In about 3 years, 88,000 students have received their foreign travel authorization (NOC) at home. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology started distributing NOCs online (at home) from 2080 Jestha 1 (May 15, 2023). According to Birendra Jung Thapa, head of the ministry's NOC branch, 339,851 NOCs have been issued since then. Of these, 88,480 have received their NOCs online. 26 percent of the applicants have received their NOCs from home. 74 percent of the students have received their NOCs by attending the NOC branch office in Sanothimi.

Since the COVID pandemic (2078 BS), more than one lakh students have been taking NOCs for foreign studies annually. According to the branch's data, out of 98,997 NOCs issued in 2023, 13,773 people had printed them online. In 2024, out of 106,881 NOCs issued, 34,486 people obtained NOCs online. In 2025, the branch issued 123,092 NOCs. Out of these, 29,300 people obtained NOCs online. In 2026, out of 10,931 NOCs issued, all were obtained online, the branch said.

Shri Prasad Bhattarai, Joint Secretary of the Higher Education Division, said that the branch started distributing NOCs online by networking with the grade 12 academic certificates at that time. Last week, the Ministry of Education stated that online NOCs were further organized by establishing ‘networking’ with Tribhuvan and Kathmandu Universities. However, Education Minister Sasmit Pokharel has mentioned this work as an achievement of his one-month tenure.

The ministry has set a target that 50 percent of the applicants will get NOCs online at home after networking with the universities. After this arrangement, students going to study abroad on the basis of educational certificates from Tribhuvan University and Kathmandu University, including the board, will also be able to get NOC online at home. There is an arrangement to apply online, pay the revenue/fee after it is verified by the branch, and print the issued NOC from home. But if the student makes any mistake while applying online, the branch employees said that they should be present at the branch for verification along with their educational certificates along with personal documents. They say that only 26 percent of students are able to get the certificate at home due to errors during the online application and that the percentage will increase only if the errors are reduced. ‘Even if there is a small error in any detail while applying or the documents are insufficient, the applicant himself should be present at the branch for verification,’ said an employee.

The then Education Minister Ashok Kumar Rai had launched the online NOC system. It was arranged that online applications for NOC could be submitted from 12 Bhadra 2077. To obtain the approval letter, students were forced to go to the branch office in Sanothimi, Bhaktapur. Since Jestha 2080, arrangements had been made for students to download and print the NOC provided by the branch after verifying the application submitted by the student from a convenient location. Joint Secretary Bhattarai said that the efforts to make the NOC easy, simple, factual and foreign currency exchange manageable through an online system had been started since 2080.

The Ministry of Education had issued the Foreign Study Approval Directive, 2079 BS to make the service delivery of the Foreign Study Approval Branch simple, easy, effective and technology-friendly. Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is also the Prime Minister and Minister of Education, had approved the directive on 18 Falgun 2079 BS. The directive states that NOC can be distributed through an electronic system. After that, the ministry had connected the National Examination Board, Rastra Bank, and Immigration Department to ‘networking’ in 2080 BS. After that, arrangements were made for students who had obtained a grade 12 educational certificate from the board to get the facility to study for the graduation level online. This removed the obligation for students to visit the office to apply, pay fees and obtain permits.

The guideline has made arrangements for students to fill out separate forms for each level, subject and educational institution through the online application system. Then, students receive a Master ID through registration using the official email and mobile number according to the details of their national identity card or citizenship. The guideline has also made arrangements for students to be informed online or via SMS about insufficient documents and whether the application has been approved or rejected. After receiving the information about the approval, the student must pay the fee online. Then, the acceptance letter with the QR code is provided to the applicant. According to the guideline, the authenticity and authenticity of the acceptance letter can be checked through the QR code.