Foreign tourists may soon travel across Nepal using immigration app

Nepal is preparing a mobile-based system allowing foreign visitors to travel within the country without routinely carrying their physical passports Tourists will be able to store passport and visa details on an official immigration app and use them for domestic flights, hotel check-ins and other services The initiative will be linked to a nationwide database that tracks foreign nationals from their visa application until their departure from Nepal Foreign visitors may soon be able to travel within Nepal without routinely carrying their physical passports under a digital initiative being developed by the country’s Department of Immigration.The proposed “Passport-Free Travel” arrangement will allow foreign nationals to store scanned copies of their passports and visa details on the department’s official mobile application.After arriving in Nepal, visitors will have to install the app and submit the required information. Once their details have been registered and verified, they will be able to use the digital records while travelling within the country.“Then they can freely travel across the country without carrying their physical passports,” Department of Immigration director general Ram Chandra Tiwari said.The application is available on Android and Apple’s iOS platform, according to the department.Under the planned system, registered foreigners will not be required to present their physical passports when boarding domestic flights, checking into hotels, exchanging currency or arranging trips through travel and trekking agencies.“For example, they may forget their passport at a hotel while travelling and be unable to produce it when required,” Tiwari said. “By updating their information on the app, they will no longer have to worry about forgetting their passport at a hotel or elsewhere while they are inside Nepal.”37 tourists from Kerala’s Payyanur stranded in flood-hit NepalHe said legitimate visitors had sometimes encountered difficulties because they were unable to produce their passports when asked. In certain cases, foreigners had also been detained for failing to show the physical document.“Some foreigners have occasionally been arrested for failing to show their physical passports, too,” Tiwari said.The app is also expected to allow foreign nationals to apply for visa extensions digitally.The department said the arrangement would make immigration services simpler, more accessible and technology-driven. It is intended both to improve the experience of international visitors and to help the authorities track foreign nationals travelling across Nepal.The initiative is being prepared following the introduction of the Foreign Nationals Management Information System, or FNMIS, on 1 January.The nationwide digital database collects real-time information on foreign nationals from the point at which they apply for a visa until they leave Nepal.Hotels, airlines, travel and trekking agencies, currency exchange counters and other businesses serving foreign visitors are required to register with the system and update relevant information.The immigration department said 1,652 service providers had joined the system so far, while the movements of more than 180,000 foreign nationals had been recorded.Officials maintain that the database can help protect visitors and assist the authorities in investigating crimes or tracing foreigners during emergencies and natural disasters.Department spokesperson Tikaram Dhakal said wider participation by hotels and travel businesses could have helped the authorities locate foreign visitors who went missing after the 26 August floods.“Had all hotels and travel agencies been registered with the system, we could ascertain the whereabouts of foreign nationals who went missing following the 26 August floods,” Dhakal said.With IANS inputs