Nepal Visas Requirements
Short-term volunteers are teamed with Nepali professionals. Their role is to support, encourage, advise or assist as per needs. This networking and mutual education is valuable to all parties. For a longer term attachment a work visa or registration with the Nepal Medical Council will be required.
The regulations change from time to time and we will inform volunteers of visa requirements when their attachment is agreed. A tourist visa will be required to enter Nepal. Latest information regarding visa requirements can be found at nepalimmigration.gov.np Most people will apply for a tourist visa on arrival at Kathmandu airport. An immigration card may have been handed to you on the plane prior to landing.
Visa application paper forms are normally available in the arrivals hall. You need one hard copy passport photo ready in your hand baggage to attach to a paper form.
There is now a computerised application process available in kiosks in the arrivals hall (this includes the ability to take a passport style photo, as is needed on the form).
It is also possible to fill in an electronic form in advance, in your home country using the immigration website online.nepalimmigration.gov.np/tourist-visa. To do this you need to include details of the places and contact numbers of the places you will stay on arrival and have a passport style photo in the correct format ready to paste into the digital form. If you use this method, you will get a submission receipt with a barcode that is valid for 15 days. Print this out and submit with payment at the immigration desk.
We recommend that you state your purpose of visit on the immigration form as “other”. You should have necessary cash dollars with you in your hand baggage to pay for the visa, (other major currencies are also accepted). Cost (2018): 25 US Dollars cash for 15 day visa, 40 US Dollars for 30 day visa.
For British volunteers, it is also possible to obtain a visa from the Embassy of Nepal in London – the embassy now operates a same day service.
