Kathmandu, July 22

A German national wishing to come to Nepal on August 11 wrote an email to THT saying he was told by a staffer of the Consulate Office of Nepal in Munich to apply for his visa as late as possible as the consulate did not have enough visa stickers.

“Yes, your Government raised the fee for visas….  But would have been better also to print visa stickers!” the man wrote.

The government had, on 26 May 2019, decided to revise visa fees for tourists, which came into effect on July 17.

The German national stated in his mail that the consulate did not have new visa stickers.

I met the consul yesterday here at an event of Thailand. As I go to Nepal on 11th of August to produce my film, he asked me: Please come as late as possible as I have not received any stickers from Nepal yet, and I cannot give you visa right now, the man wrote in his email.

He wondered what would happen if people arrived at the airport with old visa.

“Will they have to pay a fine or apply for new visa? Visit Nepal Year 2020 is coming??” he further wrote.

Information Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Suresh Adhikari told THT that his ministry had sent visa stickers to multiple Nepali missions abroad five days ago. “We send visa stickers to our missions when they write to us seeking more stickers,” he said.

Department of Immigration provides visa stickers to MoFA.

Director General of Department of Immigration Ishwor Raj Poudel said that there could be shortage of visa stickers in some Nepali diplomatic missions mainly due to change in the visa fee rules. “Some diplomatic missions, which might have enough old stickers, might not have received new visa stickers due to procedural and postal delays,” he said and added that he had received information that 95 per cent of missions had already received new visa stickers.

Poudel said Nepal’s Ambassador to Germany Ramesh Prasad Khanal wrote to him on July 18 confirming the receipt of new visa stickers. Despite repeated attempts, THT could not contact any officials of Nepal’s Embassy in Germany.

As per the new provision, foreigners visiting Nepal on a 15-day multiple-entry tourist visa will have to pay $30 in fees, up from the earlier fee of $25.

Those obtaining 30-day multiple-entry tourist visa will have to pay $50, while those visiting Nepal on a 90-day visa will have to pay $125. Existing rates for the aforementioned visa types are $40 and $100, respectively.