Nepal Business Visa
Five years, renewable, for foreign investors and the authorised representatives of companies registered in Nepal.
The visa fee is not the cost. The cost is the foreign investment approval behind it, which since 2022 requires NPR 20,000,000 of incoming capital. Most people researching this route work from older figures, and their applications fail at the Department of Industry before immigration sees them.
Programme snapshot
| Item | Current rule |
|---|---|
| Main audience | Foreign investors, authorised representatives, export trade investors |
| Route family | Business |
| Validity | Up to 5 years per issuance |
| Stay per entry | Up to 5 years |
| Threshold | USD 1,000 for 5 years at or below NPR 100,000,000 of investment; USD 500 above that; free at or above NPR 1,000,000,000, 2026. The investment itself must clear NPR 20,000,000 |
| Renewal | Renewable while investment and tax compliance continue, with monitoring and progress reports |
| Settlement | None |
| PR clock | None |
| Citizenship clock | None in practice on this route |
| Family | Partial. Dependants can be endorsed, each paying fees |
| Local employment | No. A business visa does not authorise work for the company |
| Tax headline | Company profits taxed at 25 percent standard rate. Personal residency is fact-specific |
| Processing | Department of Industry recommendation first, with personal attendance for first-time applicants, then immigration. Weeks, not days |
Application flow
- Incorporate the Nepali company and obtain foreign investment approval above the NPR 20,000,000 floor.
- Bring the capital in through banking channels and obtain a Foreign Investment Acceptance letter. Cash and informal transfers do not count.
- File for the Department of Industry recommendation. First-time applicants attend in person.
- Apply to the Department of Immigration with the recommendation, company documents and tax registration.
- Pay the fee for the band your investment falls into.
- File annual progress and monitoring reports, which renewal depends on.
Good fit
A founder or investor putting serious capital into a registered Nepali company with a real office, local staff and a trading history. The five year stamp removes the annual queue for someone already committed to operating here.
Poor fit
Anyone treating USD 50,000 or USD 100,000 as enough. Both sit below the NPR 20,000,000 floor, so the Department of Industry will not recommend the application. Also a poor fit for anyone who intends to work in the business day to day, and for passive investors buying property.
Watchpoints
- The investment floor is NPR 20,000,000, set in October 2022. That was about USD 154,000 at the time. Guides quoting NPR 10,000,000, NPR 5,000,000 or USD 100,000 predate the change and will fail.
- USD 100,000 is a different category. It is the investor Residential Visa threshold, not the business visa floor. The two numbers sit in different instruments and do not match, and the higher one governs in practice.
- The fee bands are keyed to NPR 100,000,000 and NPR 1,000,000,000. Sitting just under a boundary costs money, so structure the capital deliberately.
- A business visa is not a work permit. The Department of Immigration states that the category does not authorise every form of employment, and enforcement has tightened. Running the company needs a Working Visa on top.
- Money must arrive through banking channels. Without a Foreign Investment Acceptance letter there is no approval, and no later paperwork fixes a cash transfer.
- Five years is not five years of certainty. Renewal depends on tax clearance and a monitoring report, so a dormant company loses the visa.
Sources
- Department of Immigration, visa fees and documents, checked 2026-10-22
- Department of Immigration, visa information, checked 2026-10-22
- Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act 2075 (2019), checked 2026-10-22