In reply to nickinscottishmountains: Nick, it’s as Kimberley says below. I always fill in the online form that generates a barcode. As long as you can show a screenshot at the visa payment counter it’ll be accepted. Current flow, after landing and walking the two minutes to the arrivals hall (one large room) is:
1) show COVID vaccine record on paper or on a screenshot at the booth at entrance to the arrivals hall
2) either turn right and enter passport and other details into one of the four or five self-entry machines to generate a barcode and take a screenshot on your phone
OR, if you’ve entered details online before flying then forget step 2) and turn left directly to the visa payment counter. You can save half an hour by doing it online because the self-entry machines are a little complicated and there can be a queue. There’s always someone there to assist but you can avoid the hassle.
3) At the payment counter show a screenshot of your barcode from the self-entry machine or from your online form filled out pre arrival, pay the fixed visa fee according to your length of stay 15, 30 or 90 days. They’ll accept uk pounds and Euros but will convert exchange rate from usd. Around 120 usd for 90 days currently.
4) Take your payment receipt to one of the immigration counters for visa stamp in your passport,
All the above is done in one large room.
5) After immigration, turn lt, go down the escalator and turn right, through a full security check, and into the baggage area.
5) Walk out of the baggage area down a sloping tunnel 100 metres, to the lift / stairs and descend the one floor and you’ll then be at the exit to car park, meet and greet area etc. If you haven’t arranged a pick up then use the taxi booth upstairs before the lift. It’s around usd 20 to Thamel, pre payment and official.
There are SIM cards on sale between the baggage area and before the taxi booth/lifts or you can just buy one in Thamel or wherever you stay. They need passport etc and may take 15 mins to be set up. The best sim NTC or NCell depends on where you are going as the network coverage isn’t the same for both outside of Kathmandu.
I just left Nepal, in the UK for a few weeks now, then Tanzania for Kilimanjaro then back to Nepal end Oct 2023 to end May 2024. Give me an email if you are there same time. Regards Andrew
Post edited at 17:04