VisaForeign employees in Nepal need a working visa before starting their job
Employer documents and family recommendations must be prepared separately, while conflicting official fee pages require an assessed invoice.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Do not start the job while the visa paperwork is pending
Foreign nationals taking employment in Nepal need the working visa before starting the job. The Department of Immigration’s visa-information page says people completing the paperwork may remain under a tourist visa, but that is a stay category rather than permission to work. On working-visa approval, the tourist category is cancelled and the category changes.
The checklist requires a relevant government line-agency recommendation, Department of Labour work permit, Home Ministry work agreement and appointment or contract. It also identifies hiring-organisation tax clearance, the applicant’s tax clearance for renewal where individually liable, the Social Welfare Council agreement for NGOs or INGOs, passport and visa copies, and the online form. Ask the employer which documents it will supply before setting the start date.
Ask which published fee category applies to the employer
The department’s fees-and-documents table divides working-visa charges into US$30 monthly for government-affiliated organisations, US$50 for donor-funded bodies and US$75 for other organisations, with separate single- or multiple-re-entry additions. The narrative visa-information page instead presents a US$60 monthly base and describes re-entry charges differently. These official publications conflict; the figures should not be silently combined into one assumed invoice.
Ask the Non-Tourist Visa section to confirm the employer category, the current period-based charge and re-entry treatment for the actual application. The fee table also has a separate US-citizen working category with different duration and charge provisions, so nationality can matter as well as employer type. A general monthly example is not a reliable quote for every applicant. Retain the official assessed amount and payment reference with the application record.
Accompanying family members need their own recommendation details
The Gaddachauki immigration office’s working-visa FAQ says dependent applications need the government line agency’s recommendation to identify every dependant by name, passport number and relationship to the principal applicant. A worker’s recommendation that mentions only the employee should therefore be checked before the family submits its own applications. This is a document responsibility to discuss with the employer and recommending ministry.
The FAQ says a dependent spouse cannot take employment on that dependent permission and needs a separate working visa to do so. It also describes gratis treatment for children under ten and a period linked to the labour permit. Because this FAQ retains a US$60 monthly figure that differs from the department’s employer-category table, confirm the current dependent invoice as well. Do not use the spouse’s permission as evidence that two adults can start jobs under one approval.
Use the official payment route for the assessed application
The department’s notice about fraudulent visa websites says online visa-fee payments operate through Nepal’s official government system with the Financial Comptroller General Office and Nepal Clearing House Limited. It identifies immigration.gov.np and the NepaliPort government domains, including the card-payment address. The department says it has not authorised third-party websites, mobile applications or intermediaries to collect visa fees on its behalf.
This distinction matters when an employer, relocation provider or other person helps assemble the documents. Their assistance should not be confused with an official payment gateway or with authority to decide the visa. Payments through unauthorised channels may not be recognised. Open the named government payment resource from the official immigration service, verify the application reference and assessed amount, and keep the government receipt. The notice does not establish that a private service charge includes or replaces a government visa payment.
Check a failed payment before trying again
The official online payment manual describes checking payment status using the Submission ID and CAPTCHA on the card-payment page. It warns against paying twice for the same Submission ID and says government payments are non-refundable. If a payment page fails, verify the transaction state before retrying rather than treating a missing browser confirmation as proof that no money was collected.
The manual lists [email protected] for gateway issues, with the Submission ID, screenshot and application form, and [email protected] for immigration questions. Much of its illustrated application sequence concerns arrival and ETA services; those tourist selections are not instructions to apply for a working visa as a tourist. Use the employment application’s own assessed reference. The reviewed resources do not confirm automatic lawful-stay extension, an individual processing deadline or permission to start work merely because an application or payment is pending.
