back to Option 2.
In either case – whether you've paid or not – print out your registration form and bring it with you. The barcode on that printout is what gets you the faster queue on arrival. Without it, you're back in the general kiosk line. The form is valid for 15 days from submission, so don't fill it in too far in advance.
Payment at the airport counter is accepted in USD, EUR, GBP, and several other major currencies. Cards are technically accepted, but the airport currently levies a 15% surcharge on card transactions – a remarkable premium on top of an already government-fixed fee. Bring clean USD notes and pay cash. Or pay in advance online if the portal cooperates.
During quiet periods this takes 20 to 40 minutes. During peak season without a pre-registration barcode, allow up to two hours. The kiosks queue badly when flights arrive in clusters.
Documents needed: your passport (valid for at least six months from your arrival date, with at least two blank pages), one passport-sized photo, and your visa fee in cash. Nepal does not require proof of onward travel, hotel bookings, or bank statements for tourist visa applicants. That really is the complete list.
The pre-registration barcode works at land crossings too, for the same reason as at the airport: it saves time and keeps you out of the longer queues.
The extension fee is USD 3 per day, with a minimum extension period of 15 days (so around USD 45 minimum, plus a small processing fee). Overstaying your current visa before applying incurs an additional USD 5 per day late penalty – don't cut it fine. Apply three to five working days before expiry under normal conditions; during peak season, allow a week or more. Extensions now require an online application via the Nepaliport portal before your in-person visit, so start the process online first.
Some travellers have reported an additional processing fee on top of the per-day charge at the Kathmandu office. This is not consistently charged and seems to vary. It has not been widely reported at the Pokhara office, where the process is generally faster and more straightforward. If you're in or near Pokhara, extend there.
The maximum total stay on a tourist visa is 150 days per calendar year (January to December), including your initial visa and any extensions. The counter resets on 1st January. Going beyond 150 days can result in deportation, fines, and future entry bans.
It does not cover work of any kind – paid or voluntary – or business activities. Enforcement around this has tightened, particularly for longer-stay foreigners in Kathmandu. Teaching English, volunteering with an NGO, or running any form of enterprise on a tourist visa is illegal. If that's your plan, investigate the appropriate visa category via the Department of Immigration before you arrive.
The tourist visa also doesn't automatically permit entry to all areas of Nepal. Several regions require additional restricted area permits on top of your visa – Upper Mustang, Upper Dolpo, the Manaslu Circuit, and others. These are separate from the tourist visa entirely and arranged through the Department of Immigration or a licensed trekking agency. Our trekking permits guide covers this in full.
USD cash is your most versatile option. Clean, post-2003 US dollar bills work everywhere and get you through any entry scenario without friction. Other major currencies work fine at Tribhuvan Airport but USD is the most reliable at land borders. The 15% card surcharge at the airport makes cash the clear choice unless you've already paid online.
Having roughly the right amount helps. The payment counters can struggle with large notes or change in mixed currencies. Carrying your visa fee in USD in something close to the right denomination makes the process marginally smoother for everyone.
Don't fill in the online form too early or leave it too late. It expires 15 days after submission. Complete it in the week before your flight – long enough to allow for technical glitches, short enough that it's still valid when you land.
Check your passport well before departure. Six months' validity from your arrival date and at least two blank pages. A small but consistent number of travellers fail this check at the airline counter every year. It's fixable with enough notice; it's a serious problem if you notice it at check-in.
Keep digital copies of everything. A photo of your passport bio page and your visa stamp on your phone has rescued more than a few travellers from bureaucratic headaches. Takes thirty seconds.
Located in Kalikasthan, Kathmandu, a short taxi ride from Thamel. This office handles everything: extensions, visa category conversions, and anything complicated. Go early, bring all paperwork, and bring patience. It's a government office.
Pokhara Immigration Office
Handles tourist visa extensions for visitors based in the Pokhara area. Generally faster and less crowded than Kathmandu. If you're in Pokhara and need an extension, go here rather than making the trip back to the capital.
The official Department of Immigration website is immigration.gov.np. The online visa application and extension portal is at nepaliport.immigration.gov.np. If the forms throw errors on address fields, try removing street number entries – the system sometimes fails to accept them.
What it isn't, unfortunately, is well documented online. Search for Nepal visa information and you'll wade through a swamp of outdated fee tables, tour operator blogs dressed as official sources, and genuine government pages that haven't been updated since the website redesign broke half the links. This guide cuts through that. All information is current as of early 2026 – but as with any visa details, check the Nepal Department of Immigration website before you travel, since things do change.
Do You Need a Visa for Nepal?
Almost certainly yes – but the answer varies by nationality, so let's run through it.Indian citizens are the major exception. Under the 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Indian nationals can enter Nepal without a visa and stay indefinitely. They need only valid identification at the border – an Indian passport, voter ID card, or similar. No form, no fee, no stamp required.
SAARC nationals (citizens of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka – Afghanistan is excluded from this arrangement) receive a free 30-day tourist visa on their first visit to Nepal in any given calendar year. The second visit in the same year is subject to standard fees. This free visa still involves the normal on-arrival process; there's just nothing to pay at the counter.
Chinese citizens get a free tourist visa on arrival for any duration (15, 30, or 90 days), with no limit on visits per year.
Everyone else pays the standard tourist visa fees detailed below. This covers nationals of the US, UK, EU countries, Australia, Canada, and the vast majority of the world. If your country isn't India, China, or a SAARC member state, you're paying.
A small number of nationalities cannot get a visa on arrival at all and must apply in advance through a Nepalese diplomatic mission. The list includes Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Iraq, Somalia, Syria, and a handful of others. If your nationality is from a region that frequently faces visa restrictions globally, check the Department of Immigration's official eligibility list before you book flights.
Visa Fees
Nepal's tourist visa fees have been stable for some years. As of early 2026:- 15 days: USD 30
- 30 days: USD 50
- 90 days: USD 125
Children under 10 are generally exempt from visa fees regardless of nationality, with one exception: US children under 10 pay the same fees as adults, due to the reciprocity arrangement (or lack of one) between Nepal and the United States. For every other nationality, children under 10 go through the normal process but pay nothing.
How to Get Your Visa
There are three practical routes to a Nepal tourist visa. Here's how each works and which to use.Option 1: Online Pre-Registration with Advance Payment (Best Option When It Works)
The Nepal Department of Immigration's online portal at nepaliport.immigration.gov.np allows you to fill in your visa application, upload a passport photo, and pay your visa fee in advance by card. If payment goes through, you receive a confirmation that takes you straight to the immigration stamp counter on arrival – skipping the payment queue entirely. It's the fastest way through the airport by a meaningful margin.The catch: the online payment system can be unreliable. International cards don't always work, the portal sometimes errors out, and payment confirmations don't always arrive promptly. Don't attempt this the night before your flight. If it works, excellent. If it doesn't, fall back to Option 2.
In either case – whether you've paid or not – print out your registration form and bring it with you. The barcode on that printout is what gets you the faster queue on arrival. Without it, you're back in the general kiosk line. The form is valid for 15 days from submission, so don't fill it in too far in advance.
Option 2: Online Pre-Registration Without Advance Payment (Good Backup)
If the payment step fails or you'd rather pay in person, submitting the online form and printing just the barcode receipt still saves you real time at the airport. On arrival, you skip the kiosk queue and go straight to the payment counter, then to immigration. During peak trekking season (October-November and March-May), when multiple flights arrive at Tribhuvan simultaneously and the queues can be extraordinary, this shortcut matters.Payment at the airport counter is accepted in USD, EUR, GBP, and several other major currencies. Cards are technically accepted, but the airport currently levies a 15% surcharge on card transactions – a remarkable premium on top of an already government-fixed fee. Bring clean USD notes and pay cash. Or pay in advance online if the portal cooperates.
Option 3: Visa on Arrival Without Pre-Registration
No pre-registration, no problem – Nepal processes a large number of visitors this way every day. At Tribhuvan Airport: follow signs to the visa on arrival area, fill in an application form at one of the kiosk machines (or on a paper form from the stands), take your completed form, passport, and one passport photo to the payment counter, pay your fee, then go to immigration for the stamp.During quiet periods this takes 20 to 40 minutes. During peak season without a pre-registration barcode, allow up to two hours. The kiosks queue badly when flights arrive in clusters.
Documents needed: your passport (valid for at least six months from your arrival date, with at least two blank pages), one passport-sized photo, and your visa fee in cash. Nepal does not require proof of onward travel, hotel bookings, or bank statements for tourist visa applicants. That really is the complete list.
Option 4: In Advance from a Nepalese Embassy
You can apply at a Nepalese embassy or consulate before travel – form, passport, photos, fee in person. The visa must be used within six months of issue. This route offers no practical advantage for most nationalities over simply getting it on arrival, but it's there if you prefer to have everything sorted before departure.Entering by Land
Nepal's visa on arrival is available at several authorised land border crossings. The main ones used by tourists are:- Sunauli/Belahiya – the most popular overland route, from Varanasi and Uttar Pradesh, India
- Kakarbhitta – from West Bengal and Sikkim, India
- Birgunj – from Bihar, India
- Timure/Rasuwagadhi – from Tibet; check current status before travel, as this crossing has been closed periodically
The pre-registration barcode works at land crossings too, for the same reason as at the airport: it saves time and keeps you out of the longer queues.
Extending Your Visa
Want to stay longer than your initial visa? Extensions are available in-country rather than requiring an exit and re-entry. They're processed at the Department of Immigration offices in Kathmandu (the headquarters, which handles all visa types) and Pokhara (tourist extensions only). A handful of border offices – Kakarbhitta, Birgunj, and Belahiya – can also process tourist extensions, but Kathmandu and Pokhara are the realistic options for most visitors.The extension fee is USD 3 per day, with a minimum extension period of 15 days (so around USD 45 minimum, plus a small processing fee). Overstaying your current visa before applying incurs an additional USD 5 per day late penalty – don't cut it fine. Apply three to five working days before expiry under normal conditions; during peak season, allow a week or more. Extensions now require an online application via the Nepaliport portal before your in-person visit, so start the process online first.
Some travellers have reported an additional processing fee on top of the per-day charge at the Kathmandu office. This is not consistently charged and seems to vary. It has not been widely reported at the Pokhara office, where the process is generally faster and more straightforward. If you're in or near Pokhara, extend there.
The maximum total stay on a tourist visa is 150 days per calendar year (January to December), including your initial visa and any extensions. The counter resets on 1st January. Going beyond 150 days can result in deportation, fines, and future entry bans.
What the Tourist Visa Covers (and What It Doesn't)
Your tourist visa covers everything most people come to Nepal for: sightseeing, trekking, mountaineering, cultural visits, visiting friends and family. It is broad in scope.It does not cover work of any kind – paid or voluntary – or business activities. Enforcement around this has tightened, particularly for longer-stay foreigners in Kathmandu. Teaching English, volunteering with an NGO, or running any form of enterprise on a tourist visa is illegal. If that's your plan, investigate the appropriate visa category via the Department of Immigration before you arrive.
The tourist visa also doesn't automatically permit entry to all areas of Nepal. Several regions require additional restricted area permits on top of your visa – Upper Mustang, Upper Dolpo, the Manaslu Circuit, and others. These are separate from the tourist visa entirely and arranged through the Department of Immigration or a licensed trekking agency. Our trekking permits guide covers this in full.
Practical Tips
Bring passport photos. You need one for the visa. Bring two or three extras. Trekking permits, TIMS cards, and various other pieces of Nepal's paperwork ecosystem also require passport photos, and hunting for a photo shop in Thamel after a long flight is an entirely avoidable situation.USD cash is your most versatile option. Clean, post-2003 US dollar bills work everywhere and get you through any entry scenario without friction. Other major currencies work fine at Tribhuvan Airport but USD is the most reliable at land borders. The 15% card surcharge at the airport makes cash the clear choice unless you've already paid online.
Having roughly the right amount helps. The payment counters can struggle with large notes or change in mixed currencies. Carrying your visa fee in USD in something close to the right denomination makes the process marginally smoother for everyone.
Don't fill in the online form too early or leave it too late. It expires 15 days after submission. Complete it in the week before your flight – long enough to allow for technical glitches, short enough that it's still valid when you land.
Check your passport well before departure. Six months' validity from your arrival date and at least two blank pages. A small but consistent number of travellers fail this check at the airline counter every year. It's fixable with enough notice; it's a serious problem if you notice it at check-in.
Keep digital copies of everything. A photo of your passport bio page and your visa stamp on your phone has rescued more than a few travellers from bureaucratic headaches. Takes thirty seconds.
The Immigration Offices
Kathmandu – Department of Immigration HQLocated in Kalikasthan, Kathmandu, a short taxi ride from Thamel. This office handles everything: extensions, visa category conversions, and anything complicated. Go early, bring all paperwork, and bring patience. It's a government office.
Pokhara Immigration Office
Handles tourist visa extensions for visitors based in the Pokhara area. Generally faster and less crowded than Kathmandu. If you're in Pokhara and need an extension, go here rather than making the trip back to the capital.
The official Department of Immigration website is immigration.gov.np. The online visa application and extension portal is at nepaliport.immigration.gov.np. If the forms throw errors on address fields, try removing street number entries – the system sometimes fails to accept them.
Quick Reference
- Visa required? Yes for most. No for Indians. Free for SAARC nationals (first visit per year) and Chinese citizens.
- Fees: USD 30 (15 days) / USD 50 (30 days) / USD 125 (90 days)
- Multiple entry: Yes, included as standard
- Maximum stay: 150 days per calendar year including extensions
- Pre-register and pay online: nepaliport.immigration.gov.np – do this if you can; print the form either way
- Card payment at KTM airport: Possible but attracts a 15% surcharge – use cash or pre-pay online
- Land borders: Cash only; USD notes must be post-2003 and undamaged
- Extensions: Kathmandu (all types) or Pokhara (tourist only); USD 3/day, minimum 15 days
- Children under 10: Free, except US nationals
- Passport validity required: At least 6 months from arrival date, 2 blank pages
- Photos: Bring at least 2-3 passport photos
