In the last six months, 333 foreign nationals have been arrested on charges of engaging in illegal activities while entering the country on tourist and business visas.

The Immigration Department has deported them after collecting fines for taking them on charges of engaging in other activities prohibited by Nepalese law while obtaining a visa for a specific purpose.

The department has stated that the foreign nationals arrested in the six months from Shrawan 2082 to mid-Poush include those who opened a 'marriage bureau' and collected money and sent women from Nepal to China, as well as those involved in promoting Christianity. The number of foreign nationals deported in one year in 2025 was 501.

Tikaram Dhakal, Director of the Immigration Department, said that those arrested ranged from violating immigration laws to being involved in other criminal offenses. 'The department has taken 333 people into custody for illegally staying after exceeding the prescribed visa period and other criminal offenses, and some have been handed over to the police office for further investigation,' said Director Dhakal. The rest have been deported to their respective countries without being allowed to enter Nepal for a certain period.

The department arrested Yongho Lee, an American citizen of Korean origin, on 19th January for allegedly extorting money by displaying the names of leaders of various political parties in Nepal on a website. The department has stated that an investigation is ongoing against him. The immigration department arrested Chihao Liu, a Chinese citizen who was illegally operating a marriage bureau by renting a house in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, on 11th December.

Earlier, the department had arrested 4 Chinese citizens from Sohrakhutte on 28th Kartik. They were taken into custody after raiding a house in Sohrakhutte on charges of illegally sending Nepali women to China through a marriage bureau. The arrested Ruizheng Alan Wang, Liu Yufan, Rui Xiao and Chai Yan Bolai were each fined 50,000 rupees and deported to their own countries.

An American citizen who was involved in promoting Christianity under the cover of tourist and business visas and another Chinese citizen who was involved in suspicious activities on a business visa were also arrested in Kathmandu on 11th Magh.

The Chinese national, who first entered Nepal on a tourist visa in 2012, had stayed there on business visas 13 times. During the investigation, it was revealed that he had established 6 different hotel/commercial companies but had not brought any investment from abroad and was carrying out other activities by showing the company just to get a visa.

It was found that he had opened Yan Shopping Hotel and Restaurant, Hotel with Restaurant Yan, Zhongbin International Cargo Company, Moa Ying Hotel and Restaurant, Spirit Mangki Information Technology and Shao Jiaxun Hotel with Restaurant Company, but it was found that he had not made any financial transactions through these companies.

An American citizen who had been living in Nepal on a tourist visa and a business visa for the past 4 years and was involved in Christian propaganda under the guise of various educational works was also arrested in Kathmandu on the same day. He had opened a Calvary Service Center in Sangachokgadi, Sindhupalchowk and had mentioned the company's address as Lalitpur-18 Saimbu, but it was found that he was involved in religious propaganda by renting a house in Godavari Municipality and illegally operating a children's home. Both have been deported and are not allowed to enter Nepal.

In 2025, 501 foreign nationals were arrested, fined and deported to their own countries on charges of illegal activities while coming on a tourist visa. Before that, 407 in 2024, 459 in 2023, 570 in 2022, 308 in 2021, 332 in 2020, 671 in 2019, 678 in 2018 and 559 foreign nationals were taken into custody and deported by the Immigration Department.

As the number of foreign nationals entering for one purpose and engaging in other activities increased, the department has recently tightened the regulation and surveillance by establishing a system related to foreign national movement management from 1 January 2026 to monitor, manage and facilitate their travel.

While the Foreign National Management Information System (FNMIS) has been launched in the Kathmandu Valley from 1 January, the Immigration Department is preparing to implement it mandatorily outside the valley from 1 March.

Where have they gone after entering Nepal? What activities do they do? The department has stated that this system has been introduced to regulate and facilitate travel after the increase in illegal immigration and other illegal activities due to the lack of accurate records. When foreign citizens use the services of any sector, their details including nationality, name, passport and visa are added to the system developed by the immigration department, an integrated report will be created on whether or not they have worked according to the law, and this will benefit both national security and tourist safety, and this is why it is being implemented strictly, according to department officials.