How to start a business in Nepal as a foreigner: foreign investment (FDI), step by step

Minimum

Rs 2 crore

IT, automatic route

No minimum

Approval, by law

7 days

Company tax

25%

Yes. A foreigner, or a company registered abroad, can own a business in Nepal through foreign direct investment (FDI, विदेशी लगानी). The law that governs it is the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act 2075 (FITTA), with its Regulations of 2077. Under it, you can invest in every industry except those on a short list in the Act's schedule. You can own up to 100% of the company in most of them.

There are four conditions. First, the business must not be on the negative list. Trekking agencies, retail shops, real estate trading, homestays and personal services are on it. Second, you invest at least Rs 2 crore as a foreign investor, about USD 132,300 at NRB's rate on 5 November 2026. Information technology businesses on the automatic route have no minimum. Third, the Department of Industry approves the investment before the company is registered. Fourth, the money comes in through a bank in convertible currency and is recorded with Nepal Rastra Bank. That record is what later lets you take profit out.

Foreign investment goes into a company or an industry (FITTA s.2(ञ)), not into the sole proprietorships and partnership firms Nepalis register. So the business is a company: a Nepali private limited company with foreign shareholders, a branch of your company abroad, or a liaison office that may not earn. This page goes through each, step by step, with the office, the time the law allows and the fee. It is the law as we read it on 5 November 2026. We are not lawyers or licensed advisers, and rules and fees change. The Department of Industry's One Stop Service Centre at Tripureshwor, Kathmandu, gives the binding answer for your case.

Search for the minimum foreign investment in Nepal and you will find Rs 5 crore, Rs 2 crore, USD 100,000 and USD 20,000, all stated with confidence. The rules changed six times in four years, and many pages were written between changes. This table lists each change with the official text that made it. Where a page you are reading disagrees, check its date against this.

Most foreigners set up a private limited company (प्राइभेट लिमिटेड कम्पनी) in Nepal and hold its shares. The company is a Nepali company: it signs contracts, rents premises, hires staff and pays tax in its own name. You own it through your shares, alone or with a Nepali partner in a joint venture (संयुक्त लगानी). FITTA lets one foreign investor own all of it; DoI's own FAQ says a single foreigner can set up a company without a local or foreign partner in most industries.

A company registered abroad can instead open a branch office (शाखा कार्यालय) under section 154 of the Companies Act 2063. It needs the permission of the body concerned; a contract with a government body counts as permission. Branches mostly serve foreign contractors on a project. A liaison office (सम्पर्क कार्यालय) is cheaper and simpler but may not earn any income in Nepal. OCR registers either within 30 days of a complete application, the Act says.

Section 3(3) of FITTA lets the government set the smallest foreign investment it will approve, by notice in the Nepal Gazette. The notice now in force was published on 2079/07/28 (14 November 2022). It sets Rs 2 crore per foreign investor and repealed the Rs 5 crore set in 2019. At NRB's buying rate of Rs 151.13 to the dollar on 5 November 2026, that is about USD 132,300. The rupee figure is the rule, so the dollar amount moves with the rate. See today's exchange rate.

"Per foreign investor" is the Gazette's wording. Read literally, two foreigners founding one company are each held to Rs 2 crore; ask DoI how it applies to your shareholders. A Nepali partner in a joint venture has no minimum. There is no maximum: section 13 sets no upper limit on the amount or the share, except where Nepal's WTO commitments cap a service.

• IT businesses on the automatic route: no minimum. This applies to software, data processing, BPO and KPO, data centres, cloud, digital mapping, web design and hosting, and IT and biotech parks, under the Gazette notice of 16 February 2026. DoI's figures show what that did. In the first three months of 2083/84 it approved 252 IT projects with Rs 93 crore between them, about Rs 37 lakh each.
• NRNs investing through the joint investment company of the government and NRNs are exempt from the minimum, by the same 2022 notice. Section 15 also lets an NRN's investment be approved on a simple report to DoI.
• Indian investors may bring the money in Indian rupees through the banks, section 16(2) says. Everyone else uses a convertible currency.
• Machinery counts as investment if DoI approves it first, and so does a reinvested dividend (s.2(ञ)).

The schedule to FITTA lists the industries "not open to foreign investment". The government can change it by notice (s.50), and it was changed in 2021, July 2024 and March 2025. Here it is as the Law Commission's consolidated text reads now. A business on this list cannot take foreign investment at all, however much you bring. A foreign-owned company also cannot later move its profits into one of these businesses (s.3(2)).

• Primary agriculture: livestock and poultry, fish, bees, fruit, vegetables, oilseeds, pulses and dairy. Large agro industries, agricultural technology and machinery, and farms that export at least 75% of what they produce are open.
• Micro and cottage enterprises (लघु तथा घरेलु उद्यम). Under the Industrial Enterprises Act 2076, a micro enterprise has up to Rs 20 lakh of fixed capital, land and building aside, and at most 9 workers. A small industry, with up to Rs 15 crore, is open.
• Personal services: hair cutting, beauty parlours, tailoring, driving schools and the like.
• Arms, ammunition and explosives, nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, atomic energy and radioactive materials.
• Real estate trading (construction is open), retail trade, domestic courier, local catering, money changers and remittance.
• Tourism services: travel agencies, tourist guides, trekking and mountaineering guides, and rural tourism including homestays.
• Mass media (newspapers, radio, television, online news) and films in Nepal's national languages.
• Consultancy and training: management, accounting, engineering and legal consultancy, and language, music and computer training. Other consultancy is open only up to 51% foreign ownership.

Section 42 of FITTA lets the government name businesses whose foreign investment is approved by an automatic route (स्वचालित मार्ग). You enter the details and upload the documents in DoI's online system. It sends a confirmation with an application number by email, and the investment is then "deemed approved" (Regulations r.8क). DoI's citizen charter promises this "immediately". The route covers a new company, wholly owned or a joint venture, and new capital from an existing foreign shareholder.

The first list, in October 2023, stopped at Rs 50 crore of capital. The notice of 2082/11/04 (16 February 2026) replaced it. It covers 102 kinds of business in seven groups, has no ceiling, and drops the minimum for the IT group. In the first three months of 2083/84, 410 of DoI's 422 approvals came this way.

Here is the order, from the official texts. The times are what the law or the office's own charter promises. In practice add the days it takes to collect, notarise and translate your documents. Firms that do this for a living quote three to eight weeks for the whole path. Each step uses the paper from the one before, so the order matters.

1. 1Check the sector. Read the negative list above and the automatic-route list. Write a short project report: what the business does, the capital, the jobs, and when the money will come in. FITTA asks for that timetable (s.15(1)).
2. 2Get the foreign investment approval from DoI. Rule 8 asks for two copies of the project report, and the joint-venture agreement if there is more than one investor. It also asks for your passport and bio-data, or your company's registration, charter documents and board decision. You add a power of attorney if someone applies for you, and a Financial Credibility Certificate from your bank abroad. On the automatic route the approval is immediate; otherwise the law gives DoI 7 days. A refusal must come with reasons within 7 days. The Ministry hears a review within 30 days. The approval is free; DoI's charter asks for a refundable deposit of Rs 20,000 where fixed capital is above Rs 2 crore.
3. 3Reserve the name and register the company at OCR, online in CAMIS. For a company with foreign shareholders, OCR asks for the investment approval, your passport or your company's registration and board decision, and the memorandum and articles in English with a Nepali translation. The fee runs by authorised capital: Rs 16,000 up to Rs 1 crore, Rs 19,000 up to Rs 2 crore, Rs 22,000 up to Rs 3 crore.
4. 4Get the company's PAN, and VAT if it applies, at the Inland Revenue Department. VAT is 13%. How PAN and VAT work, and the thresholds, are in PAN in Nepal and the guide for Nepali businesses.
5. 5Open the company's bank account, tell NRB, and send the money. Before the money leaves your bank, NRB's unit gets written notice on its form, with the approval attached. No NRB approval has been needed since the fifth amendment. The money arrives in the company's account and the bank issues its inflow certificate.
6. 6Record the investment with NRB within 6 months of the money arriving. NRB issues the recording certificate within 7 working days. Keep it safe: every dividend and every sale you take out later is measured against it.
7. 7Register the industry at DoI: 15 days by its charter, free. Some industries also need a licence from DoI or a ministry, and an environmental study (IEE or EIA) first.
8. 8Register locally and get any sector licence. The ward or municipality registers the business for local tax; hotels, hospitals, schools and the like need their regulator's licence too. Ask the ward office and the regulator for their fees, which vary by place.
9. 9Apply for the business visa on DoI's recommendation (next section).

FITTA guarantees repatriation (लगानी फिर्ता) in section 20. After paying Nepali tax, a foreign investor may take out the money from selling shares and profits or dividends. So may the money left when a company is wound up, royalties under an approved technology agreement, lease rent, and damages from a court case or arbitration. It goes out in the currency you invested, or another convertible one with NRB's approval, and only in proportion to your share of the company.

The path out was shortened twice. In March 2025 the Act cut DoI's time to approve a repatriation from 15 days to 7. Appeals to the Ministry went from 30 working days to 15. Then NRB's fifth amendment of 29 December 2025 (2082/09/14) handed the exchange approval to the licensed commercial banks. You apply at the bank that holds the account, and it decides within 15 working days. NRB itself is needed only if the money is to go to a different country from the one it came from.

• What the bank asks for (NRB's Schedule 9): DoI's approval or recommendation and the company's board or general-meeting decision. Also the NRB recording certificate, the latest audited accounts and tax clearance or proof of returns. Add a check that the company is not on the credit bureau's blacklist, a self-declaration, and proof that the tax on the amount is paid. For a sale of unlisted shares, a chartered accountant's valuation is needed too.
• Money that was never recorded cannot be repatriated as investment. NRB's bylaw has a late route for unrecorded money, with reasons, but it is slower and not certain.
• Expatriate staff may send their savings home after paying Nepali income tax (FITTA s.26(3)). DoI's old FAQ says 75% of salary; that was the rule of the 1992 Act.
• Selling shares must be reported to DoI within 30 days of the deal (s.19), and the tax on any gain paid before DoI records it.

FITTA section 30 sets out the visas. Before you invest, you can get a non-tourist visa (गैर पर्यटक भिसा) of up to 6 months to study the investment. Once the company is registered and the money is in, you get a business visa (व्यावसायिक भिसा). So can one authorised representative, and your spouse, parents and minor children. It lasts as long as at least the minimum stays invested; it can be issued for up to five years and always allows multiple entry. An investor approved for Rs 10 crore or more gets business visas for two people once 25% has come in (Regulations r.13). Bring more than USD 1,000,000 at one time and you qualify for a residential visa, kept while 50% of that stays invested.

DoI recommends the visa; its charter says immediately and free, and the Regulations give it 2 days. The Department of Immigration then issues it and charges the fee. In the first three months of 2083/84, DoI recommended business visas for 144 investors, 99 representatives and 152 family members.

FITTA section 27 says the top and technical posts in a foreign-invested company go to Nepali citizens first. A foreigner may be hired only when no Nepali can do the job and skills are to be passed on. Under the Labour Act 2074 (s.22) and the Labour Rules 2075 (r.7), the company applies to the Department of Labour and Occupational Safety for a work permit (श्रम स्वीकृति). It sends the advertisement it ran in a national daily, the candidate's passport with at least six months' validity, its own tax clearance, the Nepalis who applied, and a plan to train Nepalis to replace the foreigner.

• The fee (r.10): Rs 15,000 per person for up to six months, Rs 20,000 for longer. The Ministry can change it by Gazette notice.
• The time: a decision within 30 days of a complete application (r.8, r.9). FITTA s.30(6) asks for 15 days for staff of foreign-invested companies.
• How long: up to 5 years for a skilled technical worker and 3 for others, with extensions only in special cases (r.11).
• The visa: a working non-tourist visa at USD 75 a month. With multiple re-entry, a year comes to USD 960, paid on top of the work permit.

Not in your own name. Land in Nepal is registered to Nepali citizens and to bodies registered in Nepal; no law we read lets a foreign individual register land, and every adviser we read says the same. We did not find one section that says it in those words, so take the binding answer from the Land Revenue Office (मालपोत कार्यालय; the 2083 land ordinance renames it भूमि प्रशासन कार्यालय) before you sign anything. People with Nepali origin have their own rules; see investing from abroad.

Your company is another matter. A company registered in Nepal, even one wholly owned from abroad, is a Nepali body. FITTA section 31 says the investor arranges the land the industry needs "by purchase or other means under the prevailing law". So the company can buy or lease land for the business it was approved for, and holds it in its own name. Where it needs more than the ceiling the Land Act allows, DoI and the industry registrar recommend the exemption. Rule 14 of the Regulations says DoI helps energy, manufacturing, infrastructure and mining industries that cannot buy land on their own. Land above the ceiling may be used only for the purpose it was bought for.

• Leasing is the usual answer for a shop, café, office or factory, with the lease in the company's name. DoI's charter asks for the lease, or proof of ownership, when an industry moves premises.
• Buying a home for yourself through your company is not what the law has in mind: land bought above the ceiling may be used only for the approved purpose (s.31(3)), and the company's assets are not yours.
• Putting land in a Nepali friend's name leaves you with no legal title at all. Nothing in the investment record shows it is yours, and nothing can be repatriated from it.
• The 2083 land ordinance (no. 11, 13 October 2026) changes land administration and land for the landless; it does not mention foreigners.

Company profit

25%

Banks, telecom, tobacco

30%

Dividend

5%

Royalty, fees abroad

15%

A foreign-owned company pays the same tax as a Nepali one. IRD's rates for 2083/84 put most companies at 25% of taxable profit. Banks, financial institutions, insurers, telecom and internet firms, money transfer, capital-market and securities businesses, tobacco, liquor and petroleum pay 30%. When the company pays a dividend, it withholds 5%, a final tax for the shareholder (see dividend in Nepal). A branch of a foreign company pays the same 25% on its profit, then 5% on what it sends abroad. Royalties, service fees and interest paid to a non-resident are taxed at source at 15%, and contract payments to a non-resident at 5%.

Here is a worked case. Say your company makes Rs 30 lakh of taxable profit. It pays Rs 7.5 lakh in company tax, leaving Rs 22.5 lakh. Paid out in full as a dividend, Rs 1,12,500 more is withheld, and Rs 21.4 lakh reaches you. That is about USD 14,090 at NRB's selling rate on 5 November 2026. Tax took Rs 8.6 lakh, 28.75% of the profit. Through a branch the sum comes out the same: Rs 21.4 lakh sent abroad.

The Finance Act 2083 tightened transfer pricing (स्थानान्तरण मूल्य), the rules on deals between your Nepali company and companies related to it abroad. A foreign party now counts as "associated" at 30% control instead of 50%. New "safe harbour" rules apply for 5 income years. An IT company serving its parent abroad must show at least a 15% margin on its operating cost, and low-value services carry at most a 5% mark-up. Taxpayers can now agree prices in advance with IRD for up to 5 years.

• Double tax agreements: Nepal has 11, with India, China, Norway, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Austria, Pakistan, South Korea, Qatar and Bangladesh. If your home country is one of them, its rates on dividends, interest and royalties may be lower; IRD publishes the texts.
• The tax year runs from Shrawan 1 to Asar end, mid-July to mid-July. The return is due within 3 months of the year's end (Income Tax Act s.96), by about mid-January; extensions are possible.
• Concessions for some industries, places and IT exports come from section 11 of the Income Tax Act and change with each budget. IRD's booklet on the Finance Act 2083 lists this year's.

The people who ask about this on r/Nepal and expat forums are mostly planning something small. A café, a guesthouse or a shop, with a Nepali friend, and a wish to stay. Their surprise is usually the same: "the options to start a business in nepal require like 100k USD which is absurd!", as one put it. Here is what trips people up, from those threads and from the rules above.

• The minimum. Rs 2 crore, about USD 132,300, is more than most small plans need. Unless it is an IT business on the automatic route, there is no smaller legal route for a foreigner. Older figures you will read, USD 20,000 or USD 100,000 or Rs 5 crore, are out of date.
• A closed sector. A trekking agency, guiding, homestays, a retail shop, local catering and real estate trading are all on the negative list. Check before you spend money on premises.
• The Nepali "holder". Putting the business or the land in a Nepali friend's name is common advice in forums, and it leaves you with nothing the law recognises. No investment is recorded, so nothing can be repatriated, and no business visa follows from it. We are not lawyers; ask one before you consider it.
• Money brought in informally. Cash, hundi or a transfer to someone's personal account is not foreign investment. Only money that comes through a bank to the company and is recorded with NRB can go back out.
• Tax clearance. The visa renewal and every repatriation ask for the latest tax clearance and audited accounts. A company that files late cannot renew your visa or pay you out. One forum poster describes waiting on the tax office for a clearance.
• The clock. 25% within a year, 70% before operating, and the approval lapses if nothing comes in within 2 years.
• Old information from offices themselves. DoI's own visa and repatriation pages still describe the 1992 Act, and Immigration's fee page prints the investment bands wrongly. When an office's web page and the Gazette disagree, ask for the rule in writing.

1. 1Keep books and have them audited every year; a company must be audited.
2. 2File the income tax return within 3 months of Asar end, and the VAT returns if registered; then get the tax clearance you will need for the visa and for dividends.
3. 3Hold the general meeting and file the company's annual papers with OCR. The deadlines and the late fines are on OCR's site and in the guide for Nepali businesses.
4. 4Renew the business visa with DoI's recommendation, and the work permits of any foreign staff before they expire.
5. 5Report changes: a share sale to DoI within 30 days (s.19), a change of ownership, address, capacity or product to DoI. A change of directors or capital goes to OCR.
6. 6Bring the rest of the money on the timetable you gave, and record each tranche with NRB within 6 months.