Kathmandu, February 4 China has effected up to three-fold hike in visa fee for Nepalis travelling to the northern neighbour. The hike will come into effect on February 17. Although there has been no change in the fee the embassy of China in Kathmandu charges, the hike is due to an additional service charge being levied by the newly-established Chinese Visa Application Service Centre in Kathmandu. In fact, service charge in most of the categories is higher than visa fee. The service centre was set up at Rising Mall, Durbar Marg, on January 31. According to a notice published by the embassy’s consular section on January 30, Nepali nationals holding ordinary passports applying for general visa to China have to go to the service centre for submitting visa applications after January 31. As per the brochure published by the service centre, service charge has been set at Rs 3,900 for regular visa applications in which applicants get visas in four working days; Rs 5,850 for Express 2 applications in which applicants get visas in three working days; and Rs 7,800 for Express 1 applications for getting visas the next day after submission of the application. These charges are in addition to the visa fee charged by the embassy, which has not changed. The embassy fee for regular applications for single-entry visa has been set at Rs 2,200; Rs 3,300 for double-entry visa; Rs 4,400 for six-month multiple-entry visa; Rs 6,400 for oneyear multiple-entry visa and Rs 1,750 for single-entry group visa. Embassy fees for Express 2 visa applications have been set at Rs 4,900, Rs 6,000, Rs 7,100, Rs 9,300 and Rs 3,100, respectively, for the aforementioned visas; Express 1 fees have been set at Rs 6,200, Rs 7,300, Rs 8,400, Rs 10,600 and Rs 3,750, respectively. After the new service charge comes into force, Nepali travellers applying for single entr y-visa through regular application will have to pay Rs 6,100 (Rs 2,200 + Rs 3,900), Express 2 visa seekers Rs 10,750 (Rs 4,900 + Rs 5,850) and Express 1 applicants Rs 14,000 (Rs 6,200 + Rs 7,200). For double-entry visa, regular visa application will cost Rs 7,200 (Rs 3,300 + Rs 3,900); Express 2 visas Rs 11,850 (Rs 6,000 + Rs 5,850) and Express 1 visas Rs 15,100 (Rs 7,300 + Rs 7,800). For six-month multiple entry visa, regular applicants will have to pay Rs 8,300 (Rs 4,400 + Rs 3,900), Express 2 applicants Rs 12,950 (Rs 7,100 + Rs 5,850) and Express 1 applicants Rs 16,200 (Rs 8,400 + Rs 7,800). For one-year multiple entry visa, regular applicants will have to shell out Rs 10,500 (Rs 6,600 + Rs 3,900), Express 2 applicants Rs 15,150 (Rs 9,300 + 5,850) and Express 1 applicants Rs 18,400 (Rs 10,600 + Rs 7,800). For single-entry group visa, regular applicants will have to pay Rs 5,650 (Rs 1,750 + Rs 3,900), Express 2 applicants Rs 8,950 (Rs 3,100 + Rs 5,850) and Express 1 applicants Rs 11,550 (Rs 3,750 + Rs 7,800). The Chinese Visa Application Service Centre is a private Chinese company offering visa processing service to Chinese embassies and consulates-general. It has branches in 92 countries, with the Nepal office being its 92nd branch, according to Subrat Poudel, a staff member at the service centre. Poudel said although the centre had already started accepting applications, the official inauguration would be done on February 17. “We will start levying the service charge after the official inauguration on February 17. So far, we’ve only been levying the embassy charges,” said Poudel. He said the new rates were set by the service centre’s headquarters in Beijing in coordination with the embassy. The Chinese visa fee hike comes at a time when Nepal has been providing free on-arrival visas to Chinese nationals for around three years now. Chinese tourists arriving at Tribhuvan International Airport will have options to apply for 15-, 30-, and 90-day visas at TIA’s immigration office. Moreover, they can extend the visas to up to 150 days from the Department of Immigration. They do not have to pay any charges to the Nepal government.