KATHMANDU: Nepal on Thursday resumed the on-arrival visa service to foreign tourists fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with a focus to revive the tourism sector.

In a travel advisory to be effective immediately, Nepal's Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said that foreign tourists would be able to receive on-arrival visas after producing documents showing they are fully inoculated against the coronavirus at least 14 days prior to their arrival in Nepal

Besides, foreign tourists should produce documents about testing negative for the coronavirus in polymerase chain reaction tests 72 hours before they check-in for boarding flights for Nepal, evidence of hotel booking in Nepal, and permits issued by Nepali authorities if foreigners are coming to Nepal for mountaineering and trekking, among others.

Foreign visitors need to go through antigen tests after arrival in Nepal, and shall be put in isolation if they test positive. It is for the first time the South Asian country has resumed on-arrival visa facility for foreign tourists after suspending the service in March last year when being hit by the first wave of COVID-19.

On Thursday, Nepal reported 941 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 13 deaths, bringing the total tally to 788,769 with 11,072 deaths.

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