Nepal Expects Smoother Passport Distribution

Nepal expects a smoother passport distribution process after the government resumed procurement of seven hundred thousand electronic passports from its previous French supplier, IDEMIA.

The Department of Passports says 56,000 new passports arrived on Sunday, easing the recent shortage.

Until now, the department had been accepting only 1,800 applications a day, but officials say capacity will rise to 5,000 daily within a week, and to 8,000 to 10,000 in the following two weeks.

Around 90,000 applicants are still awaiting passports, though the department now holds a stock of 129,000. Another 100,000 are expected within three weeks.

Director General Tirtha Raj Aryal says distribution will no longer face shortages.

However, service seekers report continued hardship, citing long waits and the need to travel to Kathmandu for urgent passports, making the process costly and inconvenient. Nepal’s current daily demand stands between 3,500 and 4,000, while the department can now distribute 5,000 to 6,000 passports a day and is adding temporary staff to reach 10,000.