Nepal is extending tourist visas for free in an effort to help stranded tourists, as the country faces a national lockdown due to the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.
“Tourists whose visas have expired during the period of lockdown will be exempt of the charge,” chief immigration officer of Immigration Office at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), Sagar Acharya pointed out.
The country’s imposed lockdown prohibits all kind of services, including transportation. Only emergency cases will be exempted from the latest government move, VisaGuide.World reports.
Nepal joined the list of countries worldwide that are enforcing entry bans and travel restriction with the hope of slowing down the spread of coronavirus. But due to the travel restrictions, many tourists have been stranded in different territories of the country.
“However, we were directed to not fine tourists whose visas had expired after the announcement of lockdown some ten days ago,” Acharya highlighted.
Since the lockdown was imposed in the country, a total of 2,679 persons have departed from Tribhuvan International Airport in specially chartered flights.
Due to Nepal’s decision to close the borders with India, last week have been reported hundreds of Nepalese citizens who have been left stranded on the border crossing between the two countries.
Nearly two million Nepalese citizens who work in India found themselves unable to return home as the government of Nepal decided to shut down its borders.
Last month, Nepali’s government decided to temporarily suspend the entry for citizens coming from China, South Korea, Japan, Itali and Iran to prevent the spread of the virus.
On March 10, the Department of Immigration in Nepali also prohibited citizens of France, Germany and Spain from entering the country as they have been highly affected by COVID-19.
So far, nine persons tested positive for the coronavirus pandemic in Nepali.