KATHMANDU, April 6: Taking undue advantage of the weak immigration policy of the country, many foreigners overstay their visas here in Nepal. The current record system of the immigration department can't track the visa status of any foreigner, resulting in haphazard overstay of foreigners.
In a recent case, an Iranian citizen was found to have overstayed in Nepal for almost 2295 days. Mostafa Salooghiaval, 25, who came to Nepal for the first time in 2009 under a tourist visa, never returned to his country.
After staying illegally in Nepal without visa for over six years, he was arrested by a squad of Nepal Police from Budhanilkantha last month. He is currently at the detention center of the Department of Immigration (DoI).
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During interrogation, the Iranian national recorded that he was not able to renew his visa due to lack of money. “I didn't have enough money to renew my visa so I stayed illegally in Nepal for some time. Later, I enjoyed the place and didn't want to go back,” reads his statement at the legal division of the DoI.
Mostafa needs to pay almost 13,500 US dollars (Rs 1.41 million) as penalty. Any foreign citizen needs to pay US$ 5 -- two dollars visa fee and three dollars overstay charge - per day and 25 dollars visa renewal fee, according to Nepal's immigration laws.
Another Iranian citizen Payam Jamshidi, 25, is also at the DoI detention center for breaching the immigration laws. He has overstayed in Nepal for 1535 days.
However, the DoI is facing difficulties in deporting the two Iranian nationals as they haven't paid the immigration penalty.
“The Iranian citizens need to clear the immigration penalty for breaching the immigration rule of Nepal. We will give them ultimatum and if they don't clear their dues on time, they will be sent to custody,” said Kedar Neupane, director general at the DoI.
According to the immigration laws, the DoI can charge additional penalty of up to Rs 50,000 and slap a jail term of up to 10 years to those violating the immigration rules.
When asked about the fragile immigration system, Director General Neupane accepted that they have not been able to track the visa status of any foreigner in lack of modern technologies. “We arrest foreigners on the basis of tip offs we receive. We can't track the visa status of foreigners from our system,” confessed Neupane.
The immigration officials agree that there could be more foreigners who have been overstaying in Nepal for many years than these two Iranians. They even admit that they are unable to arrest them in lack of effective resources. The DoI deports at least 500 foreigners a month on an average for overstaying.
The DoI issued a public notice on Monday and Tuesday urging all foreigners bearing student and tourist visas not to take up employment in Nepal.
