Visas, passports and entry rules in 2026, and the three checks before you fly

Before any international trip, check three things: that your passport has enough validity left, whether your destination needs a visa or an electronic travel authorisation, and the rules of every country you change planes in. For Nepal, most nationalities get a tourist visa on arrival at Kathmandu airport for US$30, US$50 or US$125, Indian citizens need no visa at all, and Chinese and SAARC citizens pay nothing. The UK, the US and Canada now charge visa-free visitors for an electronic authorisation, and the EU will soon do the same. This guide collects what to check, with a link to our full guide on each.

Visas for Nepal

Most visitors buy a Nepal tourist visa on arrival or online, with no embassy visit. The Department of Immigration charges US$30 for 15 days, US$50 for 30 days and US$125 for 90 days. Indian citizens need no visa under the 1950 Indo-Nepal treaty. Chinese citizens and citizens of the other SAARC countries receive the visa free of charge, SAARC citizens for the first 30 days in a visa year. Extensions are available in Kathmandu and Pokhara, up to 150 days in a calendar year. The step-by-step version is in our Nepal visa on arrival guide, and the rules for your passport are on our Nepal visa pages by nationality, for example for US, UK, Australian, Indian and German citizens.

Electronic travel authorisations

The UK, the US and Canada already ask visa-free visitors for an electronic authorisation before they fly, and the EU will join them. The UK’s ETA costs £20, the US ESTA $40.27 and Canada’s eTA CAN$7, and each is tied to your passport. The EU’s ETIAS will cost €20 once it starts. Separately, the EU’s Entry/Exit System now records non-EU travellers’ fingerprints and photographs at the border. What each one costs and how long it lasts is in four travel authorisations, and none is a visa; the difference between an ETA, an eVisa and a visa is explained in ETA vs eVisa vs visa.

Your passport

A passport that has not expired can still stop you boarding. Many countries require six months’ validity from the day you arrive, and Nepal asks for six months beyond your stay; our guide to the six-month rule lists who enforces it. If yours is running short, how to renew a passport fast covers processing times. A torn page or water damage can make a passport invalid, as damaged passports explains, and if it is lost or stolen abroad, the first 48 hours matter most.

Staying longer, working and overstaying

A tourist visa is for tourism, and the limits are stricter than many travellers assume. Working remotely for your own employer is expressly allowed only in a few places, among them the UK since January 2024; see working remotely on a tourist visa, and for Nepal specifically, working remotely from Pokhara. Overstaying, even by a few days, can bring fines and entry bans, as the consequences of overstaying sets out.

Transit countries

The countries you only change planes in can still set rules for you. Some allow visa-free transit if the ticket is right, as with China’s 240-hour transit. Others restrict what you carry: medicines legal at home can be controlled in transit, as described in travelling with prescription medication, and satellite messengers are restricted in India, as in India’s transit rules for satellite messengers.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

Sources: Nepal Department of Immigration, tourist visa fees and extension rules; our Nepal visa pages, reviewed August 2026; gov.uk (UK ETA), canada.ca (eTA), US Customs and Border Protection (ESTA) and the European Commission (ETIAS, EES), as cited in our linked guides; GOV.UK Immigration Rules on permitted activities; read between 25 September and 2 October 2026. This is general information; check the official source for your passport before you travel.

Photos via Pexels: Marta Branco (cover), Harm Jakob Tolsma, Tima Miroshnichenko, Kenneth Surillo, Andrea Piacquadio, Angelyn Sanjorjo.