Visas available to foreigners in Nepal

please, please, please correct me if I'm wrong. I was told and told again that there are only 2 kinds of visas available to foreigners in Nepal: tourist and business. A tourist visit limits your stay to 5 months per calendar year (Jan-Dec). However, if you're clever you come in Aug. and stay through May. That covers both trekking/climbing seasons, btw.
So much for the tourist visit. A business visa will allow u to stay in Nepal permanently. That's all the information I'm going to give you b/c that's all the information I'm sure of. I think it's possible you only need around $21000.00 USD. I'm not even sure you need a Nepali partner (I was told a foreigner can only 49% of the business and they I heard bad news: all  the Nepali partner has to is wait for to leave the country and he can legally seize your half the business without any compensation paid to you or your investment returned.  t think the best thing I can do is find a reliable immigration attorney in Kathnandu to start with, Good luck

Two sources connected with lawyers have indicated that a residential visa IS possible for foreigners over age 60 who plan to live in Nepal. The law asks for proof of at least $20,000 (USD) annual income and that $20,000 be spent in Nepal -- annual review/renewal on this.  Practical basis will also likely require that some corrupt gov't official be paid under the table.

My sources tell me that in Nepal... anything is possible...eventually. I trust the monastery (they want me to continue volunteer English teaching w/ them, as they consider me part of their "family") and plan to work w/ their attorney on this.

To get a business visa, you now need to show an investment of $50,000. You do not need to have a Nepali business partner. I own 2 businesses and neither have a Nepali owner. If you have a good immigration lawyer, you won't have to pay any corruption money either. In my 2 and a half years here, I have not paid a cent of 'black' money here. It just means that the process takes  a little bit longer, but it will still get done if you have a good lawyer.
There are 2 other ways to get long-term visas. One is a marriage visa, which is the cheapest and easiest to get. However, you do have to actually get married. The other is a student visa. You have to find a university who will sponsor you and attend a couple of classes a day. Some universities will take a higher fee to fake your attendance in order for you to get a visa. However, immigration has been cracking down on this corrupt practice and I have heard of some foreigners that have been forced to leave Nepal.

Hello everyone,

A new topic has been created about the Visas on the Nepal forum for more visibility.


Christine

Does anyone have recommendations for a lawyer(s) that are good with immigration law?  The U.S. embassy only has a general list and I've seen nothing more specific anywhere in this forum/site.

Thanks for your reply, Moodie. The answers to the questions, if I want to get married, if I want to go to school, are negative. However, I do want a Nepalese business partner. This a guy I've been doing business with for 2 years (as a client) and he has made a proposition whereby he would invest and own 51% of the business and I would provide capital and own 49% of the corporation. He has also agreed to invest 51% of the initial capital to get the business up and running. Can you point me in the direction of a good immigration lawyer?

Student and marriage visas are actually the easiest to get and the cheapest since you don't have to show any initial investment. I could refer my lawyer to you, but I only refer people to him that I have actually met and that I'm friends with. I have recommended people to him in the past who I have met just once and these people ignored his advice and completely wasted his time. As he is extremely busy managing many different foreigner's accounts, I don't want to be the guy known for sending him people who don't take his services on.
As for your business proposal that you just mentioned, I would recommend that you highly reconsider those percentages that you are quoting. This leaves your potential partner with complete control of the business. In my experience with doing business with the Nepalese, they will make ridiculous decisions without consultation. You are setting yourself up to be screwed over in the long-term.

Thanks, e_moodie. I trust my potential Nepalese partner to the extent that I believe he is a decent person (a former Sherpa mountain guide now running his own adventure service company) and he seems to have the capability to develop a business plan that seems to makes sense. But from what you said, he may not be all that trustworthy (which is scary). I really don't want to run the business, I simply want to invest my capital and possibly some of my time (I was a software developer in a prior lifetime), and with 51% ownership he would agree to run it (a hotel cum trekking service). That seemed fair to me but I am not going into an agreement with him as easily as I would purchase one of his trekking trips. I would like my own advisors, both Nepalese expats and lawyers, if possible.  I will visit KTH and Pokhara during the monsoon (May, June or July) and would like to have a meet with you, if you're available, or any other contacts you might suggest.   

I'm not a Nepali attorney, but what e-moodie is saying seems very wrong to me. Anyway, it really depends on how much you are needing to invest. I know someone who just rented a whole guest house for under $500 a month with no deposit. The entire furnishing of it shouldn't cost more than $2,000, so for most westerners, it's not that bad of a risk.

But you cannot do business on a student visa, and marriage visas require a Nepali family pulling the strings.

Check out my blog post to explain a bit how the bureaucracy works here. http://frugaltravelsnepal.blogspot.com/ … in%20Nepal

Also, volunteers and 'right off the boat' tourists are often exploited. http://frugaltravelsnepal.blogspot.com/ … in%20Nepal   

One of the Nepali's favorite scams is to find a Western business partner. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me privately. I'm an expat living here for over 3 years.

In order to get a business visa in Nepal, the government now needs you to show that you have invested $50,000 into the business. Ofcourse, you can start businesses in the country for much less.

SheHateMe, shoot me a pm when you are here. We can certainly arrange to meet.

e_moodie wrote:

SheHateMe, shoot me a pm when you are here. We can certainly arrange to meet.

Absolutely! 

Congratulations! Whatever you need in the way of encouragement, just let me know.