Of the few, Nepal is one country with very lenient VISA policies that sure will make one thing less to worry about when you're planning to go to Nepal.
First things first:
In short: on the flight to Kathmandu, the crew hands out a paper arrival card (also called the disembarkation card), and there are more on the desks inside the airport. Fill it in on the plane. Then fill the visa arrival form, either at the kiosks before immigration or online before you fly, pay the visa fee at the counter, and hand everything to the immigration officer. Indians don't need a visa, only a passport or an original voter ID card. The details, step by step, are below.
Update, October 2026: We wrote this after our trip in 2019, and everything below is how it worked for us then. A few things have changed since, and we've noted them where they come up: the online form has moved to a new address, cards are now officially accepted for the fee, and the Embassy of India spells out exactly which ID it accepts. The visa fees are the same as what we paid.
How and where to apply for a VISA?
Apart from a few African and Middle Eastern countries, Nepal offers VISA on Arrival facility to the rest of the world. This means that you can get a VISA as and when you arrive in Nepal without making any prior arrangements for it. The Visa process is smooth and straightforward; keep your documents and the exact amount for Visa fees in place. In this post, we are talking about the entry from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.
Nepal Visa for Indians:
Tourists from India do not require a Visa to travel to Nepal. The people from India and Nepal enjoy free movement between the two nations on a reciprocal basis. Indians traveling to Nepal by Air must have either Passport or Voter Id Card as Identity proof.
Update, October 2026: This still holds, and the Embassy of India in Kathmandu is now explicit: for flights it accepts only a valid Indian passport or an original photo voter ID card issued by the Election Commission. A downloaded or printed voter ID, Aadhaar, PAN card and driving licence are not accepted.
Visa on arrival for other nationalities:
You'll need the following documents
- A valid passport.
- A duly-filled Visa Arrival Form.
- A completed arrival card/disembarkment card (given to you by the crew in the flight)
- The Visa fees in cash/card (card never works, so better take cash) or receipt of the fee's online payment. The visa fee is payable in the following currencies USD, EUR, CHF, GBP, AUD, CAD, HKD, SGD, and JPY, but USD is recommended.
- A couple of passport-sized photographs (Though they are not required while using the Kiosk at the airport but just in case). Also, keeping a few extra copies would come handy for different Trekking permits, issuance of SIM cards, etc.
Illustrated details of the arrival card for Nepal Visa on Arrival.
Tip: Fill your arrival card in the flight so that you can move ahead of the queues waiting for a Pen and a desk to fill their forms (this one always works) and apply online as despite various kiosks sometimes due to arrival of multiple flights you can find the kiosk machines packed. Online forms are valid for 15 days, so while your online payment receipt might still be accepted, you'll have to fill the form afresh after 15 days.
Visa Fees
Fees are dependent upon the duration of VISA sought and are as follows:
1. 15 Days – 30 USD
2. 30 Days – 50 USD
3. 90 Days – 125 USD
Update, October 2026: These are what we paid in 2019, and the Nepal Tourism Board still lists the same fees, all for multiple-entry visas. It now also says international credit cards are accepted. Ours didn't work back then, so we'd still carry the cash.
Taking you through the process:
Now there are two ways to obtain Visa on arrival in Nepal:
Offline process - Submit a kiosk printed copy of arrival form and fees in cash.
First, you'll have to fill a disembarkment card/ arrival card given to you by the crew on your flight. The forms are also available on desks as soon as you enter the airport. Before the long Immigration queues, you'd see electronic kiosks to fill arrival forms. You need to register all details required in the system such as:
- Name:
- Address (in Nepal)
- Permanent Address (in home country)
- Mobile Number
- Email Address
- Visa from and to date
- Name and Address of the Hotel in Nepal
Though the photo is clicked at the Kiosk, I would recommend keeping a few copies of your passport-sized photos. Take the kiosk printout of your arrival form and proceed to the Visa fees deposit counter. Once you receive the payment receipt, submit it at the Immigration counter along with kiosk printout of Arrival form and duly filled Arrival card.
Online submission of fees and arrival form:
Alternatively, before arrival, you can go to the Immigration Office's official website nepaliport.immigration.gov.np and fill in the arrival form to avoid the queues at the airport. In that case, too, you have to fill a copy of the Arrival Card/ Disembarkment card given to you by the crew in flight. Submit the printout of your online arrival form along with the online payment receipt and arrival card at the Immigration counter.
Update, October 2026: When we went, this form was at online.nepalimmigration.gov.np/tourist-visa. That page no longer works; the official online form is now on the Department of Immigration's Nepal iPort, which the Nepal Tourism Board links to.
In both cases, you'll be issued a VISA by the officer after scrutiny. Then you'll be asked a few questions about your duration of stay and the places you are planning to visit during your stay in the country by an immigration officer who'll finally stamp your VISA, and there you are, finally, in Nepal!
How to extend your Tourist Visa:
In most chances, you'd love staying here and would want to extend your VISA, which is possible and easy.
Here's how you'd do it:
The minimum extension period is 15 days, and the maximum can not exceed a total of 150 days since you first arrived in Nepal (that's how many days a tourist can stay in Nepal in a given year).
So you visit the Immigration Office in Kathmandu or Pokhara, either fill a form there or online at (http://online.nepalimmigration.gov.np/) and then submit it at the office. The fees are as follows:
- Tourist visa extension costs a flat USD 45 plus USD 3 per day for additional days.
- In case you delay extending your VISA anytime before 150 days, there is a fine of USD 5 per day.
- It goes without saying that, if you go overboard after 150 days, you are essentially in Nepal without a valid VISA, which could invite serious trouble. Be cautious of not doing that.
Gratis VISA (VISA for free):
Gratis VISA is issued free of cost in case of following categories of VISA applicants:
- Children below ten years, except for US citizens.
- Up to 30 days for SAARC Citizen (except Afghanistan) visiting Nepal for the first time in a given visa year.
- Non Residential Nepalese(NRN) card holder ( issued by MoFA /Nepalese diplomatic missions abroad)
- Chinese Nationals.
After staying for 10 weeks in Nepal, we came back but our hearts stayed there.
Nepal is one of the gorgeous countries you could be in, and we hope you enjoy your stay here. Here is our guide to the city if you are overwhelmed with the number of places to see in Kathmandu.
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