Effective 15 November, travellers holding Nepali passports no longer need a transit visa when passing through Hong Kong International Airport, the Nepali Consulate General confirmed in a 20 November circular. The visa-waiver reverses a 2005 policy that had forced Nepali business and leisure passengers to obtain a pre-approved permit—even for air-side transfers—adding cost and uncertainty to multi-segment itineraries.
The change follows sustained lobbying by Kathmandu and the Nepali diaspora, which argued that the old rules hindered connectivity to North America, Australia and East Asia, key destinations that rely on Hong Kong’s hub status. Carriers such as Cathay Pacific and Nepal Airlines expect an uptick in bookings as Nepali travellers can now route more competitively via Hong Kong rather than Doha or Istanbul.
![Hong Kong scraps airport transit-visa rule for Nepali passport holders]()
For global mobility managers the waiver simplifies emergency routing options: assignees in South Asia can be ticketed through Hong Kong at short notice without risking a denied-boarding incident for lack of transit documentation. Travel-risk teams should nevertheless remind staff that a full entry visa is still required to leave the sterile area.
The Immigration Department has not yet published the update on its English-language portal, but airport ground-handling agents have received notice. Industry associations have urged Hong Kong to review transit-visa rules for other low-risk markets to bolster its competitiveness against rival hubs such as Singapore.
Nepal’s tourism board welcomed the move, noting that easier one-stop connectivity could support its goal of 2 million international arrivals by 2028, many of whom rely on long-haul links beyond Asia.
The change follows sustained lobbying by Kathmandu and the Nepali diaspora, which argued that the old rules hindered connectivity to North America, Australia and East Asia, key destinations that rely on Hong Kong’s hub status. Carriers such as Cathay Pacific and Nepal Airlines expect an uptick in bookings as Nepali travellers can now route more competitively via Hong Kong rather than Doha or Istanbul.
For global mobility managers the waiver simplifies emergency routing options: assignees in South Asia can be ticketed through Hong Kong at short notice without risking a denied-boarding incident for lack of transit documentation. Travel-risk teams should nevertheless remind staff that a full entry visa is still required to leave the sterile area.
The Immigration Department has not yet published the update on its English-language portal, but airport ground-handling agents have received notice. Industry associations have urged Hong Kong to review transit-visa rules for other low-risk markets to bolster its competitiveness against rival hubs such as Singapore.
Nepal’s tourism board welcomed the move, noting that easier one-stop connectivity could support its goal of 2 million international arrivals by 2028, many of whom rely on long-haul links beyond Asia.
