Before you start

A job with a Nepal-registered employer that has headroom in its foreign-worker quota
A labour permit (shram swikriti) from the Department of Labour and Occupational Safety
A recommendation from the line ministry regulating the employer's sector
Evidence, normally through local advertisement, that the role could not be filled by a Nepali candidate

Step-by-step

1
Check the employer's foreign-worker headroom before accepting
Nepali practice constrains the proportion of a company's workforce that may be foreign — commonly cited at around five per cent, with a small fixed allowance for foreign-invested companies. A role can be genuine and still be unpermittable. Ask the employer to confirm its quota position in writing before you resign from anything.
Via employerWho: YouBefore accepting the offer
2
Have the employer obtain the labour permit
The Department of Labour and Occupational Safety issues the shram swikriti, normally after the role has been advertised locally and the employer has demonstrated that no suitable Nepali candidate was available. This is the long pole and it is entirely in the employer's hands.
Via employerWho: Your employerAllow months for a first-time sponsor
3
Obtain the line-ministry recommendation
The Department of Immigration issues a working visa only on a recommendation from the ministry that regulates the employer's sector — education, health, industry, and so on. Which ministry that is depends entirely on the employer's activity, and getting it wrong costs weeks.
Via employerWho: Your employer
4
Apply for the non-tourist visa at the Department of Immigration
With the labour permit, the recommendation and the work agreement in hand, the Department issues the non-tourist visa in the work category, for up to a year at a time. This is the last step, not the first.
In personWho: You
5
Count your tourist days against the calendar year, if you are bridging
The tourist allowance is 150 days per calendar year running 1 January to 31 December. Extensions are for a minimum of 15 days at USD 45 plus roughly USD 3 per additional day, and late extension attracts a daily fine on top. Applying online still requires you to appear in person before your current visa expires.
In personWho: You
6
Renew annually and keep the underlying permit alive
The visa is renewed for as long as the labour permit and the line-ministry recommendation are maintained. If the permit lapses, the basis for the visa lapses with it — the two are not independent.
In personWho: YouAnnually

Documents you’ll need

Passport
Labour permit from the Department of Labour and Occupational Safety
Line-ministry recommendation letter
Work agreement and employment contract
Employer's registration and tax documents

Things most newcomers don’t know

The 150-day tourist allowance runs on the calendar year, and that catches people who plan on a rolling year.

Nepal caps tourist-visa stay at 150 days per calendar year, 1 January to 31 December. Someone who arrives in September and stays through the following April is drawing on two separate annual budgets, which sounds generous until they realise the second budget is what they need for the rest of that year. A rolling-twelve-month mental model produces exactly the wrong answer in both directions. Count against the calendar, and note that the extension must be applied for before the current visa expires, in person, even if lodged online first.

Source: Department of Immigration

Three ministries, in order, and immigration is last.

The Department of Immigration will issue a working visa only on the strength of a labour permit from the Department of Labour and Occupational Safety plus a recommendation from the line ministry that regulates your employer's sector. That order is fixed. People turn up at immigration first because that is where visas come from in most countries, and are turned away. An employer that has never sponsored a foreigner will not know the sequence either — establish in writing who is obtaining what before you give notice anywhere.

Source: Department of Immigration

The foreign-worker quota can make a genuine job unpermittable.

Nepali practice limits the share of a company's workforce that may be foreign, commonly cited at around five per cent, with a small fixed allowance for foreign-invested companies, and requires that the role be advertised locally first. A small Nepali employer may simply have no headroom regardless of how much they want you. This is not a formality that gets waved through, and it is worth asking the employer to confirm their quota position before you make any irreversible decision.

Source: Department of Labour and Occupational Safety

Nepal has no digital nomad visa, and the tourist cap is the binding constraint on remote workers.

There is no category for a foreign national earning from outside Nepal with no Nepali employer, no Nepali company and no qualifying investment. The routes are the working visa, the business visa for approved investors under FITTA, the residential visa on USD 100,000 invested or USD 20,000 a year of documented income, study, and family. For everyone else the 150-day annual tourist allowance is the ceiling, and working on a tourist visa is not permitted.

Source: Department of Immigration

Common mistakes to avoid

Treating the 150-day allowance as a rolling year rather than a calendar one.
Going to the Department of Immigration before the labour permit exists.
Accepting a role without confirming the employer's foreign-worker quota headroom.
Applying for an extension online and assuming you need not appear in person before expiry.
Planning a remote-work move around a nomad visa that does not exist.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.