| Using Jurisdiction: |  Nepal |
| Document Type: | E-Passport |
| Purpose: | Identification |
| Eligibility: | Nepal citizenship |
| Expiration: | 10 years from the date of issuance |
| Cost: | Rs. 5,000 (adult 34 pages), Rs. 10,000 (adult 64 pages), Rs. 12,000 (Fast track service, 34 pages) |
A Nepalese passport (Nepali: नेपाली राहदानी) is issued from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nepal to Nepali citizens for the purpose of international travel. The Department of Passport (DoP), a Department under Ministry of Foreign Affairs functions as the issuing authority and is responsible for issuing Nepali passports on application to all eligible Nepali citizens. It enables the bearer to travel internationally and serves as proof of Nepali citizenship.[1]
Ordinary Nepali passports are chocolate brown in color with a chip symbol on their cover, which is commonly known as e-passport.[1] It has Coat of arms of Nepal emblazoned in the center of the front cover. The words Nepali: "राहदानी" and "नेपाल " are inscribed above the coat of arms and words English: "PASSPORT" and "NEPAL" are inscribed below the coat of arms. The ordinary e-passport contains either 34 pages or 66 pages.[1]
The early passports in Nepal were used for internal and external travel for religious and business purposes. The oldest passport in Nepal is a handwritten passport issued in 1957 BS to a person named Kaliprasad (no surname disclosed) and history ten porters to travel to Butwal and Taulihawa from Kathmandu. The passport holder is identified with their physical description because there was no photography available at that time. A guarantor was needed to issue the passport. These old passports are showcased in the passport museum in Kathmandu.[2]
The modern passports were issued in 2012 BS. The first of this kind was issued in 10 Shrawan 2012 BS which was issued by the secretary of the ministry. These passports were in a form of sheet paper. The booklet form of the passport was issued in the 1960s. It is estimated that about 1 lakh passport was issued in sheet paper form.[2] Up to 2052 BS, all passports were issued in Kathmandu only. This was changed in 2052 BS to issue a passport from five development regions as per government's policy of decentralization.[3]
As a member of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Nepal was obliged to issue machine-readable passports (MRP) after 2010. Nepal stopped issuing hand-written passports on 31 March 2010.
On 17 November 2021, the first electronic passport, or e-passport was introduced and Nepalese writer Satya Mohan Joshi was the first to receive the e-passport.[4] [5]
The Nepalis e-passports are produced by IDEMIA, the software that the Passport office uses is also from the same company.[6]
All traditional hand written passports were honoured as a bona fide travel document issued by the Nepalese Government until 24 November 2015. All traditional passports are withdrawn from circulation as of November 2015.
Each passport contains a note in English from the foreign ministry that is addressed to the authorities of all other states, identifying the bearer as a citizen of that state and requesting that he or she be allowed to pass and be treated according to international norms. The note inside Nepalese passport says:
Current e-passport contains the following data:
There are 4 different types of passports issued by the government of Nepal. These are ordinary, official, diplomatic and travel documents. These passports are distinguished by their cover. The cover of ordinary e-passports is chocolate-brown. Diplomatic e-passports have a crimson-red cover, official e-passports navy-blue, and peacekeepers' e-passports are tiger-orange colour.[7]
As of 2022, an ordinary e-passports is issued for NPR 5,000 (adult 34 pages), NPR 10,000 (adult 66 pages), NPR 12,000 (Fast track service, 34 pages), NPR 20,000 (Fast track service, 66 pages).[1] Applicants for Nepalese passports are required to pay the authorized passport issuing office a sum of NPR 15000 or NPR 12,000 for issuance of passport on same day of application or for the day after the day of application respectively. Or, the sum of 10,000.00 (US$90.76) as fees for an Ordinary passport for urgent processing which takes 3–4 business day and NPR 5,000 for normal processing. Urgent processing is done by the ministry of foreign affairs and takes 2 to 3 days. Normal processing takes around 4 weeks but sometime it may take up to 6 weeks and is done from the Chief District officer's office. However, the Official and the Diplomatic passports are exempted from fees.[8] [9]
The passports are valid for 10 years from the date of issue and are issued by the Central Passport Office, District Administration Office in all 77 district headquarters as well as Nepalese embassies and consulates abroad. However, as per new regulation, validity is for 5 years in case of minor under 10 years of age.
See main article: Visa requirements for Nepalese citizens. In 2024, Nepalese citizens have visa-free or visa on arrival access to 39 countries and territories, ranking the Nepalese passport 98th in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index. Passports are not needed by citizens of India and Nepal to travel within each other's country by land or by air, but some identification may be required for border crossing or at the airport.
