In the past year, 501 foreign nationals have been deported from Nepal. They were deported for violating immigration laws and engaging in criminal offenses while residing in Nepal.

According to Tikaram Dhakal, Director of the Immigration Department, 437 of those who were deported were found to have overstayed their visas and 64 others were deported after serving their prison sentences. Last year, the department had deported 404 foreigners.

Foreign nationals who have come to Nepal on tourist visas are involved in crimes including cybercrime, drugs, sexual exploitation, gold and foreign currency smuggling, wildlife smuggling, and other activities.

In the last one year alone, 120 Chinese nationals have been deported. Chinese nationals have been involved in crimes including illegal activities such as gangs opening marriage bureaus in Kathmandu under the guise of arranging marriages for Nepali women and sending them to China, gold and foreign currency smuggling, wildlife smuggling, and cybercrime. Bangladeshi nationals have been involved in cybercrime, fraud, and forgery.

Citizens from countries including the UK, the US and others have been involved in forcible conversions under the guise of social work through NGOs. According to the department, out of the 501 citizens from 63 different countries deported in 2025, China was the largest, followed by Bangladesh with 75.

Third, 35 Americans, fourth, 22 British, and fifth, 18 Pakistanis were subject to immigration action for overstaying. They have been deported with a ban on entry into Nepal for 2 to 10 years depending on the offense.

According to the records kept at the Nepali ports of the department, among those involved in illegal activities in Nepal, 468 were deported in 2023, 570 in 2022, 308 in 2021, 332 in 2020, 671 in 2019, 678 in 2018, and 559 in 2017.

Dhakal, Director of the Department, said that the Foreign Citizen Management Information System, which was put into use on Thursday, will make it easier to monitor and regulate whether foreign citizens are staying legally or not. 'Yesterday, we were monitoring through our mechanisms. Now, we are also going to regulate who is doing what where from the organizations that provide services to foreign citizens. The sole purpose of this is to ensure that foreign citizens coming to Nepal conduct their activities in accordance with the law. We also work to make their stay organized and safe. If anyone does something wrong, they will be brought to justice according to the law.'

Since the government mechanism does not work effectively in regulating, monitoring and managing the activities of foreign citizens from the time they enter Nepal to the time they leave, they misuse their visas and engage in other activities. 

Although there are three-tier mechanisms to regulate, monitor and control the activities of foreign citizens in the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Immigration Department and all district administrations, they have not been able to work according to their responsibilities. To overcome this challenge, the Immigration Department has launched the 'Foreign National Management Information System' (FNMIS) from Thursday (January 1, 2026) to regulate/monitor and facilitate travel by tracking where foreign nationals stay from their entry from international points until their return. What do they do and whether they have complied with visa laws or not. The department has stated that this will facilitate the collection of 'real-time information' on whether foreign nationals who have come to Nepal on tourist visas have stayed in accordance with the law and to take action accordingly.

The department claims that this service will also help in strengthening national security. With the development of this system, the details of foreign nationals, including their nationality, name, passport and visa, will be linked to the system developed by Immigration through which they avail services in whichever area. This will make it easier to identify details of whether foreign nationals have stayed or not in accordance with the law.

The Immigration Department has stated that this system has been launched to make the stay of foreign nationals legal and systematic by linking hotels/lodges, domestic air service companies, helicopter companies, trekking agencies, public transport services, mountaineering agencies, tours and travel agencies, telecom service providers, banks and financial institutions, foreign exchange centers, tourist guides, tourist police, and other organizations related to tourists to the immigration system.