Nepal’s Department of Immigration (DOI) announced last week that they have launched a new portal where foreigners can apply online for visa.

Shambhu Ghimire, Director of the DOI, said that the new online service is “…currently under trial. We plan to completely switch to the online application system from January next year if everything goes as planned.”

To apply for a  Nepal visa online:

• Fill out the online application form.

• Print out the visa receipt.

• Upon arrival in Nepal, present the visa receipt to the immigration officer, along with the visa fee and the required documents (passport and photo)

• The officer will issue the visa to you (by pasting the visa inside your passport)

We will all have to wait and hear from our volunteers and other travelers in the coming months whether filling out the visa form online before leaving for Nepal is worth the effort; eg makes the immigration process faster upon arrival in Nepal.

Regardless, at least Nepal is taking a step in the right direction in terms of moving the visa process to the Web.