Nepal implements online system to track foreign nationals

Kathmandu, Jan 1 Nepal has implemented the Foreign Nationals Management Information System (FNMIS) to ensure the safety of foreign nationals visiting the country and to control potential crimes involving foreign nationals.

Developed by the Department of Immigration, the FNMIS is a nationwide digital database designed to collect real-time information on foreign nationals from the moment they apply for a visa until they leave the Himalayan nation.

All entities — including hotels, airlines, travel and trekking agencies, money exchange counters, and other service providers offering services to foreign nationals — are required to register in the system to ensure its effective implementation.

Although the department stated that the system would be mandatorily implemented at star-rated hotels within the Kathmandu Valley starting Thursday in the first phase, many other service providers had also registered with the system by Thursday afternoon. “As many as 1,416 tourism service providers, including hotels, travel companies, and money exchangers, joined the system by Thursday afternoon,” Tikaram Dhakal, a Director at the department, told IANS.

As per the plans announced earlier by the immigration authority, the system will be implemented across all star-rated hotels nationwide, airlines, tour and travel companies, and money exchangers in the second phase, starting from March 1. It will then be progressively extended to all types of hotels, guest houses, and services provided by other public and private institutions.

“One of the reasons behind implementing this system is to track foreign nationals in Nepal, enabling the government to control possible criminal activities involving them,” Dhakal said. “Another reason is to ensure prompt rescue operations for foreign tourists visiting remote and inaccessible parts of the Himalayan country during times of crisis.”

He added that foreign nationals have been found involved in activities such as cryptocurrency transactions and dating-app scams under the cover of registered technology companies, religious conversion, and teaching the Quran and the Bible beyond the scope of their visa categories.

The department said the system mainly aims to ensure that foreigners engage only in activities permitted under their visa category, while improving visitor safety and emergency response mechanisms.

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