Residential Visa

Hi ErinErin and welcome to Expat.com!

Hope that you'll soon get responses.

Harmonie.

Hi Erin,

The rules and regulations around a residential visa are not intimately familiar to me, and I would have to advise you to contact a lawyer for all the fine details, but...

In line with other visa's I would expect that to get your residential visa renewed after the first year, you would have to prove yearly that you have actually spend at least US$ 20,000 (or eqv.) during the previous 12 months. Both by showing you transfered at least this amount from your home bank to your Nepalese bank account, and by showing you have spend this in your bookkeeping and be able to back this up with invoices, etc.

A friend of mine who lives in Nepal on a retirement visa has the same stipulation to spend at least US$ 20.000 yearly, and she has a very hard time finding ways to spend this much money on in Nepal. She used to fake bills and invoices, but since recently the tax office has started checking companies on VAT fraud, is has become a real pain to obtain enough real and/or fake bills to prove her expenditures.

I hope this helps some...


Jorge.

There are ways to stay longer without having to start a business. There are a couple of things you should not do. You should not go to the immigration office and ask one of the guys standing around the tables to 'help' tourists. These guys are scammers for the most part. You cannot tell who is legitimate and who isn't. You should never give them any money. You can read about all the visa types from the big signs on the wall. It is straight forward and very simple to understand.

The residential can be a bit difficult because the government wants the culture to remain intact. Please feel free to email me for more information. I'm in Nepal and just lost electricity. I do know of a couple of things...

Namaste Amanda

Thank you for your precious infos about residential visa. I'm also planning to move in Nepal very soon. I'm working for a nepali NGO called The WOmen's Foundation of Nepal and I've been several time in Nepal. You wrote the residential visa can be a bit difficult. What do u mean exactly? I have a small budget and today I'm not going to marry a nepali woman. What are my options?

Thanks in advance for your help

Stan

Nepal is the only country I know actually asks for a proof of spending, not enough just to transfer the money to your account.

[Moderated: off topic]

[Moderated: off topic]
Are you talking to me?  I don't need you to get a visa!

When I return to Nepal for a month (beginning at the end of March), I will likely be deciding whether Nepal will be a frequent "tourist" visit or whether I will relocate permanently.   I have read requirements on the Residential visa, so am interested in solid "inside" information on this.

Hello Erin,
Curious to know if you had indeed found your answer to the Residential Visa question, as I have the exact same inquiry.
Thanks, Lisa

Hi Lisa,

Note that the member ErinErin might no more be active on the forum as the topic was posted some two years back.

Please feel free to create a new topic on the Nepal forum if you need more information you are looking for.

Regards,

David.

Expat-blog team.

Stan,

If you are marrying a Nepali woman, aren't you automatically qualified for a long stay?

Government may not give you citizenship but you are still entitled for a spouse visa of some sort, I think.

resindial visa is given on showing an investment of minimum 100000us

From what I've read at Nepal immigration webpage, the $100,000 is only one of four categories of people who can apply for residential visa.  Not every permanent expat is planning to start/support a business in Nepal.

so brother than you know better than me carry on than

Copy and pasting from Nepal Immigration website follows.  Note: some provisions are very unclear (to me) and some do not even make sense (since the number and letter cited does not exist)... so would appreciate details from anyone with direct experience.


1.The following foreigners and their family intending to spend life in Nepal shall be granted the residential visa:
       1. Persons with international reputation,
       2. Persons capable of rendering outstanding contribution to the economic, social and cultural growth of Nepal ,
       3. Person, who has invested minimum one hundred thousand US dollars or convertible foreign currency equivalent thereto in industrial enterprise of Nepal at once.
       4. Any foreigner intending to spend life in Nepal without carrying on any business.
  2.  The mission recommending for residential visa to the foreigner as mentioned in other clauses save the foreigner as mentioned in clause (d) of sub-rule (1) shall send the recommendation along with the application filled up by such foreigner to the Department through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
3.    Any foreigner intending to obtain the residential visa under clause (e) of sub rule (1) has to submit a certified document of the source of income of 20 thousand American Dollars or convertible foreign currency to be spent in Nepal and any foreigner intending to renew has to submit a certificate showing that he will spend or has spent in Nepal at least the same amount at one time or at several times per year.
4.   Any foreigner intending to obtain the residential visa has to submit to the Department or the concerned mission an application in the format as referred to in Appendix 4.
    The format of the residential visa shall be as referred to in Appendix 4 (a).


It has a note at the bottom asking for 3 documents. Two are easy to understand, but I do not understand the following:

Recommendation letter from the concerned Diplomatic Mission in Nepal.

Maf garnus buy sorry brother but i am on a business visa reading what you sent i also think doesn t make sense I suggest you to get a lawywer to go to immigration and ask particulars himself

Residential visa lists 4 categories -- the 3 listed that do not require $100k USD business investment:
       1. Persons with international reputation,
       2. Persons capable of rendering outstanding contribution to the economic, social and cultural growth of Nepal ,
       
       4. Any foreigner intending to spend life in Nepal without carrying on any business.

Any insights on what these actually mean in RL would be appreciated.

Hi,

I appreciate your efforts for finding information online, but just as much as Nepal has a very different culture in real life then the USA, it also has a very different culture regarding providing online information. Having lived in Nepal for quite some years now, it still baffles me every time and time again how poor the quality of the information is that you will find online.

Almost always you will find that the government websites are short on relevant information, and if you do find something that seems to be informative, it is many times outdated and no-one cares for updating the websites with new regulations or new facts.

The only thing you can really do is look at the websites for getting an impression of what might be possible.
There is really no need for trying to analyze or understand in detail the information listed, for the current situation will most likely be different anyway.

You have done what you could - you have been asking online if anyone has gone the 'resedential visa' path and if they could give you any insights. Nobody answered your questions, either because the people who have gone that path are not members of this community, or because hardly anyone has gone that path.

I do not believe you will find the information you need online. You will have to come to Nepal on a tourist visa (like everyone does) and visit the immigration office to ask questions there. I would advise you to go there together with your lawyer, for that will make things a lot more easy, but if you like a good bureaucratic struggle, then you could go there by yourself also.

But do keep in mind that there is a good reason for keeping online information inaccurate and scarce though...
They want you to visit their offices and ask questions which will have many unclear answers!
How else could you pass them any 'under table money' if there is no real table for passing it under in between you and the officer in question..?

And before you say that you don't want to go that path...
You come to Nepal on a tourist visa which allows you to stay a maximum of 5 months per calendar year.
That means that if they stall you for 5 months without giving you the residential visa you would like to have, then you will have to leave the country because your visa runs out.
See if they care...

JW, You nailed it! Thanks so much.