Kathmandu, August 17
Passengers traveling abroad are now required to arrive at least one hour in advance at the immigration check of Tribhuvan International Airport.
Director General of the Immigration Department, Ram Chandra Tiwari informed, the rule was introduced because last-minute passenger congestion leaves insufficient time to verify documents.
“Especially during nighttime flights to Gulf countries, this problem has been observed,” he told Onlinekhabar. “Since it becomes difficult for the desk officers to carry out checks at the last moment, the rule has been made stricter.”
On Friday, the Immigration Department held discussions with all the airlines operating at the airport and other concerned authorities before making this decision.
As the airport faces heavy passenger traffic at night, the Civil Aviation Authority has also been requested to make flight schedules more flexible and to consider shifting them further back.
Meanwhile, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is investigating cases where organized groups, in collusion with airport immigration staff, illegally collected money from Nepali youths before sending them abroad. After then-airport joint secretary Tirtha Raj Bhattarai was arrested in connection with this case, a new joint secretary was appointed to lead the office.
However, as the practice of sending people abroad on visit visas after extorting money continued, the Ministry of Home Affairs assigned Narahari Ghimire to the airport immigration office and appointed Tiwari as Director General of Immigration.
