Buying property in Nepal from abroad
Nepal's rules are different for each kind of buyer, and which one you are decides whether you can buy at all. Getting that wrong before you pay a deposit is the most expensive mistake in this whole topic, so the four categories are kept apart here on purpose.
This is a plain summary of the general rules, not legal advice. Rules, limits and fees change; confirm your own case with a licensed Nepali lawyer before you sign anything or pay a deposit.
Which one are you?
Nepali citizen
You can buy land, houses, flats and commercial space like anyone else, subject to the usual land-holding limits and registration. Living abroad does not change this.
Non-Resident Nepali (NRN) holding an NRN ID
You hold a foreign passport and you, your parents or your grandparents were Nepali citizens at some point - and that country is not in SAARC. NRNs can buy residential and commercial property for themselves or their family, with approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and inside the area limits below.
Nepali citizen living abroad
You keep full buying rights as a citizen. If you have lived and worked outside Nepal for at least two years, outside SAARC, you can also register as an NRN.
Foreign national with no Nepali origin
Nepal does not generally allow foreign nationals to own land or immovable property, and a transfer made without government approval is not legally valid. The realistic routes are a long-term lease, or a Nepal-registered company with approved foreign investment holding property for that business - not a house for personal use.
How much an NRN can hold
An NRN may buy property for personal or family use up to these ceilings. They are the general figures and the government does revise them, so check the current notice before you commit.
- Kathmandu Valley2 ropani
- Metropolitan cities in the Terai8 kattha
- Other municipalities4 ropani
- Rural Terai districts1 bigha
- Other rural areas10 ropani
Agricultural, forest and protected land sits outside what an NRN can buy.
One more condition catches people out: you and your immediate family must not already own property in Nepal to use this facility.
The approval you must get first
Before an NRN buys, the application goes to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Only after that approval is the purchase registered at the Land Revenue Office, which issues a distinctive blue ownership certificate for NRN-held property. Do not hand over the full price before the approval is in hand.
The path, start to finish
- 1Register as an NRN and get the identity card - from a Nepali embassy or consulate if you are abroad, or from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs if you are in Nepal.
- 2Shortlist properties and check the papers: ownership certificate, land map, area and boundaries, tax clearance, and whether anyone else has a claim on it.
- 3Have a lawyer confirm the ownership history and that the property is not mortgaged or caught in a dispute.
- 4Apply to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for approval to purchase.
- 5Once approved, sign the sale agreement and pay through a bank channel you can prove later, keeping every receipt.
- 6Register at the Land Revenue Office, pay the registration fee and taxes, and collect the ownership certificate in your name.
Money in, money out
Move the purchase price through a bank rather than by hand, and keep the paperwork. If you ever want to sell and send the money back out of Nepal, the record of how it came in is what makes that possible.
What this site does for you
- Every listing shows its district and local level, and the map is deliberately approximate, so you can shortlist properly from another country without anyone's exact location being published.
- You message the seller through the site and they reply to you directly - no broker queue in between.
- We review what is listed, but we do not check ownership papers. A title check by a lawyer is still yours to do.
Budget for more than the price
Registration fees, taxes and a lawyer's fee all sit on top of the agreed price, and the rates change. Ask for the current figures before you agree a deal.