KATHMANDU – Despite the lengthy and often frustrating process, the fees that the Nepal government charges its citizens for passport s remain the highest in all of South Asia.
The government currently charges Rs 5,000 ($57.27) to issue a passport with 60 pages through the normal process and Rs 10,000 ($114.54) to fast track the document. It takes around six weeks to get a passport through normal process and seven days through the fast track. This rate is almost double that of other South Asian countries. Other nations in the region with better per capita income issue passport s at much lower cost. In India, it costs IRs 1,000 ($20) and IRs 1,500 ($30) for a new passport with 36 pages and 60 pages respectively. The cost of acquiring a passport in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives is $30, $25, $25, $18.4 and $36 respectively. Sri Lanka issues a different passport for workers going to the Middle East and South Asian countries, which cost only $10.
Officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) admitted that the cost is steep for common people to bear, taking into account that service delivery is also slow. MoFA spokesperson Arjun Bahadur Thapa said that the cost was determined by the Finance Ministry.
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